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The Structure of the SAT

The SAT is a 3 hour multiple-choice exam that tests basic math and verbal skills. In addition, the SAT tests your ability to take the SAT. What do we mean by that? Well, the SAT--like most standardized tests--primarily tests your ability to take tests. So one of the first things you should do when preparing for the SAT is to learn about the test itself:

Strategy Tip: Understanding the way content is tested on the SAT is as important as knowing the content itself.

Let's have a look at the way the test is structured:

Sections # Timing Question Types Scoring
Verbal 3 Two 30 minute sections and one 15-minute section 40 Critical Reading
19 Analogies
19 Sentence Completions		 200-800
Math 3 Two 30-minute sections and one 15-minute section

35 Regular Math
15 Quantitative Comparisons
10 Grid-Ins

 200-800
Experimental 1 One 30-minute section Math or Verbal Not Scored
Total 7 3 hours 138 scored questions 400-1400

The structure of the SAT is predictable. While the exact same questions never appear from test to test, the number of questions, the types of questions, the directions, and the content areas remain the same from test to test. A prepared test-taker will maximize on the SAT's predictability.