What's actually on the SAT math section?

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Accepted Answer

The math section is 44 questions across two 35-minute modules — 22 questions each. Most are multiple choice and roughly a quarter are student-produced responses you type in yourself. The content comes from four areas: algebra, advanced math, problem-solving and data analysis, and geometry and trigonometry, with the Desmos calculator and a reference sheet available the entire time. The four content areas are not evenly weighted, and knowing that changes where practice time goes. Algebra and advanced math carry about 35% of scored questions each — the bulk of the section — linear equations and systems, then nonlinear functions, quadratics, and exponential relationships. Problem-solving and data analysis covers ratios, rates, percentages, and reading data from tables and graphs. It and geometry and trigonometry are the two smallest domains, at roughly 15% of scored questions each. Student-produced responses — grid-ins — are where careless points go. There are no answer choices to check yourself against and no partial credit, so a correctly reasoned problem entered in the wrong form scores zero. Practice typing answers, not just solving, because the entry rules are specific and unforgiving. An answer has to fit in five characters, or six if it is negative and the minus sign eats one. Mixed numbers are rejected outright — 3½ has to be entered as 7/2 or 3.5. Percent signs, commas and dollar signs are not accepted. And a decimal that does not fit must be truncated or rounded at the fourth digit rather than earlier: for 2/3, .6667 and .6666 are accepted where 0.67 is marked wrong. The calculator is available for every math question, which is a real change from the paper test and is routinely misunderstood as meaning the calculator is always the fast path. It is not. Desmos is extremely strong on graphing and solving equations visually, and slower than mental math on simple arithmetic. The skill is knowing which questions are worth the twenty seconds of typing. The reference sheet with common geometry formulas is on screen throughout too, so memorizing area and volume formulas is a poor use of study time. What is worth memorizing is what is not on the sheet — the slope relationships, the quadratic behaviors, the exponent rules — because those are the ones you will need to recall cold.