The third question type explores your proficiency at synthesizing information. These questions,
comprising about 35 percent of the exam (30 questions), require you to infer and deduce from
qualitative and quantitative data, such as that which you might accumulate doing an experiment in
the laboratory, and then integrate that data to form conclusions. The data may be in paragraph
form, like those word problems you hated in fourth grade, or it may be in graph or chart form. These
questions also test your ability to recognize unstated assumptions, so you need to be prepared to
think about what is implied in the setup of the experiment or the question stem.
As you can see from the table on the previous page, the SAT Subject Test: Chemistry covers a broad
range of topics. It requires you to think about those topics in ways you may not have done before. As
a result, it’s likely that some test questions will be topics that you did not cover in your chemistry
class. Don’t be alarmed; there is so much to chemistry that you cannot possibly cover everything in a
year. If, while you are taking the diagnostic, you discover that there are areas you haven’t covered in
school, plan to spend a little extra time on those chapters that cover your areas of weakness.
BASIC SKILLS
Three basic skills are tested on the SAT Subject Test: Chemistry:While preparing for the exam, also make sure that you understand common algebraic concepts such
as ratios and proportions and, more important, can apply them to word problems and data
interpretation questions. You will not be allowed to use a calculator on this exam, but don’t worry;
the math should be nothing more than simple calculations—nothing more complicated than
multiplication or division.
Recalling information
Applying knowledge
Synthesizing information