Answer Elimination Techniques

SAT Math · Axiom Academy

Master multiple-choice strategy on the SAT Process of elimination (POE) is the most powerful tool on the SAT Math section. Even when you don't know the answer immediately, you can almost always eliminate wrong answers, dramatically increasing your chances of getting the question right. Without elimination: Random guess = 25% chance (1 in 4) Eliminate 1 wrong answer: Your odds become 33% (1 in 3) Eliminate 2 wrong answers: Your odds become 50% (1 in 2) Eliminate 3 wrong answers: Your odds become 100% (you know the answer) Always? On multiple-choice problems, check your answer by seeing if it's among the choices. If your calculated answer isn't there, you know you made an error. This is verification-via-elimination. When stuck? If you're unsure about a problem, eliminating obviously wrong choices is your best strategy before guessing. On hard problems? When a problem is complex, elimination is often faster than solving from scratch. Master these five techniques to eliminate wrong answers systematically. Look for answers that are clearly implausible given the problem context. Verify answers have the correct units and are the right order of magnitude. Use rough estimation to eliminate answers that are too large or too small. Substitute each answer choice back into the original equation to see which works. Apply mathematical properties to eliminate choices. 6. Symmetry & Pattern Recognition Look for patterns or symmetry in the answer choices to identify outliers.

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