Why do I run out of time on SAT® Reading and Writing?
Rarely because you read too slowly. Reading and Writing gives you 64 minutes for 54 questions, a little over a minute each, and the passages are short. Most students who run out of time lose it on three or four questions where they hesitate between two choices and go back to the passage again and again.
Where the minutes really go
Time yourself on a module and write down how long each question took. The pattern is almost always the same: most questions take under a minute, and a few take three or four. Those few are where the time goes. And they are rarely the hardest questions on the page; they are the ones where two answers both look possible and you don’t have a way to decide.
Without a way to decide, the natural thing is to reread the passage looking for “the idea”. But the idea was never the problem — you understood it the first time. The problem is in the two answer choices.
One example
The passage says a historian argues that a letter was probably written in 1790, based on the paper it was written on.
Two choices remain: one says the historian believes the letter was likely written around 1790; the other says the historian proved the letter was written in 1790. You reread the passage three times.
You didn’t need to. The word proved goes further than probably, and that single word eliminates the second choice. Ten seconds of looking at the choices would have done what two minutes of rereading could not.
How to get the time back
Compare the choices, not the passage. When you are stuck between two, put them side by side and find the word where they differ. Then check only that word against the text. Words that make a claim stronger (proves, always, only, all) or change who did what are the usual places.
Set a limit and move on. If a question passes about a minute and a half, choose your best answer, mark it, and continue. Coming back with fresh eyes at the end is faster than forcing it now, and an unanswered question at the end of the module is a certain loss.
Don’t speed-read. Reading the passage faster makes the wrong choices more attractive, not less. The time you need is in the few questions where you hesitate, not in the reading.
This happens to a lot of people. What you don't know yet is whether it happens to you, and with which one. Sixteen questions will tell you.
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