A FEW WORDS ABOUT SAT MATH
As we’ve mentioned before, the SAT isn’t your normal school test. The same is true of the Math sections
of the SAT. There are two types of questions that you’ll run into: multiple-choice and student-produced
response questions. We’ve talked before about multiple-choice, so let’s talk about these strange questions
known as student-produced response questions. These questions are the only non-multiple-choice
questions on the SAT, other than the essay; instead of selecting the correct answer from among several
choices, you will have to find the answer on your own and mark it in a grid, which is why we call them
Grid-Ins. The Grid-In questions on your test will be drawn from arithmetic, algebra, and geometry, just
like the multiple-choice SAT Math questions. However, the format has special characteristics, so we will
treat them a bit differently. You’ll learn more about them later in this book.
What Does the SAT Math Test Measure?
ETS and the College Board say that the Math Test covers “all mathematical practices,” with a strong
focus on problem solving, using tools appropriately, and using structure to manipulate expressions.
Fortunately for you, there is no way one test can cover all mathematical concepts. The SAT Math Test is
actually a brief test of arithmetic, algebra, and a bit of geometry—when we say a “bit,” we mean it. There
are only 6 geometry questions at most on the test. We’ll show you which geometry concepts are important.
We will also give you the tools you need and the skills to use them appropriately.
Order of Difficulty
The questions in the two parts of the Math Test (No Calculator and Calculator) are arranged in a loose
order of difficulty. The earlier questions are generally easier and the last few are harder, but the difficulty
may jump around a little. Also, “hard” on the SAT means that more people get it wrong, often due to
careless errors or lack of time. In addition, the questions within the Grid-In part of each section will also
be arranged in a rough order of difficulty. Because difficulty levels can go up and down a bit, don’t worry
too much about how hard the test writers think a question is. Focus on the questions that are easiest for
you, and do your best to get those right before moving on to the tougher ones, no matter where they appear.
You Don’t Have to Finish
We’ve all been taught in school that when you take a test, you have to finish it. If you answered only two-
thirds of the questions on a high school math test, you probably wouldn’t get a very good grade. But as
we’ve already seen, the SAT is not at all like the tests you take in school. Most students don’t know about
the difference, so they make the mistake of doing all of the problems on both Math sections of the SAT.
Because they have only a limited amount of time to answer all the questions, most students rush through
the questions they think are easy to get to the harder ones as soon as possible. At first, it seems reasonable
to save more time for the more challenging questions, but think about how the test is scored for a minute.
All correct answers are worth the same amount, no matter how difficult they are or how long they take to
answer. So when students rush through a Math Test, they’re actually spending less time on the easier
questions (which they have a good chance of getting right), just so they can spend more time on the harder
questions (which they have very little chance of getting right). Does this make sense? Of course not.