The Comprehensive SAT Breakdown

So, you’re preparing for the SAT, and you’d like to prepare. But… what do you actually prepare? What shows up on the SAT? How frequently do those topics appear? Do they always show up that often? Jumping into the deep end is intimidating.

Well, if you’re in the mood for specifics, we’ve got them! Based on every single 2021 SAT, we’ve got the data on how frequently every single question type shows up-and we’ve conveniently bundled them into packets that share core skills, so you can get a sense of how many total points they might be worth. Buckle in for the long haul, or jump right to the part you’re most interested in right away!

---

Reading Section

The first section you’ll face is the Reading section. It’s comprised of five passages, 52 questions, and a 65-minute time limit. All told, the Reading section makes up 400 points of your final score. Two of the passages will include charts and graphs, and a third will be made of a set of paired passages. The first passage will almost always be prose fiction, and the subsequent passages will be some combination of science and sociology (historical or political) passages-make sure you’re prepared to dive into some specific jargon! About half of the time, one of the sociology passages will be pre-1900s. These are often some of the most challenging passages to make it through, due to how differently they use language compared to the current vernacular. There are two main categories for the Reading section questions. Fact-Finding questions take up about two thirds of the test, and the remaining third is made up of Analysis questions.

Fact-Finding Questions (~67% of the Reading section) All of the fact-finding questions test the most straightforward aspect of your Reading ability; the capacity to read the passage accurately and derive specific information from it. Among these, the most frequent question type is Citing Evidence, which shows up an average of 9.6 times per test: it’s a full 18% of the Reading section.

Citing Evidence questions require you to go back into the passage and find some evidence for a claim. This is the most frequent question type in the entire test, and doesn’t show up at all on the ACT-if you’re good at it, that might be a sign that the SAT is for you! Citing Evidence questions give you a huge amount of specific information, so elimination strategies tend to be very powerful.

Occasionally, Citing Information questions stand on their own. However, most frequently, you’re backing up a claim made in a previous Explicit or Implicit Information question, which show up 5.8 and 6.6 times per test, respectively. Together, they make up about 23% of the Reading section.

Both of these questions are straightforward fact-finding questions-but they differ in their specifics:

-Explicit Information questions are stated as if they were an objective fact. The answer to them is written right out in the passage.

-Implicit Information questions are asked with gentler language, like “implied,” “suggested,” or “infer.” The answer to them is strongly implied in the passage, but it isn’t said outright.

Elimination strategies are ineffective for both of these question types: it’s easier to just find the relevant portion of the passage at hand and just find the right answer. Don’t overthink Implicit Information questions-it’s tempting to double-guess yourself, but they usually aren’t trying to trick you!

Words in Context questions are similarly common, although their frequency fluctuates quite a bit more. They show up about 7 times per test.

While this question type seems like a vocabulary question at first glance, they’re actually much more dependent on your ability to interpret the author’s intent. The crux of the question is that it doesn’t actually matter what the word means in a vacuum-rather, the question is asking you “Which of these questions, if they replaced the word in question, would mean the same thing?” Even if your vocabulary is a weak spot, steady practice and elimination strategies can increase your accuracy on this question type dramatically.

Quantitative Information questions are one of the least frequent fact-finding question… but they’re still more than 10% of the Reading section! This question type shows up about 5.4 times per test, but on most SATs, you should expect to see exactly 6.

Quantitative information questions rely on your ability to accurately interpret charts and graphs that accompany Science or Sociology passages. If you’re especially skilled at this question type and flourish in tight timing, you should consider taking the ACT: the Science section on that test is a full quarter of your final score, and is very similar to these questions. Make sure you’re not assuming anything when you try out these questions; it’s easy to read something into the data that it’s not actually saying!

Analysis Questions (~33% of the Reading section)

Analysis questions test your ability to go above and beyond basic fact-finding. You’ll often be called to understand the author’s intent and understand abstract connections. It’s vital to note that these questions have high variance in frequency; on one test, a question type might be very infrequent, but it might be much more common on the next. Even though these question types have low average frequency, make sure you’re prepared for all of them, since at least one of them will likely be much more common than it looks!

Among the most consistent and common of these question types are Analyzing Purpose questions, which show up 5.4 times per test.

These questions ask you to understand why the author makes specific word choices, what they hope to achieve with certain phrases, and what rhetorical devices they’re applying in a given situation. If you’re skilled at understanding the structure of a text, you’re likely to excel at this question type; a trait they share with Text Structure questions, which show up 2.4 times per test.

Text Structure questions are very similar to Analyzing Purpose questions-the largest distinction between them is one of scale. While Analyzing Purpose questions care about what the author is achieving with a specific paragraph, Text Structure cares more about how entire paragraphs function within the passage as a whole. Occasionally, you’ll also have to make judgements about how the entire passage was constructed!

Those macroscopic decisions have a lot in common with Central Idea questions, which are surprisingly infrequent-they only show up 3.2 times per test.

These are your archetypical main idea questions! If you’re able to annotate quickly and concisely, these questions will give you no trouble; the skills required to annotate well are exactly the skills at play here. These questions can ask you about either the main idea of the entire passage or just a given paragraph.

Multiple Text questions are particularly easy to identify-they always show up in the Paired Passages section! They show up an average of 3 times per test, and almost always show up exactly that number of times.

Multiple Text questions require you to effectively understand the main ideas and perspectives of both passages in order to understand how their authors’ opinions would compare and contrast. If you’re finding yourself getting lost in this question type, practice annotation; it trains you to develop your understanding of main ideas much more effectively than simply reading through passages.

These questions occasionally have some small overlap with Reasoning questions, an uncommon question type that shows up about 1.8 times per test.

Reasoning questions are similar to the ACT’s Science section; they ask you to look at the information provided in the passage and use your basis of scientific knowledge to analyze the technical language contained therein. If you feel stuck, elimination strategies tend to be effective in these question types: you might be able to gain information from the answer choices about what you should be thinking about.

The final variety of question in the Reading section is the Relationship question type. These questions are uncommon, showing up only 1.8 times per test, and are largely contained in the Prose Fiction passages.

Since Relationship questions are confined in the Prose Fiction passages, your ability to understand more artistic writing styles is on full display. The question type is straightforward: it’s all about identifying the relationships between characters. In more straightforward passages, this usually isn’t a huge issue, but when faced with a pre-1900s passage or a more abstract author, it can become a real challenge.

Reading Breakdown

• Citing Textual Evidence questions show up between 8 and 11 times per test, with an average frequency of 9.6.

• Words in Context questions show up between 5 and 9 times per test, with an average frequency of 7.

• Implicit Information questions show up between 5 and 8 times per test, with an average frequency of 6.6.

• Explicit Information questions show up between 5 and 7 times per test, with an average frequency of 5.8.

• Analyzing Purpose questions show up between 4 and 7 times per test, with an average frequency of 5.4.

• Quantitative Information questions show up between 4 and 6 times per test, with an average frequency of 5.4.

• Central Idea questions show up between 1 and 4 times per test, with an average frequency of 3.2.

• Multiple Texts questions show up between 2 and 4 times per test, with an average frequency of 3.

• Text Structure questions show up between 1 and 5 times per test, with an average frequency of 2.4.

• Reasoning questions show up between 1 and 4 times per test, with an average frequency of 1.8.

• Relationship questions show up between 1 and 2 times per test, with an average frequency of 1.8.

Writing Section

You get a much-needed 10-minute break after the Reading section… and then it’s on to Writing! The 44 questions of the Writing section are divided evenly among four passages, and contribute 400 points to your final score. You only have 35 minutes to finish the entire section, but timing usually isn’t a concern in this section. Unlike the Reading section, most of the questions asked don’t need you to read the passage as a whole.

Around half of the Writing section is made up of Grammar questions, while the other half features Analysis questions. Both types of question have a wide spread of question types, and even a few niche question types that aren’t guaranteed to show up on every test.

Grammar Questions (~55% of the Writing section)

Grammar questions, unsurprisingly, test your understanding of English grammar. Around 13 of these questions-or 30% of the Writing section-hinge on your knowledge of punctuation and clauses. The vast majority of students do not have a strong understanding of these topics; the best they can do is go with their gut instinct. The most difficult element of these questions is identifying the question type. Since grammar questions don’t have an explicit prompt, you have to piece together the topic at hand based solely on the answer choices. If you’re willing to put in the work here, you can get a real edge on your cohort.

Of the clause-based question types, the most common is Verb Tense and Subject-Verb Agreement, which shows up around 4 times per test.

You may be wondering why these are clumped together-they sound like two completely separate question types! Well, Subject-Verb Agreement has some mechanical issues that make it hard to work into the SAT’s format. There are only two real ways to present the agreement of the sentence: the verb can be plural or singular. But the SAT needs to fill out another two question choices… so they often fill the gap with various tenses. That said, Verb Tense questions can show up on their own, so don’t disregard these answer choices out of hand!

As we see in the question above, Subject-Verb Agreement can become substantially harder when it’s combined with Nonessential Elements-a topic that most students don’t have even a basic understanding of. These questions show up on their own about 3.6 times per test.

Nonessential Elements questions hinge on the use of commas (and, more rarely, em-dashes). Effectively recognizing nonessential elements usually takes a substantial amount of practice, but a basic heuristic for identifying them is the question “If I remove this section, do I still have a complete sentence?” Make sure that your nonessential elements are flanked by commas!

On the note of punctuation-based questions, Colons and Semicolons show up around 3 times per test.

Both of these pieces of punctuation may look intimidating at first glimpse, but both are relatively easy to work with; unlike commas, there are only two or three ways to use each of them. On the SAT, there will almost always be a full independent clause before either a colon or a semicolon, and you will almost never follow either with a coordinating conjunction (see below for details). That said, there is a rare situation where this is allowed-if you want to make sure you’re in the know, brush up on some more esoteric situations with lists!

Coordination and Subordination have two key elements: conjunctions and clauses. These questions show up about 2.2 times per test.

Coordination combines two independent clauses (which can stand as a sentence on its own) with the aid of a comma and a coordinating conjunction: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, or so. These are frequently remembered with the “FANBOYS” acronym; if you’re worried about retaining them, give it a shot! Subordination, however, deals with the combination of an independent clause and a dependent clause. Look out for dependent clauses-students often think of them as “not a full sentence on its own,” but that leads to them confusing dependent clauses with nonessential information. A better question to identify dependent clauses is “If I remove the first word or two from this sentence, does it become an independent clause?” Dependent clauses have the same structure as independent clauses-they just start with a subordinating conjunction, such as "when." You can see an example in the question above!

The remaining grammar-based questions have less of a unifying structure. The most common among them are Precision questions, which show up 4.4 times per test.

This is the closest to a vocabulary question that the SAT features. There are two major variants of this question. In the first, all four answer choices will be reasonable choices for the sentence at hand. However, one of the words will be slightly more appropriate for the context; it will carry the appropriate connotations for what the author is trying to convey. This type of question is especially difficult for non-native speakers!

The other sub-type of this question is commonly confused words. You might be asked to choose between than and then, or affect and effect-or, if the test is feeling a bit spicier, between peek, peak, pick, and pique! If your vocabulary is good, these questions won’t usually be too large of a hurdle-but if it’s lacking, you might want to make some flash cards to study some of the most commonly confused words.

Concision is, perhaps, the least fair question type on the SAT… until you learn about it. Luckily, it only shows up 2.6 times per test.

The gist of Concision questions is “the fewer words, the better.” If you can convey the same concept in 5 words instead of 7, so long as both answer choices are grammatically correct, the former is better! Once you know that concision is something you have to care about, the question type isn’t frequently an issue, but the test never clarifies that it’s something you have to care about. If you aren’t in the know, these questions often feel like a random guess, since none of the answer choices are ”wrong!”

Speaking of questions that can feel unfair, Pronoun questions, which show up around 2 questions per test, have a few contentious elements to them.

Most of these questions are straightforward, if difficult. Difficult pronoun questions might hinge on unclear pronoun antecedent, where a pronoun cannot be used because it could refer to multiple possible antecedents. If the test authors are feeling particularly persnickety, they might also include some uncommon agreements; for instance, “The PTA,” in the above example, is referred to as “it,” rather than “they,” as “The PTA” is a singular object, even though it is comprised of multiple people.

A touchier point, however, is “they.” In vernacular English, “they” can be used to refer to a single person of unspecified gender. However, this has traditionally not been the case on the SAT, which mandated the usage of “He or She” instead. In 2019, the official Collegeboard Twitter account claimed that they would not assess the use of the singular “they” in their content, but what their intent in that statement is somewhat vague. At the very least, in all of the SATs we analyzed for this analysis, there were no questions where it was appropriate to use EITHER “They” or “He or She” in Pronoun questions. It’s possible-but not confirmed-that the SAT is simply not currently testing on this distinction, despite the option showing up in the answer choices. We’ll be careful to keep careful note of Collegeboard’s stance going forward!

There are a few question types that occasionally crop up, but which aren’t guaranteed to: Possessives, Misplaced Modifiers, and Logical Comparisons, which showed up 1.2, 0.6, and 0.4 times per test, respectively.

Possessives tend to be on the easy side of questions-just make sure you understand the edge scenarios, such as how “ its’ “ is always incorrect, and how it’s possible to have s’s in proper nouns, such as “Charles’s.” Once you have the fundamentals down, it’s hard to go astray.

Misplaced Modifiers are relatively easy to identify; they feature the exact same words, just organized in different ways. Modifying statements have to be placed right next to what they’re modifying-and, while this seems like an easy principle to follow, the questions are often dizzying, due to how long the answer choices can get. In addition, you have to accurately interpret what the sentence at hand is trying to say; a dizzying task, when all the answer choices tend to sound somewhat reasonable.

Logical Comparisons are all about comparing apples to oranges in the most pedantic fashion possible. For instance, saying “I prefer buying Company A’s stocks than Company B” is incorrect: the first item is a stock, but the second is an entire company! Similarly, you might encounter issues with parallelism; “I searched in the bed, under the sink, and the cupboard” is incorrect because the cupboard is missing a location word. You might fix it by searching in the cupboard!

Analysis Questions (~45% of the Writing section)

In the Writing section, Analysis questions have less to do with sentence-by-sentence grammar and more to do with your ability to analyze and edit effectively. These questions have to do with your ability to find the main ideas of paragraphs, effectively write conclusions, combine sentences, and decide if sentences should be a part of an essay to begin with! While the Reading section doesn’t put much of an emphasis on finding the main idea of a paragraph or passage, it’s a vital skill for about 23% of the questions on the Writing section.

First and foremost among the main-idea question types are the Arguments question type, which shows up on approximately 3 questions per test.

These questions require you to follow the fundamental logic of the passage and choose an answer choice that supports it. These questions might explicitly ask you a question that makes it clear what they want, or they might present four answer choices that each provide a different spin on the remainder of the sentence. Reading the entirety of the passage often feels like it isn’t mandatory in the Writing section, but answering these questions without doing so will often be a struggle.

As we can see above, there is often quite a bit of overlap with Topic Sentence questions, which show up about 2.8 times per test.

You’ll almost always have a prompt to guide you through these questions, and it’ll make the scope of what you’re looking for clear. Each paragraph is usually about a single topic, so don’t get distracted by short tangents-look right for the heart of the matter!

Understanding the main idea of paragraphs is also key to Adding and Deleting Sentences, which make up around 2.2 questions per test.

These questions will either ask if you should add or delete a specified sentence; on your end, you’ll be asked to agree or disagree with the decision, then justify why. Don’t be afraid to cut sentences aggressively-just as we said above, each paragraph is only about a single topic, and if the sentence at hand diverges from that topic, it often shouldn’t make the cut.

The counterpart to Topic Sentence questions, Conclusions show up about 1.4 times per test.

While Topic Sentence questions usually exist on the scale of paragraphs, Conclusions usually test your ability to interpret the main idea of the passage as a whole. Usually, you’ll have to facilitate the passage coming to a satisfying close by making sure the main idea of the entire passage is included at the end of a passage. If you’re running low on time and need a shortcut, make sure to check out the title of the passage; it often works as a hint!

The final main-idea style question in the Writing section are Organization questions. These aren’t guaranteed to show up, but usually show up about 1 time per test.

Organization questions ask you where a specific sentence should be placed in a paragraph. Said sentence might already be part of the passage, or it might be described as part of the question. Make sure to look for which questions or topics should come before or after the sentence at hand; for instance, if the sentence introduces someone for the first time, we shouldn’t see their name earlier in the passage!

The remaining question types have a more tangential relationship with main ideas-but Transitions, which show up 3.6 times per test, still occasionally interact with them.

These questions take two forms. The first is to simply present you with a list of transition words between two sentences! Each of the transition words will convey a different relationship between the sentences-choosing the one that works best is key. The other variant is what you might think of when you hear the word “transition.” These questions test you on the transitions between paragraphs. It’s necessary to have a strong grasp of the main idea of each paragraph involved-make sure to read them fully.

Combining Sentences questions are also relatively common, showing up around 3 times per test.

These questions exist somewhere near the middle of the spectrum between Grammar and Analysis questions; both contribute challenges. Expect to show off your knowledge about Subordination and Coordination, as well as Colons and Semicolons. However, you’ll often have to incorporate some of your understanding of Transitions; making sure you link the sentences in a fashion that strengthens their relationship is key. Occasionally, you might even have the option to not combine the sentences-and, if they really shouldn’t be combined, you might consider selecting that option!

Making a repeat performance from the Reading section, Quantitative Information questions show up about 2.2 times per test in the Writing section.

These questions function very similarly to how they do in the Reading section-they hinge on your ability to accurately interpret charts and graphs. However, in the Writing section, you’ll be expected to work the data into the passage at hand! Harder variants of this question might give you multiple reasonable answers, but only one that actually strengthens the argument of the passage. If you’re having trouble with this question type, elimination strategies are more powerful here than they are in most of the Writing section!

The final-and least common-question type in the Writing section is Style and Tone questions. These odd questions show up about 0.8 times per test.

Similarly to Concision questions, all the answer choices in Style and Tone questions are grammatically correct. However, rather than looking for the shortest answer choice, you’re looking for one that’s written in a fashion similar to the rest of the article. If you’re having trouble narrowing the answers down, a good starting point is looking for how formal the answer choices are. If they’re using common slang, they’re probably not a good fit for the passage, and if they’re obnoxiously verbose and formal, they’re also less likely to be a good fit.

Writing Breakdown

• Precision questions show up between 2 and 6 times per test, with an average frequency of 4.4.

• Verb Tense and Agreement questions show up between 3 and 5 times per test, with an average frequency of 4.

• Nonessential Elements questions show up between 3 and 6 times per test, with an average frequency of 3.6.

• Transition questions show up between 2 and 5 times per test, with an average frequency of 3.6.

• Combining Sentences questions show up between 2 and 4 times per test, with an average frequency of 3.

• Colons and Semicolons questions show up between 2 and 5 times per test, with an average frequency of 3.

• Arguments questions show up between 1 and 5 times per test, with an average frequency of 3.

• Topic Sentences questions show up between 1 and 6 times per test, with an average frequency of 2.8.

• Concision questions show up between 1 and 6 times per test, with an average frequency of 2.6.

• Coordination and Subordination questions show up between 1 and 5 times per test, with an average frequency of 2.2.

• Quantitative Information questions show up between 2 and 3 times per test, with an average frequency of 2.2.

• Adding and Deleting Sentences questions show up between 2 and 3 times per test, with an average frequency of 2.2.

• Pronoun Errors questions show up between 1 and 3 times per test, with an average frequency of 2.

• Conclusion questions show up between 1 and 4 times per test, with an average frequency of 1.4.

• Possessives questions show up between 0 and 2 times per test, with an average frequency of 1.2.

• Organization questions show up between 0 and 3 times per test, with an average frequency of 1.

• Style and Tone questions show up between 0 and 2 times per test, with an average frequency of 0.8.

• Misplaced Modifiers questions show up between 0 and 2 times per test, with an average frequency of 0.6.

• Logical Comparisons questions show up between 0 and 2 times per test, with an average frequency of 0.4.

Math Section

The final two sections on the SAT are the Math sections-both Calculator and No Calculator. The prior gives you 25 minutes for 20 questions; the latter, 65 minutes for 38 questions. Between the two sections, you get your second break of the test-but only for five minutes. Together, these two sections contribute 800 points to your final score-a full half of the total. It doesn’t matter which section you make mistakes in; both deduct from the same pool of points.

Timing is frequently an issue in these sections. As a general rule of thumb, you should aim to go at about a pace of a minute per question through the first half of each test; the questions get harder as you go, so you’ll want a time buffer by the end of the test. In addition, the last few questions (the last 5 of No Calculator and last 8 of Calculator) are free response questions, where you’ll have to bubble in up to four-digit numbers, rather than being given a choice between A through D.

About 40% of the Math section’s questions are based on Functions: linear, quadratic, exponential, the works. Another third of the test is made up of Equation questions. These usually have to do with your understanding of algebraic manipulation and PEMDAS. 15% of the test is comprised of Statistics knowledge, but these questions only ever show up in the Calculator section. Finally, the remainder of the test is comprised of Geometry, so make sure you’re not dropping the ball on triangles or trigonometry!

Functions (~42% of the Math section)

Function questions reward you for your breadth and depth of knowledge. There are countless formulas related to high-school level function; and the more you know, the better you’ll do. However, just knowing the formulas isn’t enough. If you don’t understand what and why the formulas achieve what they do, you’re likely to be left in the lurch when you encounter word problems. Understanding is just as important as memorization!

The most common question type in the Math section, bar none, is Linear Equations, which comes up 7.4 times per test.

These questions aren’t terribly difficult-but they’re so common that you had better make sure you’ve got your understanding of them down pat! Point-Slope Form, finding x-intercepts, determining the equation of a line based off of a graph… if you can imagine it, the SAT’s willing to ask a question about it. The concepts in Linear Equations are occasionally relevant in other questions as well, so the more skilled you are at this question type, the greater the rewards you’ll reap.

The next step up from linear equations is the next most common: Quadratics. These parabolic functions show up about 4.6 times per test.

Once again, parabolas are a topic where your knowledge is expected to be encyclopedic. Make sure you’re able to find the vertex effectively, whether in Standard, Factored, or Vertex form! This question type overlaps somewhat with Equations-you’ll frequently be asked to solve a quadratic equation. However, the process is identical to finding the x-intercepts of a parabola; get everything to one side and factor! Rarely, you might see answer choices featuring imaginary numbers. If you do, the Quadratic Formula is your best friend-it may be long and obnoxious, but it’s much easier than trying to think imaginary roots through.

Exponential Growth questions are surprisingly common; they show up 3.8 times per test.

You’ll only need to know Simple Interest formula on the SAT-Compound Interest, whether monthly or continuously, aren’t major features. However, you may be called upon to employ some other, more advanced techniques: solving for t and deriving the equation of an exponential graph based on a picture of it (which you can see above!). The former is easy enough if you’ve brushed up on your log properties, but the latter is a common sticking point. If you’re skilled at guess-and-check, however, you can usually get through the question quickly and easily without having to develop your knowledge too far.

On the note of finding information based on graphs, Charts and Graphs questions show up 3.2 times per test.

Rather than testing your ability to gain information from the equation of a function, these questions ask you to learn from its graph. Usually, you won’t do very much computation in these questions-rather, you’ll have to identify the key phenomena of the graph and use it to answer word problems. Make certain to pay careful attention to the labels of the x and y-axes: you don’t want to get thrown off because the graph is starting at 50 up, rather than 0!

Scatterplots, which show up 2.4 times per test, test the exact same skillset.

While Scatterplots may look somewhat more intimidating that Charts and Graphs questions, they don’t demand much more in the way of skills. If you’re able to approximate what the line of best fit should be, then you’re set to go on these questions! Even if you aren’t comfortable doing so, Scatterplot questions only show up in the Calculator section, so as a last resort, you can rely on using your graphing calculator’s Table functions to find the line of best fit.

The trickiest function that commonly shows up is the Circle. These questions are uncommon, only showing up 1.6 times per test, but they frequently demand higher-order math skills to navigate.

While Circles can show up as geometry questions, they’re much more prominent as functions. You should expect that you’ll need to find the center and radius of a circle based on its equation-but the questions won’t always give the equation to you in Vertex Form. On about 50% of SATs, you’ll be given a circle in Standard Form-and then you’ll be expected to find its vertex or radius. This is an involved process that includes completing the square; one of the most common weaknesses in students.

The least common Function question type is Nonlinear Functions, which only show up 1.2 times per test.

Nonlinear Functions refer to both higher-order polynomials and rational functions. In both, factoring is key-it’s necessary to find the x-intercepts of the former and the asymptotes and holes of the latter. Occasionally, this will require you to factor four-item polynomials. These questions appear to be incredibly troublesome, but there will usually be some easier method to factor than guess and check; factoring by grouping is a common example. These questions don’t usually ask for a great degree of system mastery, but they do require you to understand the basics-and students who are weaker in Math usually lack those basics.

Equations (~32% of the Math section)

Equation questions test your fundamental understanding of algebra. If you have a lockdown on fractions, powers and radicals, and so on and so forth, you’ll be in good hands for this section-it’ll only have a few question types that throw curveballs at you. However, if your fundamentals are lacking, you’ll struggle with consistency on these questions-and that’ll be reflected in your score.

The most common Equation question is, once again, the simplest: One-Variable Equations, which show up about 5 times per test.

To put it bluntly, these questions are simpler than anything else on the test. The Math sections tend to start with very easy questions, and that’s where these questions dwell. That said, they can and will throw harder variants of these questions at you-notably, whenever fractions are involved, students tend to lose a lot of consistency. That said, if you understand your basic algebraic tools, these questions are mostly important as a way for you to save time for the harder parts of the test.

Two-Variable Equations, on the other hand, tend to be a touch trickier-and much rarer, as they only show up 1.4 times per test.

The crux of these questions is that you’ll have a single equation-but more than one variable. As such, in normal circumstances, you won’t be able to actually find those variables. You’ll have to turn to crafty tricks to manipulate the equation to what the question is asking you for to solve some of these. For the others, the “variables” will actually be constants-and, depending on the situation, you might be able to find multiple constants with a given equation. A common example of this is in equations with complex numbers. Since each side needs to have an equal amount of real and imaginary numbers, you can potentially find up to two constants from a single equation.

The last of the fundamental Equation type questions is Systems of Equations. These lengthy questions show up 4 times per test.

If the words “Elimination” and “Substitution” are ringing a bell, then you’ve probably got the basics of this question type down. However, there are many ways in which these questions can hamper you beyond just accuracy. Most students take a long time on Systems of Equations, which is fatal in a timed test. However, if you have sufficient system mastery, these questions will often present a way to solve them very quickly; one or two questions on each test tend to have one-step solutions via creative use or Elimination or Substitution. See if you can complete the question above in just a single step!

While the previous question types are very math-focused, Dimensional Analysis questions, which show up 4.8 times per test, reward a more science-focused mentality.

These questions are defined by their use of units, which are otherwise a non-feature on the SAT. As a general strategy, you’ll want to string together elaborate chains of units, cancelling out everything except for the units which you want-at which point, you’re done with the question. If you’ve taken Chemistry lately, this question type is unlikely to pose much of a challenge! That said, always make sure to look out for mixed units. The SAT underlines mismatched units like inches versus feet, but it’s shockingly easy to look over this during the time pressure and stress of a real test. Look out for mistakes on questions that you know how to answer!

Powers and Radicals are a sticking point for some students-especially the latter. These tricky questions show up about 1.4 times per test.

Students are often used to simple situations involving Powers and Radicals-however, when the situation becomes a little more complex, some discover that their knowledge was just a thin veneer covering a void of ignorance. Harder Power and Radicals questions tend to deal with properly distributing and partially evaluating powers and roots. Knowledge of when you can and can’t evaluate a radical is key. As a general rule of thumb, if your radical has a plus or minus sign embedded in it, you’re stuck without doing something a bit more inventive.

Just like Powers and Radicals, Solving for a Variable, which appears about 1 time per test, isn’t inherently all that difficult-but students can have some trouble identifying what to do.

Solving for a Variable requires you to isolate one specific variable, given an equation. The mechanical operations required aren’t much more complicated than those required by One-Variable Equations-but some students tie themselves in knots when faced with too many variables at a time. There are a few tricks the question type can pull on students, as well. Foremost among them is a shenanigan with the answer choices: occasionally (as in the above equation), the answer choices will be presented as an expression, rather than an equation, which has the appearance of making the variable you’re solving for “disappear.” It’s not actually gone, though-it’s equal to the entire remainder of the answer choice.

The final-and least comfortable-Equation question type is Absolute Value, which shows up about 1 time per test.

The first steps to solving Absolute Value equations is identical to the process necessary for Solving for a Variable; this time, however, you’re solving for the entire absolute value expression, rather than a single variable. Most Absolute Value questions will have two solutions, but there are rare situations that might result in one or zero solutions-make sure to check your answers by plugging them back in at the end to ensure that they’re not extraneous! On extremely rare occasions, you may see questions like the one above. Don’t get flustered-break it apart into two equations, as normal, and you’ll make it through. Just remember that if the x values cancel out, it’s an extraneous solution!

Statistics (~15% of the Math section)

Statistics questions cover your understanding of probability, percentages, and measures of center-mean, median, and mode. The math involved in these questions is usually on the simple side, but the language used is especially precise. Due to this, it’s much easier to take incorrect steps on these questions, even if you have the requisite surface-level knowledge. All Statistics questions exclusively show up in the Calculator section of the test.

The most common Statistics question type is Measures of Center, which shows up around 4 times per test.

These questions test your knowledge on mean, median, mode, range, and standard deviation. The SAT expects you to be able to calculate the first four, but standard deviation is a little too complicated to calculate by hand-so long as you understand that the higher the standard deviation is, the more spread out the data set is, you’re good to go. Questions on this topic that involve calculations are usually on the easier side, but conceptual questions can get into more interesting topics, such as “Is it most appropriate to use mean, median, or mode for this data set?”

Percentages are slightly less common, showing up 3 times per test.

Percents employ the most precise use of language: the distinction between 15% higher than a number, compared to 15% of a number is vital, for instance. While almost all students know how to make percent changes, a fair proportion have a two-step process. Learning how to make percent changes in a single step is useful not just for timing, but also for some of the most difficult Percent questions.

Probability is closely related to Percentages, but is slightly less common: it only shows up 2 times per test.

The SAT has much simpler Probability questions than the ACT: you won’t need to worry about combinatorics or conditional probability here. These questions can either be grounded in real-life situations, like rolling dice, or can deal with entirely hypothetical numbers. The most important concept to understand about probability is that every event is independent: even if you flip a coin 10 times and get heads every time, the next flip still has a 50% chance of being heads.

Geometry (~10% of the Math section)

Geometry questions predominantly have to do with circles, triangles, quadrilaterals, and trigonometry. Other polygons can occasionally show up-but they’re rare outliers, rather than the rule. These questions don’t make up a large proportion of the test, but they often ask for a higher degree of subject mastery than most other sections of the test.

Geometry questions are, unsurprisingly, the most common of these question types, showing up 2.2 times per test.

Simpler Geometry questions might test you on your knowledge of area or perimeter of various shapes. However, the hardest Geometry questions deal with the intersection between ratios and area. Namely, if the side lengths of any two-dimensional shape are multiplied by a factor, the area is multiplied by that factor squared. This concept can occasionally also emerge in Dimensional Analysis questions: for instance, there are 144 square inches in 1 square foot.

Triangle and Trigonometry questions, which show up around 2 times per test, are a strong candidate for the question type with the most depth on the entire SAT.

While these questions don’t show up frequently, they can cover a dizzying amount of subject matter: area, perimeter, basic trigonometry, the Unit Circle, the Law of Sines… the list goes on and on. A particularly common question type hinges on a difficult realization: if x is one angle in a right triangle, “90 - x” must refer to the other angle. Given that, can you figure out how to answer the above question without doing any calculations?

Ratios have some degree of overlap with a number of different question types, from Geometry to Dimensional Analysis. However, on their own, they show up about 1.6 times per test.

There are two major families of ratio questions: basic questions that are asking you to express a ratio, and those that ask you to use a ratio to extrapolate. The former are the simpler by far; they ask the test-taker to express a relationship as a fraction. There’s often little room for confusion in these more basic questions. The latter require the use of the sum of all of the terms in the ratio. As a basic example, if you’re told that you have a ratio of 8 yellow balls for every 3 green balls, then you know that out of every set of 11 balls, 8 will be yellow and 3 will be green.

Math Breakdown

• Linear Equations questions show up between 6 and 9 times per test, with an average frequency of 7.4.

• One-Variable Equations questions show up between 4 and 6 times per test, with an average frequency of 5.

• Dimensional Analysis questions show up between 3 and 7 times per test, with an average frequency of 4.8.

• Quadratics questions show up between 4 and 6 times per test, with an average frequency of 4.6.

• Systems of Equations questions show up between 3 and 5 times per test, with an average frequency of 4.

• Measures of Center questions show up between 3 and 5 times per test, with an average frequency of 4.

• Exponential Growth questions show up between 3 and 5 times per test, with an average frequency of 3.8.

• Charts and Graphs questions show up between 2 and 4 times per test, with an average frequency of 3.2.

• Percentages questions show up between 2 and 4 times per test, with an average frequency of 3.

• Scatterplots questions show up between 2 and 3 times per test, with an average frequency of 2.4.

• Geometry questions show up between 1 and 4 times per test, with an average frequency of 2.2.

• Triangles and Trigonometry questions show up between 1 and 3 times per test, with an average frequency of 2.

• Probability questions show up between 1 and 3 times per test, with an average frequency of 2.

• Circle questions show up between 1 and 2 times per test, with an average frequency of 1.6.

• Ratio questions show up between 1 and 2 times per test, with an average frequency of 1.6.

• Two-Variable Equations questions show up between 1 and 2 times per test, with an average frequency of 1.4.

• Powers and Radicals questions show up between 1 and 2 times per test, with an average frequency of 1.4.

• Nonlinear Functions questions show up between 0 and 2 times per test, with an average frequency of 1.2.

• Solving for a Variable questions show up 1 time per test, with an average frequency of 1.

• Absolute Value questions show up between 0 and 2 times per test, with an average frequency of 1.

---