Mastering Timing PART TWO:

What to do when stuck at 2. (How to pick up speed when stuck at two choices as opposed to wasting time by comparison and rereading excessively.)

On the Digital SAT, one of the most common—and costly—situations students face is getting stuck between two answer choices. At first glance, this may seem like a good position to be in, since half the work is already done. However, this is actually where many students lose valuable time. Instead of making a quick, strategic decision, they begin to overanalyze, reread, and second-guess themselves. The key to success is learning how to decide efficiently and move on.

The first rule when stuck between two choices is to limit the time you spend deciding. Once you have narrowed it down, give yourself no more than 10 to 15 seconds to choose. Beyond that point, your thinking typically becomes less clear, not more. You may feel productive while rereading both answers repeatedly, but in reality, you are just circling the same uncertainty. Strong test-takers recognize this moment and act quickly.

ACT QUICKLY

Rather than focusing on the answer choices again, the most effective next step is to return to the question itself.

1. Return to the question to ensure the answer choice addresses what the question is "truly asking".

   • Ask yourself what the question is truly asking: Is it testing the main idea, a specific detail, the function of a sentence, or the author’s tone?

   • One of the most common traps is an answer choice that seems relevant but does not actually answer the question.

   • This reset helps you avoid being distracted by complex wording in the answers and refocuses your attention on the task. Once the question is clear, look at each answer again and decide which better answers the question.

LOOK CLOSELY

If the "ACT QUICKLY" strategy does not work, look closely at how the two answers you are holding differ.

1. Identify the specific words or phrases where the two remaining answers differ. Circle these words or phrases in your mind.

2. Go back to the passage "briefly and strategically" to locate the specific line related to the differing words. Do not reread the entire text. Instead, locate the specific line or section that relates to the words you circled in the two answers. Often, one or two sentences contain the evidence you need.

3. Ask if one answer "drifts just a bit away from the author’s point" to eliminate it. Even a small mismatch is enough to eliminate an option. The correct answer on the DSAT is almost always grounded clearly in the text, even if the wording is slightly different.

   
   

Conclusion

Ultimately, success on the DSAT depends on managing both accuracy and time. By resetting your focus from reading each answer you held over and over, you will pull a different clue from each and reread with the focus of proving one word or phrase more wrong.