Blanks Cost You Points

For every SAT question you leave blank, you lose 10 points.

Blanks Cost You Points

Most people believe that on the SAT, blanks "don't count." They probably think that blanks don't count because a blank sounds like nothing or a zero, so leaving a question blank must cost zero points.

These people are wrong, and you can prove it to yourself with the answer to a simple question. What kind of SAT score would you have if you left every question blank?

Sorry, but blanks do count. How much? Every time you leave a question blank, you lose 10 points from your 2400 starting score. The cost of each blank varies a bit, but as a rough average, figure 10 points per blank.

If you leave 10 questions blank on the SAT, you lose 100 points; 20 questions, 200 points. And every time you lose points for a blank, you can never get those points back. Never.