SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

The SAT has had a complete makeover. Just a quick glance will show you that it barely resembles its
previous self. Many students, luckily, will find its transformation quite attractive.

This guide will help you catch up on the changes with a comprehensive overview of the new SAT
format. Read on to learn about the test’s new design and scoring, followed by some tips on what
these changes mean for test-takers. To begin, let’s go over the overall structure of the SAT.

What’s the Structure of the New SAT?

This chart shows the structure of the new SAT. Since we now know section length and number of
questions, we can also estimate approximately how much time you get per question.

Time per
Order Section Time in Minutes # of Questions
question
1 Reading 65 52 75 seconds
Writing and
2 35 44 48 seconds
Language
Math No
3 25 20 75 seconds
Calculator
Math
4 55 38 77 seconds
Calculator
Essay
5 50 1
(optional)
3 hours, 50 minutes (3 154 (+1 essay
Total:
hours without essay) prompt)

As you can see, the new SAT presents each topic in one big chunk of time, rather than dividing them
into several shorter sections. The only exception is Math, which is divided for the first time into a
“calculator permitted” and a “calculator prohibited” section. The Essay section now comes at
the end of the SAT, and the decision to take it is left up to the student.

When you take the SAT, you’ll get a 5-minute break after about every hour of testing. That means
you’ll get a break after the Reading section and a second one after the Math No Calculator. If you’re
taking the Essay section, you’ll also get a break before starting.

In addition to giving the test in its entirety a more predictable structure, College Board has also
become more transparent about what you’ll encounter on each individual section of the SAT. Let’s
take a closer look at each section, starting with the one that always comes first: Reading.
Reading Section Structure

SAT Reading is the longest section of the new SAT, clocking in at 65 minutes. All Reading questions
are passage-based. You’ll answer 10 to 12 questions on each of five passages, for a total of 52
questions. As you saw in the chart above, that leaves you with about 1 minute and 15 seconds per
question. All of the questions are multiple choice and feature four answer choices: A, B, C, and D.

The source and subject matter of each passage is predetermined, a useful piece of information for
your test prep. You’ll get one passage from US or world literature, two dealing with history and
social studies, and two related to science. One or more of these passages will be accompanied by
a graphic, such as a table or graph. In fact, you'll encounter tables and graphs in all four sections of
the SAT.

Writing and Language Section Structure

The SAT Writing and Language section is about half as long as Reading at 35 minutes. It’s
technically called Writing and Language, but you’ll probably hear it shortened to Writing. All of its
questions are also passage-based.

You’ll get 11 questions for each of four passages, for a total of 44 questions on the Writing section.
That leaves you with about 47 to 48 seconds to answer each question. All of the Writing questions
are multiple choice with four answer choices, A, B, C, and D. Since some of the questions ask you
about changing a word or sentence, many will feature an answer choice (typically choice A) that
reads, “No change.”

Going along with the SAT’s greater predictability, the subject matter of the Writing passages is
predetermined. The passages deal with Careers, Social Studies, Humanities, and Science. Unlike
the Reading section, you won’t encounter any prose or selections from literature; all of the Writing
passages will be argument-based, explanatory, or nonfiction narrative.

As mentioned above, you'll find data interpretation questions on graphs and tables throughout the
SAT, and the Writing section is no exception. One or more of the passages will accompany a graphic,
and you might be asked whether the passage and graphic are in sync with each other.

Math No Calculator Section Structure

A Math section during which you’re not allowed to use a calculator is completely new on the SAT.
This 25-minute section asks you 20 questions, and you’re not allowed to use a calculator on any of
them. 15 of these questions are multiple choice, and the remaining five are “grid-ins,” officially known
as student-produced responses.

Time # of Multiple Choice # of Grid-ins

25 minutes 15 (#1-15) 5 (#16-20)
The Math No Calculator section asks questions that fall into three skills areas, Heart of Algebra,
Passport to Advanced Math, and Additional Topics. The main focus, as you can see in the chart
below, falls on Heart of Algebra and Passport to Advanced Math.

Content Categories # of Questions Percent of Test

Heart of Algebra 8 40%
Passport to Advanced Math 9 45%
Additional Topics 3 15%
Source: College Board

You won’t find any Problem Solving and Data Analysis questions here. These question types are
featured much more heavily on the Math with Calculator section.

Math With Calculator Section Structure

You can use a calculator throughout this 55-minute section, though you don’t necessarily need to.
College Board says it wants to test your calculator fluency, or your ability to determine when a
calculator’s a useful tool and when it would just slow you down. The Math with Calculator is the longer
of the two math sections and asks 38 questions. This leaves you with about 1 minute and 17 seconds
per question.

The Math with Calculator section asks 30 multiple choice questions and eight grid-ins. One of the
grid-ins will be an Extended Thinking question, which features a word problem or graphic and asks
two or more questions about it. Outside of this Extended Thinking question, the math questions won’t
relate to one another. As with the Math No Calculator section, the grid-ins will come at the end:

Time # of Multiple Choice # of Grid-ins

55 minutes 30 (#1-30) 8 (#31-38)

The Math with Calculator section tests from the same skill areas as the Math No Calculator - Heart of
Algebra, Passport to Advanced Math, and Additional topics - but it also tests Problem Solving
and Data Analysis. In fact, almost half of the Math with Calculator questions fall into this skill area,
as you can see in the chart below .

Content Categories # of Questions Percent of Test

Heart of Algebra 11 29%
Passport to Advanced Math 7 18%
Problem Solving and Data Analysis 17 45%
Additional Topics 3 8%
Source: College Board

This section may be your last on the SAT, meaning you’ll pass in your materials and leave the testing
center. If you elect to take the essay, then you’ll get a 5-minute break and then move onto the Essay
section.
How Is the New SAT Scored?
The new SAT is scored on a scale from 400 to 1600. You’ll get two section scores, one for Math and
one for Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW), which is essentially your Reading and Writing
sections combined. The scale for both Math and EBRW ranges from 200 to 800.

If you choose to take the essay, your essay score won’t factor into your total scores. Your essay will
be scored by two readers. You’ll get three scores between 2 and 8 for three areas: Reading,
Analysis, and Writing. A perfect essay score would be an 8|8|8.

In addition to your section and total scores, you’ll also get test scores that show how you performed
on each of the four sections individually. Plus, cross-test scores and subscores will break down
certain skills, showing how you did on questions that test your Analysis in Science, Command of
Evidence, and Words in Context skills, to give a few examples.

These subscores can serve as valuable feedback for your test prep, but the most important scores for
college are your section scores and how they combine to form a total score out of 1600.

One last note about SAT scoring - the process now uses “rights-only” scoring. In other words,
you won’t get any point deductions for wrong answers. You’ll just get one point for every correct
answer, and no points for wrong or blank answers.