Patterns Example Question

A quilt is being sewn with a repeating pattern of cross, heart, crest, square. If the first square is a star, what shape would appear on the 42nd square? This type of question can be quite intimidating, even for those who know how to solve it correctly. The good news is that there is no need to have to scratch out a list of symbols to come up with the answer. Simple math problems like this are typically remainder problems.  Answer To find the answer of the above question, it is important to break it down to see what it is wanting for the answer. By taking the place number they want (42) and dividing it by the number of symbols (4), the remainder will be the spot in the list of symbols where the counting should stop.  TIP: If the remainder is zero, the end of the pattern has been reached. In this case, simply choose the symbol at the end of the list. This may not appear frequently on the SAT, but when it does it enables a person to quickly come up with the answer and move on to the next question, increasing the overall score on the math section.  BONUS TIP: As you can see, remainder questions are sometimes masked so that test takers get caught up in the question and can't figure out the best way to come to the correct answer quickly and therefore get a better overall score on the SAT math section. By getting help with learning how to recognize what the questions are really after, test takers can radically increase their math score on the SAT.