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The SAT is a college admission test, usually taken by students in 11th and 12th grade. It has two sections: Reading and Writing, and Math. Since 2024 the SAT is taken on a computer or tablet in the College Board's Bluebook app, and it is shorter than the old paper test: about 2 hours and 14 minutes in total.
The math section is scored from 200 to 800, and your total SAT score runs from 400 to 1600.
The math section is split into two parts called modules. Each module has 22 questions and lasts 35 minutes. The test is adaptive: the first module has a mix of easy, medium and hard questions, and how well you do on it decides whether your second module is harder or easier.
The second module adapts to how you did on the first.
Only 40 of the 44 questions count toward your score. The other 4 are trial questions the College Board is testing for future exams, and you can't tell which ones they are, so give every question your best effort.
You can use a calculator on the whole math section. The Bluebook app has a built-in Desmos graphing calculator, and you may also bring your own approved calculator. A reference sheet with common formulas is available on screen at any time.
Multiple choice (about 75% of the questions): you choose one of four answers.
Student-produced response (about 25%): there are no answer choices, so you type your own answer into a box. These used to be called grid-in questions. A few rules for typing your answer:
Type 3½ as 7/2 or 3.5, never as 3 1/2.
If an answer is a long decimal, such as 2/3, either enter the fraction or fill the box with as many digits as fit (.6666 or .6667). If a question has more than one correct answer, enter just one of them.
The College Board groups SAT math questions into four areas. Algebra and Advanced Math make up about 70% of the test, so they deserve most of your study time.
Number of scored questions in each area, out of 40.
Algebra: linear equations in one and two variables, linear functions, systems of two linear equations, and linear inequalities.
Advanced Math: equivalent expressions, quadratic, exponential and other nonlinear equations and functions, and systems that include a nonlinear equation.
Problem-Solving and Data Analysis: ratios, rates, proportions and units, percentages, averages and spread, scatterplots, probability, and reading statistical claims and studies.
Geometry and Trigonometry: area and volume, lines, angles and triangles, right triangles and trigonometry, and circles.
Use the official practice tests. The College Board's Bluebook app has free full-length practice tests that work exactly like test day, including the adaptive second module, the Desmos calculator and the reference sheet. Taking them in Bluebook means nothing about the screen will surprise you.
Find your weak areas. After each practice test, sort your mistakes into the four topic areas above. If most of them are in Advanced Math, for example, spend your next week there. Khan Academy's free Official Digital SAT Prep lets you practice one skill at a time.
Practice under time pressure. You have about 1.5 minutes per question. Time yourself on sets of 22 questions in 35 minutes so the pace feels normal by test day.
Answer every question. There is no penalty for a wrong answer. If you're stuck, use the Option Eliminator to cross out answers you know are wrong, then make your best guess.
Mark and move on. If a question takes too long, flag it with "Mark for Review" and come back to it. You can move freely between questions within a module, but not back to Module 1 once it ends.
Take Module 1 seriously. It decides whether you get the harder second module, and only the harder one leads to the highest scores. Don't rush it.
Let Desmos do the work. Graphing a system of equations or a quadratic often gives the answer in seconds: click where the lines cross, or where the curve meets the x-axis. Example 2 below shows how.
Check what the question asks. Many wrong answers come from solving for x when the question asks for 2x, or giving minutes when it asks for hours.
A line goes through the points (5, 2) and (6, −9). The line is moved 4 units down and 7 units right. What is the slope of the new line?
Moving a line doesn't turn it, so the slope stays the same.
Moving a line up, down, left or right doesn't change its steepness, so you only need the slope of the original line:
m = (−9 − 2) / (6 − 5) = −11 / 1 = −11
Answer: −11
If 2x + y = 7 and x − y = 2, what is the value of x + y?
By hand: add the two equations. The y terms cancel: 3x = 9, so x = 3. Then 3 − y = 2, so y = 1.
With Desmos: type both equations and click the point where the lines cross.
The crossing point is the solution: x = 3 and y = 1.
So x + y = 3 + 1 = 4.
Answer: 4
In triangle ABC, angle C is a right angle, AB = 20 and sin A = 3/5. What is the length of BC?
BC is the side opposite angle A; AB is the hypotenuse.
Sine is opposite over hypotenuse: sin A = BC / AB. So 3/5 = BC / 20, which gives BC = 20 × 3/5 = 12.
Answer: 12