Process of Elimination is a powerful technique, especially since many, if not most, SAT & ACT questions are pretty simple. Not necessarily easy! But simple. 

In SAT Reading, ACT Science, and other sections, it’s easy to overcomplicate the thought process, so it pays to simplify your approach through process of elimination: Look for answers that are correct, of course, but also look for answers to eliminate. Focusing on finding wrong answers is “simpler” because only one piece of that choice needs to be wrong, whereas for a choice to be right, the entire choice has to be right. 

To show that C, for example, is the correct answer, you’ve got to prove that every part of C is right — every word, every idea. That’s a high bar to clear. Imagine if, instead, you look at A and see that, “Oh wait, A has got this little mistake there,” the rest of the choice almost doesn’t matter at that point because you know A is out. And when you look at B and you see even just one error in that choice, the whole choice is out. And so on. All it takes is finding one mistake, and the choice is eliminated — even if you’re unsure about the rest of the choice! This will allow you to efficiently cut through the choices and make the last step of finding the “right” one much easier.

Narrowing down to the right answer by eliminating the wrong ones brings about a different mindset than just trying to find which of the choices is perfect across the board. It makes you more efficient. It helps you avoid errors. It maximizes your knowledge and skills so that you can squeeze out every point that you can. And it will make you a better test taker and, best of all, a higher scorer.