Running out of time is among the most common complaints in SAT preparation, and the stated cause is almost always wrong.
Where the minutes actually go
Not spread thinly across the section. Concentrated: two or three questions absorb several minutes each, and the last block of questions is then answered in a rush or not at all.
Those lost questions at the end are frequently easier than the ones that consumed the time. The score lost is therefore larger than the difficulty of the questions involved.
The leaving rule
The fix is a rule decided in advance: if a question has not opened up within a set number of seconds, it is marked and left.
The number matters less than having one. What breaks students is deciding in the moment, over and over, whether to continue. Each of those decisions costs time and attention.
Why it lowers anxiety too
A student without a rule spends the exam negotiating with themselves. A student with a rule executes it.
The difference shows in the last block of questions, where the unrehearsed student is both behind and rattled.
The adaptive format changes the arithmetic
In the digital format the second module's difficulty depends on performance in the first. That makes the first module worth finishing properly rather than sacrificing to a hard question.
Leaving one question unsolved and answering three more is a better trade than the reverse.
Building the habit
The rule has to be applied in every practice test, not saved for the real one. A rule used for the first time on exam day is not a rule, it is an intention.
The measurement is simple: in a practice section, note which questions took longest and whether any were eventually answered correctly. Two or three tests make the pattern obvious.