Grade: Grade 12 Subject: SAT/ACT Skills Unit: Final Tune-Up SAT: ProblemSolving+DataAnalysis ACT: Math

Review Your Mistakes

Learn

The most valuable part of any practice test is not the score - it is the mistake analysis that follows. Students who systematically review their errors improve faster than those who simply take test after test without reflection.

The Four Types of Mistakes

Categorizing your errors helps you focus your final preparation:

  1. Content Gaps - You did not know the concept, formula, or rule being tested.
    Fix: Targeted study of that specific topic.
  2. Careless Errors - You knew how to solve it but made a silly mistake (arithmetic, misread question, bubbled wrong answer).
    Fix: Slow down, double-check, use scratch work systematically.
  3. Strategy Errors - You used an inefficient approach or got stuck on a solvable problem.
    Fix: Learn the optimal strategy for that question type.
  4. Time Pressure Errors - You would have gotten it right with more time.
    Fix: Build speed on easier questions to bank time for harder ones.

The Error Log System

Create an error log with these columns for each missed question:

Column What to Record
Date / Test Which practice test or problem set
Section Math, Reading, Writing, Science
Question # For easy reference back to the source
Topic/Skill Specific concept tested (e.g., "subject-verb agreement")
Error Type Content, Careless, Strategy, or Time
What Went Wrong Brief explanation of your mistake
Correct Approach How to solve it correctly

Pattern Recognition

After logging 20-30 errors, look for patterns:

  • Are certain topics appearing repeatedly? (Focus study there)
  • Are careless errors concentrated in certain sections? (Adjust your checking habits)
  • Are time pressure errors happening late in sections? (Work on pacing)
  • Are strategy errors on specific question types? (Learn those strategies)

Examples

See how to analyze different types of errors.

Example 1: Content Gap Error

Question: What is the value of sin(30 degrees)?

Your Answer: sqrt(3)/2

Correct Answer: 1/2

Analysis: This is a content gap - I confused sin(30) with sin(60). I need to memorize the unit circle values.

Fix: Create flashcards for sin, cos, tan of 0, 30, 45, 60, 90 degrees.

Example 2: Careless Error

Question: If 2x + 5 = 15, what is x + 3?

Your Answer: 5

Correct Answer: 8

Analysis: I correctly found x = 5, but the question asked for x + 3, not just x. I stopped too soon.

Fix: Circle what the question actually asks for. Re-read the question after solving.

Example 3: Strategy Error

Question: ACT Science - Based on Figure 2, as temperature increases from 20C to 60C, the reaction rate...

Your Answer: (Spent 2 minutes trying to understand the full experiment)

Correct Approach: For ACT Science data questions, go directly to the figure mentioned. Find 20C and 60C, read the reaction rate values, describe the trend. No need to understand the full experiment.

Fix: For data interpretation, go straight to the data source mentioned in the question.

Practice

Analyze these hypothetical errors. Categorize each and describe the fix.

1. On a reading passage about economics, you chose "the author criticizes government intervention" but the correct answer was "the author presents multiple perspectives on government intervention."

Error type? What went wrong? Fix?

2. You calculated the area of a circle with radius 5 as 25 (forgetting to multiply by pi).

Error type? What went wrong? Fix?

3. On an ACT English question about comma usage, you were unsure whether to add a comma before "which" or "that" and guessed wrong.

Error type? What went wrong? Fix?

4. You ran out of time with 5 questions remaining in SAT Math and had to guess randomly on all of them, missing 3.

Error type? What went wrong? Fix?

5. On a systems of equations problem, you used substitution but made an arithmetic error: wrote 3(4) = 9 instead of 12.

Error type? What went wrong? Fix?

6. You spent 3 minutes on a hard geometry problem involving inscribed angles, which you have never studied, and still got it wrong.

Error type? What went wrong? Fix?

7. On ACT Reading, you selected an answer that was true according to the passage but did not answer what the question asked ("What is the author's purpose" vs. "What is stated in paragraph 3").

Error type? What went wrong? Fix?

8. You correctly identified that a sentence needed the word "their" but accidentally bubbled in "there."

Error type? What went wrong? Fix?

9. On a word-in-context vocabulary question, you chose the most common meaning of the word rather than reading how it was used in the passage.

Error type? What went wrong? Fix?

10. You solved a percent increase problem by calculating the increase but forgot to add it to the original value.

Error type? What went wrong? Fix?

Check Your Understanding

Compare your error analysis to these suggested responses:

  1. Strategy Error - Jumped to a strong conclusion without noting hedging language. Fix: Look for absolute vs. nuanced answer choices.
  2. Content Gap or Careless - Forgot the formula A = pi*r^2. Fix: Memorize area/circumference formulas; write formula before plugging in.
  3. Content Gap - Do not know the "which" vs. "that" comma rule. Fix: Study restrictive vs. non-restrictive clauses.
  4. Time Pressure Error - Poor pacing left no time for final questions. Fix: Set checkpoints, skip and return strategy.
  5. Careless Error - Arithmetic mistake. Fix: Write each step clearly, double-check multiplication.
  6. Content Gap + Strategy Error - Did not know the content AND spent too long. Fix: Study inscribed angles; also practice skipping unfamiliar topics quickly.
  7. Careless Error - Did not match answer to actual question. Fix: Underline the specific question being asked.
  8. Careless Error - Bubbling mistake. Fix: Check that bubbled letter matches intended answer every 5 questions.
  9. Strategy Error - Did not use context. Fix: Always substitute your answer choice back into the sentence to verify meaning.
  10. Careless/Strategy Error - Incomplete answer. Fix: For percent change, write: Original + Increase = Final, or use the formula: Final = Original x (1 + rate).

Next Steps

  • Start your error log today - even a simple notebook works
  • Review your log before each practice session
  • After 3-4 practice tests, identify your top 3 error patterns
  • Focus remaining study time on your highest-frequency error types
  • Move on to Mixed Practice Set to apply your error-reduction strategies