SAT STUDY GUIDE
CONTENTS
1 TEST TAKING INFORMATION
i. How Can the SAT Serve You?
ii. What to Expect from this Guide
iii. The Digital SAT
iv. What to know about the test
v. How the SAT is organized
2. BEFORE TEST DAY
i. Registering for the test
3. PREPARE FOR THE SAT
i. Study Guide
ii. What the Reading and Writing Section Is Like
iii. What the Math Section Is Like
How Can the SAT Serve You?
When surveyed, more than 80% of students say they want the option to submit test
scores to colleges and universities. Most colleges and universities, including those that
are test optional, continue to value SAT scores as one part of the admissions process. By
taking the SAT®, you can apply to universities in the United States and around the world.
Taking the SAT is also a great way to find out how prepared you are for college, career, or
whatever your path after high school is.
Many students find that their test scores confirm their high school grades or can even
show their strengths beyond what their grades show.
What to Expect from This Guide
This SAT Student Guide includes everything you need to know before, during, and after
test day, such as:
• An introduction to digital testing.
• Registration and accommodation information..
• How to practice and prepare for the test.
• Details for how the test is structured.
• Lists of test day items and testing guidelines.
• How to understand and use your scores.
• The SAT Terms and Conditions.
THE DIGITAL SAT
The SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) is a standardized test used for college admissions in the United
States. It's designed to assess a student's readiness for college by measuring their skills in:
1. Reading: comprehension, vocabulary, and understanding of written passages
2. Writing and Language: grammar, syntax, style, and expression of ideas
3. Math: algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and data analysis
, The SAT is typically taken by high school juniors and seniors, and its scores are used by colleges and
universities as one factor in their admission decisions.
Here's a brief overview of the test format:
- Total testing time: 3 hours (optional essay section adds 50 minutes)
- Total questions: 154 (reading, writing, and math)
- Scoring:
- Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (ERW): 200-800
- Math: 200-800
- Total: 400-1600
The SAT is administered by the College Board, a non-profit organization, and is used by over 4,000
colleges and universities in the US.
What to Know About the Test
The SAT Suite continues to measure the skills and knowledge that students like you are learning in school and
that matter most for college and career readiness.
The SAT is scored on a 400-1600 point scale. The 2 sections of the SAT—(1) Reading and Writing and (2) Math-
include:
• Use of reading/writing passages that come from different subject areas and vary in difficulty level.
o Emphasis on showing command of evidence, both textual and quantitative.
o Emphasis on high-utility words and phrases in context.
o Focus on revising texts to improve the effectiveness of written expression, and meet specific rhetorical
goals.
o Measurement of ability to edit texts to follow core conventions of Standard English sentence structure,
usage, and punctuation.
o Focus on the math that matters most for college and career readiness and success.
o Math problems in (and out of) context.
o Use of both multiple-choice and student-produced response question formats in the Math section
The SAT is substantially shorter than its paper and pencil predecessor-with the Reading and Writing and Math
sections lasting 2 hours and 14 minutes instead of 3 hours. You have more time, on average, to answer each
question, meaning that, more so than ever before, the SAT measures your skills and knowledge, not test-taking
speed. The reading passages are shorter and have just 1 question each. Additionally, you can use a calculator
on the entire Math section (Bluebook includes a built-in Desmos graphing calculator).
How the SAT Is Organized
The SAT suite uses multistage adaptive testing. Both the Reading and Writing section and the Math section
are divided into 2 equal-length and separately timed parts, called modules.
The first module contains a mix of easy, medium, and hard questions. Based on how you perform on the first
module, the second module of questions will either be more difficult or less difficult overall, but will still contain a
mix of easy, medium, and hard questions.
Having a personalized test that adapts to your performance level results in a more efficient assessment of your
academic strengths. Additionally, you can navigate freely within each module by previewing upcoming questions
or returning to earlier questions (as time permits).
This type of adaptive testing allows for a much shorter, but just as reliable, assessment that delivers accurate
scores more efficiently.
The test breaks down like this:
