Using the 80/20 Rule on Your Test
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008The Pareto Principle, applied to standardized tests, states that 80% of the results you get come from 20% of the work you do. If we use the SAT as an example, this can be applied to much of the test. On the essay, for example, the actual writing may take the most time, but the ideas behind the essay form the foundation of your score, and they typically come together in the first few minutes of the section. Within the Critical Reading sections, students tend to spend most of their time on a few really hard questions.
And the 80/20 rule can be applied to most of the math questions on the test, too. Here’s a sample math SAT question: (more…)
