oMore importantly, the high school transcript already does a pretty good job of indicating a student’s ability to answer traditional math questions.
A traditional test of advanced math wouldn’t let the College Board provide very useful data to colleges and universities. And it wouldn’t make any sense to come up with a traditional test of basic math, either, because far too many test-takers would do very well on that, and the results would be meaningless.
The College Board’s solution to this problem is actually kind of clever. They make sure that SAT Math questions only cover basic math topics, but they cover those basic topics in non-traditional ways. In this way, the College Board can be fairly certain that every test-taker has the potential to answer every question correctly—but only by thinking creatively, which keeps the results of the test interesting for colleges and universities.
In fact, let me say that last part again, in all caps, and centered, because it’s super important:
SAT MATH QUESTIONS TEST BASIC MATH IDEAS IN STRANGE WAYS.
That idea is the thing that most test-takers don’t realize. It’s the thing that causes so many people to spend so much time practicing math for the SAT with so little result. The way to get better at SAT Math isn’t to learn advanced math, because advanced math ideas don’t appear on the test. The way to get better is to learn to take apart SAT Math questions so you can understand which basic ideas are involved in each question.
For this reason, you’ll often find that the most challenging SAT Math questions can’t be solved with any of the formulas you normally use in math class. In general, SAT Math questions avoid formal solutions. If anything, you might even say that answering SAT Math questions is kind of a creative process, because we never know exactly what the next question will involve, even though we can know the general rules and principles underlying its design.
The Two Critical Components of SAT Math Success
Since the SAT Math section is all about basic math ideas presented in strange ways, there are two key areas of knowledge we’ll need to do well on the test:
oBasic knowledge of arithmetic, geometry, and algebra (including some basic graph-related ideas)
oA thorough understanding of the SAT’s unwritten rules, patterns, and quirks.
So you will need some math knowledge, of course, but you won’t need anything like trig, stats, or calculus, and you won’t have to memorize tons of formulas. Like I keep saying (and will continue to say), it’s much more important to focus on how the test is designed than to try to memorize formulas.
In a moment we’ll go through the “Math toolbox,” which is a list of math concepts that the SAT is allowed to incorporate when it makes up questions. After that, we’ll get into the SAT’s unwritten rules of math question design.
SAT Math Toolbox
In a moment, we’ll talk about how to attack the SAT Math section from a strategic perspective. But first, it’s important to make sure we know all the mathematical concepts the SAT is allowed to test (don’t worry, there aren’t that many of them).
If you already know all the concepts below, then you don’t need to go over them again. Instead, go to the next section and start learning how to attack the test.
If you’re not familiar with some of the concepts below, then take a few minutes to refresh yourself on them.
This concept review is designed to be as quick and painless as possible. If you feel that you’d like a little more of an explanation, the best thing to do is find somebody who’s good at math (a teacher, parent, or friend) and ask them to spend a little time explaining a few things to you.
This concept review might seem easier to you than the actual SAT Math section. That’s because the difficulty in SAT Math really comes from the setup of each problem, not from the concepts that the problem involves. The concepts in this review are the same concepts you’ll encounter in your practice and on the real test, but the real test often makes questions look harder than they really are by combining and disguising the underlying concepts in the questions.
For SAT Math, it’s not that important to have a thorough understanding of the underlying concepts. All you need is a quick, general familiarity with a few basic ideas. So that’s all we’ll spend time on.
Please note that this list is similar in some ways to chapters 14 through 18 of the College Board publication The Official SAT Study Guide, but my list is organized a little differently and presents the material in more discrete units. In addition, my list explains things in plainer language and omits some concepts that are redundant, making it easier to study.
As you’re going through this list, you may see concepts that aren’t familiar. Before you let yourself get confused, make sure you’ve read this list through TWICE. You’ll probably find that a lot of your confusion clears itself up on the second reading.