24 Tips to Master the Math Section of the SAT

Many students struggle with Math, and it’s no different for the SAT. Depending on when you take the test, you may not have gone over all the concepts covered in school, or it may have been a while since you have last seen them. The New SAT has also been redesigned, adding extra confusion into the mix. Whatever the case, you need to make sure that you at least understand the fundamentals of what is covered and how you can make the best use of your time. Here are some tips to help:

Math (No Calculator)

1. You have 25 minutes for 20 questions in this section, about 1 minute 15 seconds per question.
2. Most formulas you will need are provided at the beginning of each Math section.
3. The New SAT’s Math section has a much greater emphasis on Algebra and world problems.
4. Make sure you understand how equations and functions work very well.
5. Review how to solve for another variable in each equation.
6. If you don’t know how to approach the problem, try substituting the answers into the problem (start with the middle answer choices).
7. If you don’t understand the math (especially in problems where the answer choices still have variables), try plugging in numbers that make sense for the problem. Choose numbers that you can calculate easily (Usually 1,2,3 and 10 work well).
8. Pay close attention to units of measurement. If any unit of measurement is mentioned, make sure everything else in the problem is in that unit of measurement; you may need to convert.
9. Grid-in section: make sure to bubble in all spaces if your answer has a decimal. The most accurate answer is the correct one.
10. Grid-in section: If the question as more than one correct answer, only input one of them.
11. Grid-in section: The grid does not have a minus sign, so an answer cannot be negative.
12. Grid-in section: Convert any mixed numbers into an improper fraction or decimal before entering it on the grid.

Math (Calculator)

1. You have 55 minutes for 38 questions in this section, about 1 minute 26 seconds per question.
2. You will see more word problems in this section. When solving word problems, read one sentence at a time and write any numbers or relationship clues off to the side after each sentence. This will help you keep everything organized and see a clearer picture of the relationships between each element of the problem.
3. If you don’t know how to approach the problem, try substituting the answers into the problem (start with the middle answer choices).
4. If you don’t understand the math (especially in problems where the answer choices still have variables), try plugging in numbers that make sense for the problem. Choose numbers that you can calculate easily (Usually 1,2,3 and 10 work well).
5. Know when not to use your calculator. Don’t use your calculator for simple operations like one or two-digit addition. Doing so only takes more time to put it into the calculator, and it will make each of the more difficult problems take longer.
6. Understand how to read/interpret the following: tables/charts, bar graphs, line graphs, scatter plots, pie charts
7. Grid-in section: make sure to bubble in all spaces if your answer has a decimal. The most accurate answer is the correct one.
8. Grid-in section: If the question as more than one correct answer, only input one of them.
9. Grid-in section: The grid does not have a minus sign, so an answer cannot be negative.
10. Grid-in section: Convert any mixed numbers into an improper fraction or decimal before entering it on the grid.
11. Get familiar with what words match which mathematical operation for word problems.

Add	Subtract	Multiply	Divide	Equals
Add	Difference	Each	Share Equally	Is
Altogether	Fewer	Same	Each	Was
And	Gave Away	Twice	Quotient	Were
Both	Take Away	Product	Every	Have
In All	How many more?	In All	Cut	Has
Sum	How much longer/shorter/smaller/left?	Double/Triple/Quadruple	Equal pieces	Equals
Total	Less	Of	Average	Equal to
Increase	Decrease	Per	Out of	Equivalent
Plus	Remain	Times	Ratio	The same as
More	Bigger	As much	Fraction
Combined	Remainder	By	Split
Joined	Remain	Area	Half
Extra	Lost	Volume
	Fell
	More Than
	Further

Looking for more help? Check out our SAT worksheets.

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