What Type of Math Is on the SAT? The 19 Things It Tests

The SAT Math section is not a random sample of high school math. It is 44 questions drawn from a fixed list of 19 skill categories that College Board publishes and does not change from test to test. If you know the 19, you know the whole section. Most students never see the list, so they study math in general and hope. This is the list.

We also counted how often each of the 19 shows up on the official tests: the most common SAT Math questions, all 19 skills ranked.

The shape of the section

• 44 questions in two modules of 22, 35 minutes each. The second module is easier or harder depending on how you did on the first.
• About 75% multiple choice, four options each. The rest are "student-produced response": you type a number.
• The Desmos graphing calculator is built into the test and allowed on every question. Knowing what to type is worth real points, and school does not teach it.
• A reference sheet of basic formulas is one click away on every question, so the geometry formulas below are given, not memorized.

The four areas and how much each one is worth

• Algebra, about 35% (13 to 15 questions)
• Advanced Math, about 35% (13 to 15 questions)
• Problem-Solving and Data Analysis, about 15% (5 to 7 questions)
• Geometry and Trigonometry, about 15% (5 to 7 questions)

Read that again before you plan your studying. Algebra and Advanced Math are 70% of the section. A student who is solid on lines, systems, quadratics and exponentials has already covered most of the test. Geometry gets more fear than it deserves; it is five to seven questions.

The 19 things

Algebra (5)

1. Linear equations in one variable. Solve for x, or find the value that makes an equation have no solution. Looks easy, and the hard versions hide the variable on both sides with fractions.
2. Linear equations in two variables. Write the equation of a line from two points, a table, or a word problem. The test loves asking for the equation in a form you did not expect.
3. Linear functions. Interpret slope and intercept in context: what does the 3 in f(x) = 3x + 40 mean about the gym membership? Wrong answers describe the other number.
4. Systems of two linear equations. Solve two equations, or say how many solutions the system has. The hard ones ask for the value of a constant that makes the lines parallel.
5. Linear inequalities in one or two variables. Which point satisfies both inequalities, or which system matches a story. Desmos shades these for you.

How these show up.

• No solution and infinitely many solutions. Questions that give you two linear equations and ask when the system has no solution or infinitely many. This is a pattern you will see on every test. Recognize it instantly: parallel lines = no solution, same line = infinite.
• Linear regression. A table of values and a question about the best-fit line. Desmos handles this in about 10 seconds. Type in the data, run the regression, match the output to the answer choices. We have a full walkthrough on Desmos regression for these problems.
• Interpreting lines. Slope-intercept form where the question asks what m or b represents in the context of a word problem. "What does the 3 in y = 3x + 50 represent?" The answer is usually cost per unit, miles per hour, or something domain-specific. Read the context carefully.

One question of this kind, answer marked, video solution in the app:

Advanced Math (3)

6. Equivalent expressions. Factor, expand, simplify, rewrite exponents and radicals. "Which expression is equivalent to" questions, and the ones where a constant is chosen so two forms match.
7. Nonlinear equations in one variable and systems of equations in two variables. Quadratics, the discriminant, a line meeting a parabola. The classic hard question: for what value of k does the system have exactly one solution?
8. Nonlinear functions. Quadratic and exponential functions, their graphs, vertex form, growth and decay. The single biggest bucket on the test; expect five or more questions from here alone.

How these show up.

• Exponential equations. These connect to percent change problems. If a value grows by 8% per year, you multiply by 1.08. If it decays by 3%, you multiply by 0.97. Recognize the pattern: y = a(1 + r)^t for growth, y = a(1 - r)^t for decay.
• The discriminant. For a quadratic ax² + bx + c = 0, the discriminant is b² - 4ac. When it is positive, two real solutions. Zero, one solution. Negative, no real solutions. Questions on this are common. Desmos can also solve the full equation visually if the algebra gets heavy.
• Equivalent expressions. The SAT loves asking "which expression is equivalent to this one?" after some algebraic manipulation. Instead of doing the algebra by hand, plug a value into both expressions and see which answer choice matches. Desmos makes this fast.

One question of this kind, answer marked, video solution in the app:

Problem-Solving and Data Analysis (7)

9. Ratios, rates, proportional relationships, and units. Unit conversions, scale, speed. Usually one or two, usually easy, usually rushed.
10. Percentages. Percent change, reverse percentages (the price after a 20% discount was $48; what was it before?), and percent of a percent.
11. One-variable data: distributions and measures of center and spread. Mean, median, standard deviation from a table or histogram. Rarely computation; usually "which is greater" or "what happens to the median if".
12. Two-variable data: models and scatterplots. Read a line of best fit, interpret its slope, predict a value. The trick answers use the actual data point instead of the line.
13. Probability and conditional probability. Almost always a two-way table. The word "given" changes the denominator, and that is the whole question.
14. Inference from sample statistics and margin of error. What a survey result lets you conclude about the population. No calculation; it is about what the words mean.
15. Evaluating statistical claims: observational studies and experiments. Was the sample random? Were subjects assigned randomly? Those two questions decide what you can claim.

How these show up.

• Ratios and proportions. Scale factors, unit conversions, recipes, rates. Any problem that involves "if 3 of X costs Y, how much does 7 of X cost" is a ratio problem. Set up the proportion and let Desmos solve it.
• Statistics. Mean, median, standard deviation, range. Desmos has built-in stat functions. If you get a list of numbers and a question about one of these measures, put the list in Desmos and let it take care of the rest.
• Percentage problems. This is where most students waste time. The trick is translating the words into an equation. "X is 30% of Y" becomes X = 0.30Y. "What percent of 40 is 16" becomes 16 = p × 40. Once the equation is written the problem solves itself with Desmos.

One question of this kind, answer marked, video solution in the app:

Geometry and Trigonometry (4)

16. Area and volume. Prisms, cylinders, cones, spheres, and figures made of two shapes. The formulas are on the reference sheet; the work is setting them up.
17. Lines, angles, and triangles. Parallel lines cut by a transversal, angle sums, similar and congruent triangles. The hard ones are similar triangles inside a bigger triangle.
18. Right triangles and trigonometry. Pythagorean theorem, special right triangles, SOH CAH TOA, and the fact that the sine of one acute angle equals the cosine of the other.
19. Circles. Equation of a circle, completing the square to find the center, arc length and sector area. Two or three questions when they show up, and students skip the whole category out of habit.

How these show up.

• Area and volume. The formula sheet has area of circles, volume of cylinders, spheres, cones, pyramids. Know what is on it and what is not.
• Surface area. This is not on the formula sheet explicitly. You need to know how to find the surface area of a rectangular prism (add up the areas of the six faces). Memorize a handful of common shapes.
• Right triangles and SOHCAHTOA. Sine, cosine, tangent. Questions often give you a right triangle with one angle and one side, and ask for another side. SOHCAHTOA plus the Pythagorean theorem covers most of these.
• Similarity. Similar triangles have proportional sides. This comes up constantly in geometry problems, often hidden inside a larger figure.
• Circle equations. (x - h)² + (y - k)² = r². The center is (h, k), the radius is r. SAT loves asking you to find the center or radius given the equation, or to write the equation given the center and a point on the circle. Desmos handles the heavy lifting here too, so you can skip the algebra and focus on reading off the answer.

One question of this kind, answer marked, video solution in the app:

What is not on the SAT

No calculus. No matrices, vectors, or logarithms. No imaginary numbers, no synthetic division, and no trigonometry beyond SOH CAH TOA. If a topic is not in the 19, it is not on the test, and studying it is time taken from something that is.

How to use the list

Take a full-length practice test, then sort your misses into the 19 buckets. Almost everyone finds that their misses live in three or four of them, not nineteen. That is your study plan: work those categories, easy to hard, until the misses stop. Then retest.

Every practice topic on Sigma Prep is one of these 19, at three difficulty levels, with a video on every problem. The free full-length test sorts your misses into the buckets for you, and the study plan takes it from there.

Common Questions