The fourth section of the HSPT exam is the Mathematics section. The Mathematics section is 45 minutes long and is the longest individual section on the test. It is one of two sections on the test featuring mathematical questions. The Mathematics section also features sixty-four questions, the greatest number on any section of the test; however, students are also given the most time per question (a little less than 45 seconds per question, on average) of any section on the test.

The Mathematics section features two basic types of questions: Concepts and Problem Solving. There are 24 Concepts questions and 40 Problem Solving questions. Concepts questions are very similar to the types of math questions students encounter in class. Short questions such as “Find the area of a circle,” or “Solve for x,” or “The greatest common factor of 12 and 18 is?” can be found in this subsection of the test. These questions tend to be short, direct, and feature a single mathematical concept. The opposite is true for Problem Solving questions. These questions tend to be longer and more drawn-out. Most of the questions that could be classified as a “story problem” are featured here. These questions tend to combine two or more concepts into a single question. For instance, a question might give you the area of a square and then ask you to find its perimeter.

Like many of the sections on the HSPT, the number of questions and lack of time to solve them might seem overwhelming at first. A few simple strategies will help a student cope with this. First, students should guess on any question to which they do not know the answer. This is because there is no penalty for an incorrect answer. Second, students should skip questions that they find to be difficult in order to ensure they see all of the easiest questions. Correct answers are scored as 1 point, regardless of how difficult the question is; therefore, students should put off the hardest questions until the end of their time limit, as much as possible. Finally, use Varsity Tutors’ free HSPT Mathematics Practice Tests to practice for this section of the exam in advance. Each free HSPT Mathematics Practice Test is made up of between ten and twelve problems. You can choose to either do a varied assortment of problems drawn from different mathematical topics tested on the HSPT’s Mathematics section, or you can focus on one particular mathematical topic that is giving you trouble. No matter which way you take them, make sure to read the explanation for each question, especially those that you happen to get wrong. That way, you can learn from your mistakes and not make those same mistakes when you take the real HSPT!

You might also want to try one of the free Full-Length HSPT Mathematics Practice Tests, which ask you questions on all of the topics you’ll need to have mastered before the test. These complete practice tests are an easy way to get some practice while you assess your knowledge. Upon finishing the test, the results page will provide you with a variety of scoring metrics, detailed explanations of each question’s correct answer, and links to further review of pertinent concepts. These free online practice tests can assist you as you build a custom HSPT study plan, because the results tell you exactly which topics need more review. This helpful feature allows you to fine-tune your review plan. After you’ve done some review using the other Learning Tools, you can evaluate your progress by taking another of the Full-Length HSPT Mathematics Practice Tests.