is there still an essay in the sat

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Hi! I've heard mixed information about the SAT essay. Does the current SAT still include an essay section or has it been removed? I'd appreciate any clarity on this!

Hello! The SAT has undergone a range of changes lately, and in June 2021, the College Board eliminated the optional Essay section from the SAT. This means that the current SAT no longer includes an essay portion, and you'll only be assessed on the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and Math sections. With this change, it's essential to focus on maximizing your scores in these two sections to demonstrate your academic abilities to colleges and universities.

Additionally, many colleges now place greater emphasis on personal statements and supplemental essays in their evaluation of your writing abilities instead of turning to your SAT Essay score. To make sure your essays are as strong as possible, consider utilizing CollegeVine's Free Peer Essay Review Tool, or submitting your essay for a paid review by an expert college admissions advisor through CollegeVine's marketplace.

Best of luck with your SAT!

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The Optional SAT Essay: What to Know

Tackling this section of the SAT requires preparation and can boost some students' college applications.

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Even though an increasing number of colleges are dropping standardized test requirements, students who must write the SAT essay can still stand to gain from doing so.

Although the essay portion of the SAT became optional in 2016, many students still chose to write it to demonstrate strong or improved writing skills to prospective colleges.

In June 2021, the College Board opted to discontinue the SAT essay. Now, only students in a few states and school districts still have access to — and must complete — the SAT essay. This requirement applies to some students in the SAT School Day program, for instance, among other groups.

How Colleges Use SAT, ACT Results

Tiffany Sorensen Sept. 14, 2020

Whether or not to write the SAT essay is not the biggest decision you will have to make in high school, but it is certainly one that requires thought on your part. Here are three things you should know about the 50-minute SAT essay as you decide whether to complete it:

• To excel on the SAT essay, you must be a trained reader.
• The SAT essay begs background knowledge of rhetoric and persuasive writing.
• A growing number of colleges are dropping standardized test requirements.

To Excel on the SAT Essay, You Must Be a Trained Reader

The SAT essay prompt never comes unaccompanied. On the contrary, it follows a text that is about 700 words long or approximately one page. Before test-takers can even plan their response, they must carefully read and – ideally – annotate the passage.

The multifaceted nature of the SAT essay prompt can be distressing to students who struggle with reading comprehension. But the good news is that this prompt is highly predictable: It always asks students to explain how the author builds his or her argument. In this case, "how” means which rhetorical devices are used, such as deductive reasoning, metaphors, etc.

Luckily, the author’s argument is usually spelled out in the prompt itself. For instance, consider this past SAT prompt : “Write an essay in which you explain how Paul Bogard builds an argument to persuade his audience that natural darkness should be preserved.”

Due to the essay prompt’s straightforward nature, students should read the passage with an eye toward specific devices used by the author rather than poring over “big ideas.” In tour SAT essay, aim to analyze at least two devices, with three being even better.

The SAT Essay Begs Background Knowledge of Rhetoric and Persuasive Writing

Since your SAT essay response must point to specific rhetorical devices that the author employs to convince the reader, you should make it a point to intimately know 10-15 common ones. The more familiar you are with rhetorical devices, the faster you will become at picking them out as you read texts.

Once you have read the passage and identified a handful of noteworthy rhetorical devices, you should apply many of the same essay-writing techniques you already use in your high school English classes.

For instance, you should start by brainstorming to see which devices you have the most to say about. After that, develop a concise thesis statement, incorporate quotes from the text, avoid wordiness and other infelicities of writing, close with an intriguing conclusion, and do everything else you could imagine your English teacher advising you to do.

Remember to always provide evidence from the text to support your claims. Finally, leave a few minutes at the end to review your essay for mistakes.

A Growing Number of Colleges Are Dropping Standardized Test Requirements

In recent years, some of America’s most prominent colleges and universities – including Ivy League institutions like Harvard University in Massachusetts, Princeton University in New Jersey and Yale University in Connecticut – have made submission of ACT and SAT scores optional.

While this trend began as early as 2018, the upheaval caused by COVID-19 has prompted many other schools to adopt a more lenient testing policy, as well.

Advocates for educational fairness have long expressed concerns that standardized admissions tests put underprivileged students at a disadvantage. In light of the coronavirus pandemic , which restricted exam access for almost all high school students, colleges have gotten on board with this idea by placing more emphasis on other factors in a student’s application.

To assess writing ability in alternative ways, colleges now place more emphasis on students’ grades in language-oriented subjects, as well as college application documents like the personal statement .

The fact that more colleges are lifting their ACT/SAT requirement does not imply that either test or any component of it is now obsolete. Students who must write the SAT essay can still stand to gain from doing so, especially those who wish to major in a writing-intensive field. The essay can also demonstrate a progression or upward trajectory in writing skills.

The SAT essay can give a boost to the college applications of the few students to whom it is still available. If the requirement applies to you, be sure to learn more about the SAT essay and practice it often as you prepare for your upcoming SAT.

13 Test Prep Tips for SAT and ACT Takers

Tags: SAT , standardized tests , students , education

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Stressed about getting into college? College Admissions Playbook, authored by Varsity Tutors , offers prospective college students advice on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses, SAT and ACT exams and the college application process. Varsity Tutors, an advertiser with U.S. News & World Report, is a live learning platform that connects students with personalized instruction to accelerate academic achievement. The company's end-to-end offerings also include mobile learning apps, online learning environments and other tutoring and test prep-focused technologies. Got a question? Email [email protected] .

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SAT Discontinues Subject Tests And Optional Essay

Elissa Nadworny

Eda Uzunlar

Updated at 5:03 p.m. ET

The College Board announced on Tuesday that it will discontinue the optional essay component of the SAT and that it will no longer offer subject tests in U.S. history, languages and math, among other topics. The organization, which administers the college entrance exam in addition to several other tests, including Advanced Placement exams, will instead focus efforts on a new digital version of the SAT.

In the announcement, the organization cited the coronavirus pandemic for these changes: "The pandemic accelerated a process already underway at the College Board to reduce and simplify demands on students."

College entrance exams have had a hard go of it during the pandemic. Many in-person testing dates for the SAT were canceled because of social distancing needs and closed high school buildings; a previous digital version of the SAT was scrapped in June after technical difficulties; and hundreds of colleges have removed the exam from admissions requirements , in some cases permanently.

Few colleges require the optional writing portion of the SAT or the subject tests, though students can still submit them to supplement their college applications. The AP exams have become far more important in demonstrating mastery of subjects and, in some cases, providing college credit.

The Coronavirus Crisis

Colleges are backing off sat, act scores — but the exams will be hard to shake.

"Removing the subject tests can remove a barrier for students," says Ashley L. Bennett, director of college counseling at KIPP Sunnyside High School in Houston. But, she adds, "I believe that standardized testing in general needs to be less emphasized in the college search process."

Elizabeth Heaton advises families about college admissions at College Coach in Watertown, Mass. She thinks the changes could help put some students on a more level playing field. "For students who aren't getting great advising, it is nice to see that they haven't been eliminated from competition just by virtue of not having a test that they may not have known about."

But Catalina Cifuentes, who works to promote college access in Riverside County, east of Los Angeles, has reservations. She worries that removing the SAT subject tests will create more barriers for her students, rather than less.

"Hundreds of my students take the subject tests in Spanish and other languages because it provides them an opportunity to show their understanding of a second language," explains Cifuentes.

Many of her students speak a second language at home and would be the first in their family to go to college.

She says her college-bound students often enroll in the University of California and California State University systems, which both require two years of coursework in another language for admission. The SAT foreign-language tests sometimes filled that requirement, but the removal of these exams means Cifuentes will have to shift gears.

"We will need to work closely with our world language teachers to expand on ideas ... for students who already read, write and speak another language," she says.

Her job is all about helping school districts adapt to decisions from colleges and organizations like the College Board, Cifuentes explains.

"Every decision they discuss — there's real repercussions. There's no right or wrong decision, but with everything they do, it should be students first."

Eda Uzunlar is an intern on NPR's Education Desk.

Correction Jan. 20, 2021

A previous version of this story misspelled Ashley L. Bennett's name.

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The SAT Writing Section (Essay): Here’s What You Need to Know

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The SAT recently revamped itself to more accurately test what students learn in school. The new version is less deliberately tricky and confusing, but it’s still a challenging, exhausting test. Let’s say you’ve taken both the ACT and the SAT and you perform better on the SAT. Now that you’ve chosen it as your go-to test, how do you get through the essay portion, especially if you hate writing?

Fun fact: the SAT has plenty of new practice tests , which include essays. For the purposes of this post, I’ll be working from this practice essay , so it might be useful to have it open as you read. We’ll go through what’s expected, what scoring looks like, and how to go about writing the best essay you can.

Understand What You’re Being Asked to Do

The new SAT no longer asks you to make up ideas and references from scratch (which, honestly, is probably for the best). Instead, it provides you with an essay and asks you to analyze it, much in the same vein as an in-class analytical or an AP English Language essay.

The Assignment

The assignment reads as follows. At the top you’ll see a generic introduction for what to look for as you read:

As you read the passage below, consider how (the author of the passage) uses:

• evidence, such as facts or examples, to support claims.
• reasoning to develop ideas and to connect claims and evidence.
• stylistic or persuasive elements, such as word choice or appeals to emotion, to add power to the ideas expressed.

Then, at the bottom, the instructions get specific. For this essay, they read like this:

Write an essay in which you explain how Bobby Braun builds an argument to persuade his audience that the US government must continue to invest in NASA. In your essay, analyze how Braun uses one or more of the features listed in the box above (or features of your own choice) to strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of his argument. Be sure that your analysis focuses on the most relevant features of the passage. Your essay should not explain whether you agree with Braun’s claims, but rather explain how Braun builds an argument to persuade his audience.

What does this mean? Essentially, as you read, pick out the techniques the author uses to make his or her point, then write a detailed essay that covers a couple of the main ones. Brush up on your knowledge of literary terms and devices well in advance of writing the SAT essay. You don’t have to know them all, but know the most commonly used ones really well (tone, diction, imagery, simile/metaphor, allusion, rhetorical question, anecdote, and symbolism, to name a few) so you can rely on those. In an argumentative essay, like this one, an author will always use tone, diction (choice of words), and some kind of persuasion technique (Logos? Pathos? Ethos? Anecdote? etc.).

How is the essay scored? Two testers will read your essay and will provide a score of 1-4 on three different benchmarks: reading, analysis, and writing.

Did the writer understand the content? Did they quickly summarize the argument/point and then move quickly into their interpretation of it? Did they paraphrase and directly quote?

Did the writer not only identify the right literary terms/devices but assess their uses effectively? In other words, did the writer understand why the author used those devices and say so? Did the analysis integrate into the rest of the essay?

Is there a strong thesis, body paragraphs for each device, and a quick conclusion? (More on organization below.) Is the writing “strong,” i.e., sentence variety, no unnecessary words or repetition, strong words, and sophisticated reasoning?

The testers’ scores are then added together for an aggregate final score. So, a top score would be 8/8/8.

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Final Thoughts

Unless you’re being given extra time, you have exactly 50 minutes to complete the essay. This sounds like a lot (and it’s more than it used to be), but don’t be fooled. You’ll use the time.

Students with special accommodations might be able to take the test on a computer, but otherwise it’s a written test. Your test booklet will be scanned into a computer. If you make a mistake, don’t erase your work, because it causes smudges and can make it hard for the tester to read. Simply cross out and rewrite. The testers are trained not to read crossed-out material. If you’ve been told your handwriting is impossible to read, write a little more slowly than you might otherwise. Choose the style that’s more legible for you: print or cursive. When you write practice tests, give it to someone and ask if they can read it.

You’ll take the SAT essay last, after every other section has been completed. So you’ll be exhausted. There’s no way around that, unfortunately, beyond bringing snacks and water on test day and walking around during breaks to take the focus off your brain for a couple minutes. Practice is key; you’ll want to be able to read an essay quickly, pull out devices, and write a straightforward essay with a minimum of confusion and anxiety. Only practice and memorization of the right information will get you there.

As you prepare to take the SAT, take a look at some example essays that scored highly. It won’t be the same subject matter, but the structure and language will be aspects you can emulate.

Read with the Assignment in Mind

Imagine that your proctor has told you to turn to the essay section. You already know the basic assignment, so you can actually skip the top introduction and dive right in to the essay. Don’t get bogged down with unfamiliar words or the most complex sentences. You don’t need to absorb every single word of the essay. Read to find devices you can use. Circle them and ID them as you go. Don’t be picky right away—just observe and note what you see.

Go ahead and skim the bottom instructions, but even then the first sentence is the only really important one. In this case, the gist is: how does Braun persuade his audience to invest in NASA? Then, go back to the devices you found, and pick out the three strongest and/or most used devices to structure your essay. Can’t find three? Remember, an author always uses tone (point of view) and diction (word choice) so those are two easy ones if you’re stuck.

The process of reading and pulling out devices should take no more than eight minutes.

Make a Quick Outline

I know this one sound counterintuitive, given what I said about time limits, but bear with me. Just starting to write without a clear path is hugely problematic for timed essays. Even the best writers make a mental note of their general direction. Without planning, you might change directions mid-essay, forget your thesis and end up arguing something else, or wander off completely without realizing it.

The outline can be short and sweet. For example, with this practice essay, it could look like this:

Intro: Braun argues that continuing to invest in space tech and research keeps us competitive in the world economy. Devices: logos, imagery, allusion

Body 1: Logos (logic): paragraph 3, 5, 7

Body 2: Imagery: paragraph 4, 6

Body 3: Allusion: paragraph 8

Don’t even bother to include your conclusion in your outline. It’s pretty much the same content as your intro. Also, remember that you don’t need to tackle every aspect or device in the essay. Highlight where your devices are, then focus your analysis to those sections. In the outline above, I’ve structured the devices so that you’re going through the essay in almost chronological fashion. You don’t have to do this, but it makes the essay-writing a bit easier.

The process of outlining should take no more than two minutes.

Write Quickly but Methodically

Don’t waste a lot of breath with a big, drawn out introduction. State the argument of the author in one sentence, then your thesis, which should be a list of the three devices you plan to use. Keep it simple and easy, then move on.

For each body paragraph, make a quick topic sentence explaining which device you’re analyzing. Spend one sentence (ONLY one) summarizing how the author is using the device. Begin to use quotes or paraphrase; after each example, analyze why the author uses the device and the effect it has. About three quotes or examples are usually standard. Then, at the end of the paragraph, use one sentence to sum up the effect the device has on the whole essay. Use sample essays for examples of this structure.

See the numbers at the side of each paragraph? When you quote directly or summarize directly, put the number of the paragraph in parenthesis afterwards to cite where you’re getting the information from.

For your conclusion, simply restate what you’ve said before. If you’re feeling extra-confident, feel free to add a key takeaway from the analysis, but it’s not necessary. So, your conclusion can be two sentences just like your intro.

What if your writing style isn’t advanced or similar to the example essays? Work with a teacher or tutor who can help you develop your skills if you have the time. If not, just write simply and clearly. Don’t use overly technical words. Don’t make really long sentences just for the sake of doing so. Even simple, forceful language can be effective so long as your argument is good. So focus your attention on ensuring that you know what good analysis is and how to replicate it.

You’ll have 35 minutes to write. Keep an eye on the clock, but mostly just focus on writing quickly and clearly.

Leave a Few Minutes for Proofreading

Again, I know you’ll be flying through this essay at lightning speed to get everything done effectively. But this one’s important too. When you write quickly, grammar and spelling can fall by the wayside. That’s totally normal, so don’t freak out. But you will be graded on such aspects in your final score, so leave 5 minutes max at the end to skim through your essay, pinpoint where you made mistakes, cross out the word or phrase, and write the correct word or phrase above it. Try to make corrections clearly so that the tester knows which version to read.

And that’s it! Easy, right? (Totally kidding.) As with everything else, practice will help. If you’re not already doing this kind of essay in class, do a few practice essays at home. Make sure you do the EXACT process start to finish: time yourself, write an outline, and so on. Part of success is building the muscle memory to go into the essay with a solid base of experience and confidence that you’ll succeed.

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The SAT Eliminated Its Essay. Now What?

College Board announced last month it will  no longer offer its SAT Subject Tests  effective immediately and eliminate the essay portion (except for states where the essay is required for School Day test administrations).

While the Subject Tests’ elimination made a big splash, the scrapping of the essay likely impacts many more students:  fewer than 500,000  Subject Tests were taken yearly (and students often took multiple Subject Tests, so this represents even fewer students), but  over 1.2 million  took the SAT essay in the class of 2020.

Students will likely welcome the elimination of the essay. Removing the SAT essay means admissions teams will no longer consider the score of a single, timed essay completed at the end of a three-hour-long test.

College Board was  advocating  for the essay’s validity and usefulness in predicting college performance as recently as 2019; instead, college admissions counselors will now rely on a much larger data set: years of high school essay writing in addition to the essays written in the application process.

It’s worth noting that the SAT still includes a rigorous writing and language section, which assesses proofreading skills, so there’s no escaping an important assessment of editing skills, but the essay writing portion is no more.

Some Context: SAT’s Century of Changes 

Over its near century-long existence, the SAT has adjusted both its name and its construct multiple times. Therefore, removing the essay component is not necessarily as momentous as it may be perceived.

In fact, the essay was only  added in 2005 , and this most recent iteration of the essay (a 50-minute rhetorical analysis of a provided persuasive text) has only been part of the test since 2016.

Over the last few years,  fewer and fewer schools  have required the SAT essay as part of a student’s application. In many ways, this change was simply following colleges and admissions teams’ lead.

Better Way to Assess Writing Ability

Indeed, while the  grading rubric behind the SAT essay is valuable (focusing on important principles of evidence-based reading writing), its administration often provides students with little opportunity to demonstrate their true skills in that arena. First, consider the circumstances under which students write the essay: during a 50-minute block at the end of a three-hour test. Second, consider the grading conditions: graders are expected to score  20 to 30 essays per hour , and there have  long been concerns  about the accuracy of the grading.

In other words, the SAT essay does not reflect the kind of extensive subject-matter engagement required for college-level writing, and its grading doesn’t reflect the assessment most college professors provide for written work.

In the end, eliminating the essay means that college admissions teams will continue to focus on a much better measure of students’ writing ability: four years of sustained writing in English and social studies classes reflected in grades in high school transcripts along with essays carefully crafted throughout the application process.

These examples of writing show not only students’ mastery of writing but also their progress over time, which serves as the best index to their ability to maintain a high level of performance or learn and apply new skills, both essential for success in college.

Ongoing Need for Rigorous Writing Instruction 

College Board explained its elimination of both the essay and Subject Tests as part of an effort to simplify the SAT. Indeed, AP test scores can stand in for the latter and essay composition grades and application essays for the former.

While the ACT has not yet made any indication that it plans to eliminate its optional essay, the SAT’s change is a welcome simplification for test-takers and admissions teams.

College readiness, however, will still require mastery of both grammar and essay composition skills, and admissions officers will always be looking for evidence of mastery of these essential skills.

While the SAT essay is no more, students still need to demonstrate competence in essay composition and proofreading. Educators still need to ensure that students can develop cogent, evidence-based, persuasive arguments and have the mechanical writing skills to share those arguments effectively.

While the SAT is transient, the relevance of those skills and their necessity for college and career readiness persists.

DISCLAIMER!  The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The College Post.

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SAT Scores by State 2024

The SAT is a standardized test widely used for college admissions. The SAT was originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test and was later called the Scholastic Assessment Test. The exam is owned, developed, and published by the College Board. The exam was started in 1926 and has been used for 94 years for college and university undergraduate program admissions.

The SAT comprises three parts: Mathematics, Critical Reading and Writing, and an optional SAT Essay section. The exam takes about three hours to complete plus 50 minutes for the essay. The Mathematics and Critical Reading and Writing sections are scored on a scale of 200 to 800 points, combining to give a total score of 400 to 1600. Essays are scored on a scale of 2-8 on each of the three criteria, totaling a score between 6 and 24.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many SATs were canceled for thousands of students, and future SATs will have very limited capacity to meet social distancing guidelines. Additionally, college admissions are trying to be as flexible as possible for students who have had their exams canceled.

In addition to college admissions, SAT scores can compare school districts' performance and evaluate state educational programs. Several factors affect SAT scores. These include:

• Educational achievement levels: instruction and institutional factors, such as teacher-to-student ratios, affect students' performance in school and on the SAT.
• Cultural factors: race, ethnicity, and culture can impact test scores for a few reasons, such as the attitude and lower expectations of minority group test-takers.
• Socioeconomic status: socioeconomic status can affect a student's regular attendance in school and the ability to buy practice and study materials for the SAT.
• Psychological factors: cognitive development factors (such as long-term memory) can impact one's ability to learn and retain information, while psychological disorders, such as anxiety or ADHD, could hinder one's ability to perform well.

SAT Scores by State

According to the College Board, the average SAT score in 2022 was 1050. Participation rates ranged from 1% in Mississippi and North Dakota to 100% in the District of Columbia Lower participation rates in some states can be for a few reasons, including that more students may opt to take the ACT and that only the highest-performing, most prepared students take the SAT. Because cultural and socioeconomic factors and the quality of schools vary greatly between districts and states, average SAT scores vary greatly.

The following ten states had the highest average SAT scores: Wisconsin (1252), Wyoming (1244), Kansas (1238), Utah (1233), Mississippi (1226), Minnesota (1225), Nebraska (1222), Kentucky (1219), South Dakota (1219), and North Dakota (1212). Other states with average scores over 1200 include Montana , Tennessee , and Missouri . All thirteen of these states have participation rates between 1% and 6%, most likely indicating that only the highest-performing students took the SAT in 2022.

The following ten states had the lowest SAT scores: West Virginia (938), Oklahoma (951), Delaware (968), Idaho (968), Rhode Island (971), New Mexico (976), Illinois (981), Florida (983), the District of Columbia (985), and Michigan (1000). Participation rates were much higher among these states, with most states having 84% to 100% participation, except for Oklahoma, which had 17%, New Mexico with 42%, and Delaware with 65%.

• EBRW is an abbreviation for Evidence-Based Reading and Writing, one of the two halves of the SAT test (Math being the other)
• The average combined SAT score in 2022 was 1050 out of a possible 1600.
• Average SAT scores are often significantly impacted by the percentage of students who take the SATs in each state. For example, Wisconsin has the highest average SAT score in the country, but only 2% of students (likely many of the state's brightest students) take the SAT exam. By comparison, New Hampshire has exactly average scores, but a full 81% of all students take the SATs.

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"No accountability:" 1,400 students impacted by day-of SAT cancellation in Oakland

Technical difficulties that led to the sudden cancellation Saturday of an SAT test in Oakland impacted around 1,400 students.

Why it matters: The cancellation has resurrected concerns about the new digital SAT amid an ongoing shortage of testing centers and raises questions about accountability, equity and troubleshooting when it comes to the online exam, which is offered globally seven times each year and administered by College Board.

State of play: Students traveled to the Marriott Hotel in Oakland on Saturday to take the SAT, which is now entirely online but must be done at test sites. Students pay a base registration fee of $60 .

• In interviews with multiple news outlets, students said they couldn't access the exam and that the system kept displaying a "loading" message.
• An unspecified issue with the Wi-Fi reportedly kept them waiting for hours .

What they're saying: "It's a monopoly. It's not like you can take the test from somebody else," Brian Davis, the father of an impacted student, told ABC7 News .

• "You're stuck. And so they have no accountability," Davis added, referring to College Board. "They treat these students very poorly. And no one is holding them to account."
• There are currently no seats left for the next available test date — Aug. 24 — within 100 miles of San Francisco, which means impacted students will likely have to take the exam after the academic year has already started.

The other side: College Board issued an apology and said in an emailed statement that students impacted by the Wi-Fi disruption will receive a full refund.

• Because student demand continues to exceed capacity, College Board said it has contracted with vendors to oversee testing at hotels and other locations.
• The organization will "revisit vendor processes to ensure students do not encounter problems moving forward."

The big picture: The number of SAT centers in California this year is less than half of pre-pandemic figures, according to the College Board. A local SAT tutor told KQED that getting a seat was harder than getting tickets for a Taylor Swift concert.

• Many testing centers closed permanently during COVID. Colleges' decisions to drop standardized test requirements — including the University of California — also led to lower demand.
• "California students who can't take the test because of lack of access will miss out on admission opportunities" and financial aid, Bay Area high school student Sebastian Gillmore, who is traveling to Dallas to take the SAT, wrote in an opinion for the Los Angeles Times last week.

What we're watching: The shortage will likely become even more pronounced as many universities move to reinstate standardized testing mandates .

Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios San Francisco.

Opinion: I live in Northern California. Why do I have to travel hundreds of miles to take the SAT?

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I live in Northern California, but I’m traveling to Texas to take the SAT on Saturday.

It’s not due to lack of planning on my part. I went on the College Board site to register for the June SAT the first hour of the first day that students could sign up. But within minutes, all the seats in my county and across Northern California were gone. Registering for the SAT in the Bay Area is as difficult as snagging tickets to a Taylor Swift concert.

I’m not the only one in California going to extremes to find a place to take a college entrance exam. One mom in my community posted on her Facebook page, “It took two months of effort and three calls into ACT to get a spot that is over 100 miles away!” Other California families joined the conversation explaining: “Same thing in SoCal. Last year we had to drive 100 miles for an 8AM test so we spent the night… so irritating.”

Editorial: Why it’s smart for universities to bring back the SAT requirement

Making the SAT optional hurt college admissions. Universities such as MIT, Brown and Dartmouth are returning to tests. That’s a good trend for students.

March 17, 2024

I know SAT and ACT tests are controversial. I’m not here to debate whether they should exist. The fact is, they still matter whether we like it or not. As it stands for the 2025 college application cycle, only 4% of four-year colleges are test blind, meaning they don’t accept test scores. Most schools (87%) are test-optional (a.k.a. test-preferred) and the remaining 9% are test-required, according to Fairtest . If a good test score could potentially increase my chances of getting accepted to 96% of four-year colleges, I want access to that test. And as long as most colleges are test-optional, those exams should be readily available to all high school students.

So yes, I am traveling 1,800 miles to take the SAT . (We chose Dallas because they had lots of seats available and cheap flights.) Having parents with the financial means and the flexibility in their work schedules to get me to a testing site far from home is an advantage many others don’t have. The lack of testing sites in California is not just an inconvenience, it’s an equity issue.

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor: If the inequitable SAT is back, bring test prep to all high schools

There’s a huge gap between students who can pay for test prep and those who cannot. Until that’s closed, the SAT should not be brought back.

March 21, 2024

California students who can’t take the test because of lack of access will miss out on admission opportunities to some colleges and to scholarships that consider or require SAT/ACT scores in their decisions. For many students, especially those from low-income families, this could mean losing out on aid that would make college affordable.

Lack of adequate testing sites seems to be especially problematic in Northern California. Looking at the Aug. 24 SAT testing date demonstrates this. If you’d searched the College Board website earlier this week for testing centers within 100 miles of San Francisco, Dallas and New York City, you’d have found 103 testing sites in the New York area, 49 of which still had available seats. In the Dallas area there were 69 testing sites and 65 of them still had availability. But in the Bay Area, there were only 12 testing sites and they were 100% booked for the August test. In fact, the nearest test center to San Francisco with availability was 405 miles away. This lack of access puts Northern California students at a disadvantage.

California obviously needs more testing sites. But I would advocate for college entrance exams to be offered to every high school student at their own school during a regular school day, as is done with other standardized tests such as the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress.

After my family and others raised the issue of lack of available testing sites to our superintendent, our school district agreed to host an SAT School Day in October. This will allow the students in the district to take the SAT at their school during regular school hours. But change in one school district is not enough. Students and parents across California need to demand more testing sites at more schools so that more California kids can pursue their college dreams.

Sebastian Gillmore is a junior at Tamalpais High School in the San Francisco Bay Area.

More to Read

Most Asian Americans think SAT but not race is fair to consider for college admissions

May 29, 2024

Opinion: How to skip the college admissions rat race and still get a degree

March 22, 2024

California effort to crack down on legacy and donor admissions could hit USC, Stanford

Feb. 29, 2024

Opinion: So Dartmouth will require the SAT again. Here’s what really matters for Californians seeking degrees

Feb. 13, 2024

Letters to the Editor: Your smart kid wasn’t the only perfect student rejected by Stanford or Berkeley

Dec. 4, 2023

Most California students fall short of grade-level standards in math and reading, scores show

Oct. 18, 2023

Commentary: Affirmative action ruling demands earlier intervention for equal college access

Aug. 1, 2023

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Guest Essay

A Chill Has Fallen Over Jews in Publishing

By James Kirchick

Mr. Kirchick is a contributing writer to Tablet magazine, a writer at large for Air Mail and the author of “Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington.”

This month, an account on X with the handle @moyurireads and 360 followers published a link to a color-coded spreadsheet classifying nearly 200 writers according to their views on the “genocide” in Gaza. Titled “Is Your Fav Author a Zionist?,” it reads like a cross between Tiger Beat and “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”

The novelist Emily St. John Mandel, the author of “Station Eleven” and “Sea of Tranquility,” earned a red “pro-Israel/Zionist” classification because, according to the list’s creator, she “travels to Israel frequently talks favorably about it.” Simply for posting a link to the Israeli chapter of the Red Cross, the novelist Kristin Hannah was deemed a “Zionist,” as was the author Gabrielle Zevin for delivering a book talk to Hadassah, a Jewish women’s organization. Needless to say, the creator of the list — whose post on X announcing it garnered over a million views within a few days — encourages readers to boycott any works produced by “Zionists.”

The spreadsheet is but the crudest example of the virulently anti-Israel — and increasingly antisemitic — sentiment that has been coursing through the literary world since the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7. Much of it revolves around the charge of genocide and seeks to punish Zionists and anyone else who refuses to explicitly denounce the Jewish state for allegedly committing said crime. Since a large majority of American Jews (80 percent of whom, according to a 2020 poll , said that caring about Israel is an important or essential part of their Judaism) are Zionists, to accuse all Zionists of complicity in genocide is to anathematize a core component of Jewish identity.

Over the past several months, a litmus test has emerged across wide swaths of the literary world effectively excluding Jews from full participation unless they denounce Israel. This phenomenon has been unfolding in progressive spaces (academia, politics, cultural organizations) for quite some time. That it has now hit the rarefied, highbrow realm of publishing — where Jewish Americans have made enormous contributions and the vitality of which depends on intellectual pluralism and free expression — is particularly alarming.

As is always and everywhere the case, this growing antisemitism is concomitant with a rising illiberalism. Rarely, if ever, do writers express unanimity on a contentious political issue. We’re a naturally argumentative bunch who — at least in theory — answer only to our own consciences.

To compel them to express support or disapproval for a cause is one of the cruelest things a society can do to writers, whose role is to tell society what they believe, regardless of how popular the message may be. The drawing up of lists, in particular, is a tactic with a long and ignominious history, employed by the enemies of literature — and liberty — on both the left and the right. But the problem goes much deeper than a tyro blacklist targeting “Zionists.”

One of the greatest mass delusions of the 21st century is the belief that Israel is committing a genocide against Palestinians. This grotesque moral inversion — in which a genocidal terrorist organization that instigated a war with Israel by committing the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust is absolved of responsibility while the victim of Hamas’s attack is charged with perpetrating the worst crime known to man — began taking shape before Israel even launched its ground invasion of Gaza.

A charitable description of those imputing genocidal motivations to Israel is that they are ignorant, essentially believing the word to mean “large numbers of civilian casualties.” (Here it’s worth noting that the United Nations, to little notice, has significantly lowered its estimate of the number of women and children killed in Gaza.) For others, accusing Israel of genocide is an emotional outlet for expressing outrage at such a horrific loss of life. A third, more pessimistic, characterization of the ubiquitous genocide canard is that it is only the latest iteration of the ancient antisemitic blood libel, which held that Jews murdered gentile children in order to use their blood for religious rituals.

College students and professional activists using overheated and imprecise language to convey their strongly held beliefs is hardly uncommon, and much of the intemperate language being directed at Israel and its Zionist supporters can be attributed to the hyperbole that increasingly characterizes our political discourse. What should worry us more is when people who have dedicated their lives to the written word manipulate language for a political end, one that is stigmatizing Jews.

Nine days after the Oct. 7 attack, the popular website Literary Hub began publishing what has since become a near-daily torrent of agitprop invective against what it describes as the “rogue ethnostate” of Israel, which it routinely accuses of committing genocide. In March, after a mass resignation of its staff members , the literary magazine Guernica retracted a personal essay by a left-wing Israeli woman about her experience volunteering to drive Palestinian children to Israel for medical treatment. In her resignation letter, one of the magazine’s co-publishers denounced the piece as “a hand-wringing apologia for Zionism and the ongoing genocide in Palestine.”

Whereas antisemitism in the literary world used to lurk in the shadows, according to the Jewish Book Council’s chief executive, Naomi Firestone-Teeter, since Oct. 7, it has become increasingly overt. “The fact that people have felt so proud and open about it is a different beast entirely,” she said. One of the most disturbing developments in this regard has been the frequency and contempt with which the word “Zionist” is now spit from people’s mouths in the United States.

Until relatively recently, the use of “Zionist” as a slur was most commonly confined to Soviet and Arab propagandists, who spent decades trying to render the word the moral equivalent of “Nazi.” Today many progressives use the word in similar fashion, making no distinction between a Zionist who supports a two-state solution (which, presumably, most Jews in the overwhelmingly liberal literary world do) and one who believes in a “Greater Israel” encompassing the entirety of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. And while anyone can be a Zionist, I’ve found in my 20 years of reporting on antisemitism that many Jews essentially hear “Jew” when someone shouts “Zionist" at them.

The corruption of the words “genocide” and “Zionist” lies at the root of the controversy threatening to unravel PEN America, the storied writers’ organization. As with many a literary contretemps, it involves a cascade of open letters. In February a missive that gained almost 1,500 signatures was published demanding that PEN “wake up from its own silent, tepid, neither-here-nor-there, self-congratulatory middle of the road and take an actual stand against an actual genocide.” The dozens of statements PEN had issued by that time calling attention to the plight of writers in Gaza (who the letter, without citing evidence, claimed had been “targeted” by Israel for assassination) were insufficient. “We demand PEN America release an official statement” about the writers killed in Gaza the letter read, “and name their murderer: Israel, a Zionist colonial state funded by the U.S. government.”

On March 20, PEN acceded to the ultimatum that it endorse the call for a cease-fire. But that did not satiate its critics.

Last month, in advance of PEN’s annual literary awards ceremony, nearly half of the nominated writers withdrew from the competition. A subset of those writers then released another open letter , declaring, “Among writers of conscience, there is no disagreement. There is fact and fiction. The fact is that Israel is leading a genocide of the Palestinian people.” They accused PEN of “normalizing genocide,” denounced PEN for its “platforming of Zionists” and, most shamefully, called for the resignation of its Jewish chief executive, Suzanne Nossel, on account of her “longstanding commitments to Zionism.”

Along with eight other past presidents of PEN, Salman Rushdie signed a letter in defense of the organization , an intervention that earned him an “unclear” rating on the anti-Zionist blacklist. (He has braved far worse from Islamist zealots and their Western apologists.) PEN ultimately canceled both the awards ceremony and subsequent World Voices Festival.

Dissatisfaction with PEN’s purported lack of indignation over the deaths of Palestinian writers is a fig leaf. Where were the efforts by those now decrying PEN to protest the complete absence of freedom of expression that has characterized the Gaza Strip under 17 years of Hamas rule?

The real objectives behind the cynical weaponization of the word “genocide” and the authoritarian insistence that anyone who disagrees with it is an enabler of one are to shut down debate, defame dissenters and impose a rigid orthodoxy throughout the publishing world. It is a naked attempt to impose an ideological litmus test on anyone hoping to join the republic of letters — a litmus test that the vast majority of Jews would fail.

A campaign of intimidation, the sort of thing that happens to the dissident writers in closed societies whom PEN regularly champions, is afoot to pressure writers into toeing this new party line. PEN’s current president, Jenny Finney Boylan, recently said that she had heard from “many, many authors who do not agree with those withdrawing from PEN events and who do not wish to withdraw from our events themselves but are afraid of the consequences if they speak up.”

Compelling speech — which is ultimately what PEN’s critics are demanding of it — is the tactic of commissars, not writers in a free society. Censorship, thought policing and bullying are antithetical to the spirit of literature, which is best understood as an intimate conversation between the author and individual readers.

PEN’s detractors aren’t helping the Palestinian people with their whitewashing of Hamas. They’re engaged in a hostile takeover of a noble organization committed to the defense of free expression in order to advance a sectarian and bigoted political agenda.

Neil Gaiman, Taylor Jenkins-Reid, Ms. Mandel and other hugely successful authors need not worry that being denounced as a Zionist will hurt their careers. But the blacklists and the boycotts do not really target them. The actual targets of this crusade are lesser-known authors, budding novelists, aspiring poets and creative writing students — largely but not exclusively Jewish — who can feel a change in the air.

“I do now definitely have concern as a Jewish author — two years working on a novel that has absolutely nothing to do with Jews in any way, just because it says ‘National Jewish Book Award winner’ in my bio — that it may change the way readers see the work,” said a Jewish creative writing professor and novelist who spoke to me on the condition of being quoted anonymously.

No longer is being on the receiving end of a review bomb the worst fate that can befall a Jewish writer exploring Jewish themes; even getting such a book published is becoming increasingly difficult. “It’s very clear you have to have real courage to acquire and publish proudly Jewish voices and books about being Jewish,” a prominent literary agent told me. “When you are seen as genocidal, a moral insult to humanity because you believe in Israel’s right to exist, you are now seen as deserving of being canceled.”

There’s a distasteful irony in a literary community that has gone to the barricades fighting book “bans” now rallying to boycott authors based on their ethnoreligious identity. For a growing set of writers, declaring one’s belief that the world’s only Jewish state is a genocidal entity whose dismantlement is necessary for the advancement of humankind is a political fashion statement, a bauble one parades around in order to signify being on the right team. As was Stalinism for an earlier generation of left-wing literary intellectuals, so is antisemitism becoming the avant-garde.

James Kirchick is a contributing writer to Tablet magazine, a writer at large for Air Mail and the author of “Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington.”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, the 4 sat sections: what they test and how to do well.

SAT General Info

Whether you're actively preparing for the SAT or simply want to learn more about the ubiquitous college entrance exam, it’s important you start with the basics: how many sections are on the SAT? W hat are the names of the SAT sections? And what kinds of skills does each section measure?

In this article, we answer all of your burning questions about the SAT sections . We'll begin by discussing how many sections are on the SAT as well as how these sections differ from one another. Then, we’ll go over the different skills on which you'll be tested, giving you our expert tips for combating each of the SAT test sections with confidence. Finally, we'll take a look at whether certain sections of the SAT are more important than others and what this means for you and your college applications.

UPDATE: SAT Essay No Longer Offered

In January 2021, the College Board announced that after June 2021, it would no longer offer the Essay portion of the SAT (except at schools who opt in during School Day Testing). It is now no longer possible to take the SAT Essay, unless your school is one of the small number who choose to offer it during SAT School Day Testing.

What does the end of the SAT Essay mean for your college applications? Check out our article on the College Board's SAT Essay decision for everything you need to know.

What Are the SAT Sections?

The SAT (which was redesigned in 2016 ) consists of  four sections: 

• Writing and Language
• Math (which consists of two subsections, No Calculator and Calculator)
• Essay (only offered during select SAT School Days)

As  the College Board  (the creator of the SAT) puts it, all sections of the SAT  work together to test “what you learn in high school” and “what you need to succeed in college.” In other words, the goal of the SAT is to ensure you possess the appropriate reading, writing, and math skills deemed necessary for success as a college student.

Each of the SAT test sections appears  only once on the exam and varies in the number of questions it contains as well as in how much time it allocates. The following table showcases some of the major features of the SAT test sections:

According to this table, the longest section (in terms of both time and number of questions) is the Math section . This is because the Math section is composed of two subsections: a No Calculator section (which always comes first) and a Calculator section. While the No Calculator section is fairly brief at only 25 minutes and 20 questions long, the Calculator section lasts for 55 minutes and contains a total of 38 questions.

You may also notice a few key similarities between the Reading and Writing and Language sections. These two sections were specifically designed to test a couple of the same skills — namely Command of Evidence and Words in Context — in different ways. The  two sections also combine for an overall Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) score out of 800 points, so they clearly have a lot in common with each other!

Lastly, the above table highlights how all sections of the SAT (excluding the Essay) are predominantly multiple choice . Most questions on the SAT contain four answer choices from which you must select one answer. On the Math section, however, you will also face a handful of  grid-in questions  for which you must come up with your own answers and bubble them in using the numbers provided.

Now that we've covered all of the fundamentals, let’s take a closer look at each of the four sections of the SAT.

The SAT Reading Section

The Reading section focuses on  reading comprehension and understanding vocabulary in context . Each of the 52 questions in this section will be based on a passage. You'll be given five passages in total:

• 1 passage on U.S. or world literature
• 2 passages on history/social studies
• 2 passages on science (which may include graphs and/or charts)

On some areas of the Reading section, you may be given a pair of related passages instead of a single passage. You may also encounter graphs, charts, or other forms of data representation. (Note that you will not have to use any math for these questions, though you will be expected to know how to interpret the data provided.)

As illuminated in the table above, the Reading section test two primary skills:

• Command of Evidence:  your ability to find concrete evidence within the passage to support the author’s claims or answers to specific questions
• Words in Context: your ability to decipher the meanings of vocabulary words within the context of the passage, and your ability to understand how word choice influences the style and tone of a text

Big Picture

Little Picture/Function

• Vocabulary in Context
• Author Technique
• Evidence Support
• Data Interpretation

Below, I describe each of these question types and then provide you with our best tips for doing well on the SAT Reading section.

SAT Reading Question Types

Here are the different types of questions you'll encounter on the SAT Reading section.

#1: Big Picture and Little Picture / Function

These two Reading question types are opposites: Big Picture questions focus on the main point of a passage , whereas Little Picture (or Function) questions focus on the function of specific lines or sentences within a passage . Your job, then, is to use contextual evidence to decipher either the author’s overall message or the function of a selected area of the text.

#2: Inference

For this Reading question type, you must correctly  interpret the meaning of a sentence, a group of sentences, or the entire passage.

#3: Vocabulary in Context

These Reading questions ask you about the meaning of a specific word or phrase within the passage . These words and phrases may not always appear to be difficult but will usually take on lesser-known alternative meanings.

#4: Author Technique

This type of Reading question requires you to  analyze the author’s stylistic choices in regards to tone, voice, perspective, etc.

#5: Evidence Support

For Evidence Support questions, you must  locate contextual evidence for an answer to a previous question . (In other words, these questions are directly related to the questions that precede them.) To answer these questions, you must identify a particular line or group of lines from which you found the answer to a question.

#6: Data Interpretation

A Data Interpretation question requires you to interpret data (usually in the form of a table, chart, or graph) and understand how it relates to the passage.

Top 3 SAT Reading Tips

Once you've familiarized yourself with all of the Reading question types, it's time for you to employ our top three tips for the SAT Reading section!

#1: Practice Reading Passages

Because the Reading section revolves solely around passages, it's critical you dedicate the bulk of your SAT Reading prep to working with SAT-esque passages.

The best resources for passages similar to those you’ll encounter on the SAT are  official SAT practice tests . These mock SAT tests created by the College Board offer a plethora of realistic Reading passages that closely mimic the style and form of the passages you'll be given on test day.

In addition to official practice tests, you can also use unofficial SAT Reading materials — as long as they contain  high-quality Reading passages  similar to those on the SAT.

Finally, it's a smart idea to read real-life texts, such as The New York Times , The Atlantic , and Psychology Today ,   from which SAT passages are often borrowed. This way you can familiarize yourself with the type of materials you'll see on test day.

#2: Use Process of Elimination

Process of elimination is an excellent strategy (and even one recommended by a perfect scorer !) that will aid you significantly on the Reading section.

As we already know, each Reading question offers four possible answer choices of which just one is correct. This means that the other three choices must contain clear signs indicating they’re incorrect .  Some of the most common reasons answer choices are eliminated are that they're:

• Too specific
• Too loosely connected to the overall purpose or message of the passage

Remember, even a single word in an answer choice can make it incorrect , so look closely for any reason to eliminate a choice before deciding on the correct one. Be sure you avoid getting  caught up in answer choices that sort of sound correct — if a choice doesn’t 100-percent answer the question or is ambiguous in any way, chances are it's wrong!

#3: Study Vocabulary Sparingly

Unlike the old (pre-2016) SAT, which often tested obscure vocabulary words in complete isolation, the new SAT only tests vocabulary knowledge within the context of passages . Additionally,  current SAT vocabulary is only about medium difficulty , meaning many of the words tested are ones you've likely seen and may have even used before. (Woo hoo!)

The challenging part of SAT vocabulary, however, is being able to identify  lesser-known tertiary meanings of common words . What this means is, while you no longer need to dedicate hours upon hours to memorizing thousands of vocabulary words,   you do need to familiarize yourself with some of the rarer meanings of common words. Likewise, you should also know how to decipher a vocabulary word's meaning based on how it's being used in a passage.

These days, many SAT vocabulary words are similar to those on the ACT; thus, we recommend studying vocabulary for either test with both our list of SAT vocabulary words and our ACT list of 150 medium-level vocabulary words .

The SAT Writing and Language Section

The Writing and Language section (often referred to as simply the “Writing section”) may look similar to the Reading section, but instead of measuring your reading comprehension skills, this section measures your ability to identify and correct grammatical errors and stylistic weaknesses within passages . In other words, the Writing section is all about your proofreading and editing skills!

Like the Reading section, the Writing section revolves entirely around passages . These passages cover a wide array of topics, including careers, history/social studies, science, and the humanities. Unlike Reading passages, however, all Writing passages are nonfiction , taking the   form of narratives, arguments, and explanatory texts.

Your primary mission on the Writing section is to correct (or leave as is, if no errors are present) words and sentences within these passages. For science-based passages containing charts or graphs, you may be asked to replace an incorrect sentence with a new sentence that more accurately reflects the data provided.

The Writing and Language section measures the following skills:

• Command of Evidence
• Words in Context
• Expression of Ideas
• Standard English Conventions

Below, I discuss each of these four question types and what they measure on the SAT Writing section. I then provide you with our top three tips for getting a great score on SAT Writing.

SAT Writing and Language Question Types

In this section, we examine the SAT Writing question types and look at examples of how they'll appear on the SAT.

#1: Command of Evidence

These types of Writing questions focus primarily on the big picture of a passage and usually ask you to provide evidence for why you are making a particular change .

#2: Words in Context

For these questions, you must  replace a word or phrase with a more logical choice , or select “NO CHANGE” if the highlighted area is appropriate as is.

#3: Expression of Ideas

These questions require you to think about the various ways ideas can be expressed in words. More specifically, you must  rearrange, add, combine, or delete sentences to improve the overall flow of a passage.

#4: Standard English Conventions

For Standard English Conventions questions, you must correct incorrect words or phrases, so that they adhere to the basic  rules of English grammar, punctuation, spelling, and capitalization . If the highlighted word or phrase is grammatically sound, select “NO CHANGE.”

Top 3 SAT Writing and Language Tips

Here are our top tips for getting the score you want on the SAT Writing section!

#1: Master Common SAT Grammar and Punctuation Rules

Nearly half of all SAT Writing questions focus on standard English conventions, so naturally you can’t expect to do well on SAT Writing if you haven’t mastered the basic rules of English grammar and usage!

This doesn't mean you must review every single grammar rule in existence — just the ones most commonly tested on the SAT . For more details on what these rules are and how you can master them, check out our in-depth guides to  SAT grammar and SAT punctuation .

#2: Read Articles and Essays

Because none of the Writing section's passages are works of fiction, your best bet is to read real-life newspaper and magazine articles, persuasive texts, and essays . As you study, you'll use these texts to hone your editorial eye, identifying transitional words and connections in thought.

You'll also want to examine how the author builds his or her argument or main point throughout the text . What evidence does he or she provide? Is it ultimately effective? Why or why not?

There will be a wide array of topics for Writing passages, so feel free to dig into a variety of texts. I recommend starting with major publications such as The New Yorker , The New York Times , The Atlantic , Wired , and  Psychology Today .

#3: Hone Your Writing Skills

To be a sharp editor, you must understand how to write well. And to write well, you must  learn from the feedback on your own writing .

Begin by noting any red marks on essays you turn in at school, making yourself aware of any errors you continuously make on your writing. If you’re confused about a mistake you've made, ask your teacher to explain the mistake and give you tips on how you can avoid making it again.

As you write essays for school, make sure you're also  paying attention to the structure of your arguments . Consider the simple "hamburger" structure of essays: you've got your introduction (top bun), your evidence and supporting details (lettuce, tomato, and meat), and your conclusion (bottom bun). Knowing how to effectively structure your own essays should over time allow you to develop a keener understanding of how SAT passages are organized.

The SAT Math Section

Onto the world of numbers! Unlike the English-centered Reading and Writing sections, the SAT Math section consists of  practical, real-world math and measures the problem-solving abilities most useful for college-level coursework and future employment.

The Math section comprises two subsections:

• Math No Calculator , for which you are not permitted to use a calculator
• Math Calculator , for which you may (but aren't required to) use a calculator

The Math section is the only section on the SAT (excluding the Essay) to contain a non-multiple-choice question format called the grid-in . 22 percent of Math questions are grid-ins , so although it’s not the main question format on SAT Math, it’s crucial you understand how it works.

The Math section tests you on the following concepts:

• Heart of Algebra
• Problem Solving and Data Analysis
• Passport to Advanced Math
• Additional Topics in Math

Below, I describe each of these Math question types and give you expert tips for securing an excellent SAT Math score.

SAT Math Question Types

Here are the four types of Math questions you'll see on the SAT.

#1:  Heart of Algebra

This content area constitutes the  largest focus of the SAT Math section , accounting for approximately one-third of all Math questions. Heart of Algebra questions focus on (you guessed it!) algebra — primarily linear equations, systems of equations, inequalities, and absolute values.

#2:  Problem Solving and Data Analysis

There are 17 Problem Solving and Data Analysis questions on the SAT. All of these questions are on the Math Calculator subsection (meaning you'll see none of these on the No Calculator subsection). These questions focus on data interpretation (i.e., how to read charts, graphs, tables, etc.) as well as rates, ratios, percentages, linear and exponential relationships, and probability.

#3:  Passport to Advanced Math

There are 16 Passport to Advanced Math questions on the SAT. These advanced questions test your understanding of the structure of equations and expressions , including your ability to   rearrange and rewrite them. For these questions, you may be asked to solve a quadratic equation, create an exponential function, or manipulate polynomials.

#4: Additional Topics in Math

While 90 percent of the Math section deals with the three topics listed above, the last 10 percent targets what the College Board calls "Additional Topics in Math." This question type is basically a catch-all for any math concept that doesn’t fit neatly into the other three categories. Such topics predominantly deal with  geometry , trigonometry , and complex numbers.

Top 3 SAT Math Tips

Use our top tips below to get your best score ever on SAT Math!

#1: Review Basic Math Concepts

You can’t expect to score highly on the Math section if you’re not familiar with most or all of the basic math concepts being tested on the SAT.

To get started, take a look at our  giant stockpile of SAT Math resources you can use (for free!). This guide contains links to several Math guides offering a solid overview of critical math concepts you should know for the SAT, including algebra, numbers, coordinate geometry, and plane and solid geometry.

You can also check out our guide to the best SAT Math prep books  and browse your options for high-quality Math content review and practice.

#2: Memorize Common Formulas

Another tip is to memorize all  critical SAT Math formulas you’ll need for test day. Doing this will allow you to solve many math problems that you can't solve without knowledge of a particular formula.

But what about the reference diagram on the test? Do you really need to memorize formulas if you'll be given a list of them on the SAT? Although you may think memorizing these formulas is a waste of time, in reality  memorizing them will actually  save you time on test day . Here are the formulas exactly as you'll see them on the SAT:

By memorizing the formulas above, you won't need to constantly flip back to the diagram and will therefore be able to solve math problems more quickly. This will effectively give you  more time to put toward other math problems that are more challenging .

However, there is one caveat: the 12 formulas on this reference diagram deal specifically with geometry, a topic which makes up a significantly small portion of the new SAT. So while it’s crucial you memorize these formulas, it’ll be far more advantageous for you to prioritize other major laws and formulas that will not be given to you on test day and are more likely to come up on the SAT.

#3: Plug In Answers and Numbers

Our final tip for SAT Math is a popular test-taking strategy: plugging in answers and numbers . In this strategy, if you’re faced with a math problem you’re unsure how to solve, you can attempt to solve it by either plugging in random numbers or plugging in answer choices one by one. Doing this will reveal which answer choice yields the correct result.

Use the plug-in answer strategy for multiple-choice math questions that ask you to solve for a specific value. Always start with answer choice B or C , so you can determine whether to work your way up or down to get a higher or lower answer.

For multiple-choice and grid-in questions you don’t understand, try plugging in your own numbers (or sets of numbers) to see whether equations and inequalities hold true  for various values.

Note that these strategies, though helpful, should generally only be used if you’re unsure how to solve a math problem using other methods, such as simplification and algebra. Ultimately, though, the SAT doesn’t care how you get an answer — just that it’s the correct one! So if you don't know what to do, get in there and plug away.

The SAT Essay (Optional)

NOTE: As we mentioned above, now that the Essay is only offered during select SAT School Days , very few students will take it. Additionally, no colleges still require the Essay, so even if you do take it, your score will not impact your college applications.

The SAT Essay is an entirely writing-based section for which you must read a 650-750-word passage and then  write an essay analyzing how the author constructs his or her argument as well as how persuasive the argument is .

Note that you are not being asked whether you agree or disagree with the argument. You are also not expected to write about your personal experiences (like how test takers were prompted to do on the old SAT).

The Essay also uses a unique scoring system compared to those of the other SAT test sections. There are three components to the SAT Essay grade :

For each of these components, two graders will assign you a score on a scale of 1-4. These two scores are then added together to give you total scores for each component (on a scale of 2-8). Thus, a perfect SAT Essay grade would be 8|8|8 (4s from both graders for each of the three rubrics).

But what exactly do these three components measure? Below, I describe each of the SAT Essay grades and introduce to you our top three tips for ensuring a high Essay score on test day.

Skills Tested on the SAT Essay

The three components of the SAT Essay grading rubric each measure a different skill in regards to your writing ability.

The Reading score highlights your overall  understanding of the passage and how well you use appropriate textual evidence from the passage to construct your essay.

The Analysis score shows how well you understand the construction of the author's argument  in terms of reasoning, style, and evidence. It also measures your ability to choose the most effective evidence from the passage to support your evaluation.

The Writing score revolves entirely around your ability to write . You will be given a grade based on the strength of your thesis and on your essay's organization, focus, tone, style, and adherence to standard written English conventions.

Top 3 SAT Essay Tips

And now here are our expert SAT Essay tips to help you get the high score you deserve!

#1: Learn the Types of Examples to Look for in Passages

Before you take the exam, make sure you know all of the major types of examples you can look for in passages to use as support in your essay. The six types of evidence to be aware of are:

• Facts and statistics
• Counterarguments and counterclaims
• Explanation of evidence
• Vivid language
• Direct appeals to the reader

For more information, check out our detailed guide on how to look for and use these pieces of evidence . As you write, be  sure you’re using the most relevant and effective support; you don’t need to use every example you find!

#2: Read the Prompt First

Although you'll likely be tempted to get through the passage before attacking the prompt, reading the prompt first can lend you a big hand as it directly states what the author’s central claim is . Once you know what kind of argument you'll be dealing with, you can then read the entire passage, keeping an eye out for any evidence that supports this central claim and thinking of ways you can effectively incorporate these pieces of evidence into your essay.

As a reminder, your essay should focus on what techniques and evidence the authors uses to set up his or her argument  as well as how effective these techniques are.

#3: Write More Than 1 Page

Though not explicitly stated on the SAT Essay rubric, your essay must be of a reasonable length (1+ pages) in order to merit a high score . This means anything less than a page is bound to guarantee you a low essay score, as the essay will very likely lack sufficient detail, evidence, and analysis.

On test day, you’ll get four pages for writing (and one additional piece of scratch paper for planning and outlining your essay). Aim to use at least two pages for your essay.  Anything longer is perfectly fine; however, just remember it's ultimately better to produce a succinct and focused essay instead of a verbose or tangential one.

Are Certain SAT Sections More Important Than Others?

Because the SAT has several sections, you may be wondering which (if any) are the most important in regards to scores.

To start, the essay is, by far, the least important of all SAT sections . With the College Board no longer offering the essay during regular SAT administrations, nearly no students will now take it, and no colleges require essay scores. Basically, if you're one of the few people who do still take the essay (because your school required it for an SAT School Day), your score won't impact your college applications, although your high school might use the essay score for its own purposes.

But what about the SAT Reading, Writing, and Math sections? Which of these is the most important? Or are they all equally important?

Generally speaking, the SAT Reading, Writing, and Math sections are all of fairly equal importance . Most schools report SAT scores using the total score (a combination of the EBRW and Math scores), implying there is equal consideration of the Reading, Writing, and Math sections. Furthermore, any school requiring the SAT will always require scores from the Reading, Writing, and Math sections, so all three of these sections are evidently essential for college admission (unlike the optional Essay).

In spite of these trends,  there may be cases in which one of the two scores (EBRW or Math) will hold slightly more weight than the other . For example, if you are applying to an engineering school like MIT, admissions committees may pay a little extra attention to your SAT Math score — the more relevant score to your program — and less to your EBRW score.

In the end, it's best to think of both your EBRW and Math scores as being equally important, and your Essay score (if you took the essay) as being the least important.

Key Takeaways for the SAT Sections

The SAT is composed of four sections: Reading, Writing and Language, Math, and Essay (optional). These sections target an array of academic skills deemed necessary for college, from reading comprehension to proofreading to problem solving.

To ultimately do well on the SAT, you must understand what each of the SAT sections measures, what each sections tests you on, and what approaches you can use to get the scores you want.

Although the Essay isn’t a requirement for any colleges anymore, those requiring SAT scores will often prefer applicants who have a strong set of EBRW (Reading and Writing) and Math scores, so always try to aim for a high total score !

What’s Next?

Want to learn more about the SAT? Take a look at our complete guide to what the SAT is and get tips on when to start studying and what resources you can use to get the scores you need for college!

Thinking of taking the ACT, too? Start with our introduction to the ACT sections and then check out our guide to what a good ACT score is to learn how you can get a great ACT score.

Hannah received her MA in Japanese Studies from the University of Michigan and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California. From 2013 to 2015, she taught English in Japan via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel.

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