SAT Exam Syllabus: General Test Pattern 2022 – 2023

General Test Pattern for SAT Exam

The SAT exam, or the Scholastic Assessment Test is a standardized test to measure the “college readiness” of a candidate. In its earlier version, it used to come in two avatars – General Test and Subject Test. As of 2021, College Board has discontinued the Subject Test, with the General Test being the de-facto SAT test there is.

The SAT exam tests a candidate’s reading, writing, and mathematical abilities. Individual sections, viz. English and Mathematics, are scored on a scale of 200-800, adding up to a total of 1600. 3 sub-scores are also given for reading, writing, and math on a scale of 10-40. The raw scores are scaled to the final scores based on the difficulty of the questions answered and other secret parameters (known as ‘equating’). The test comes in both formats: computerized and paper-based.

The test has three broad sections: Reading/Writing, and Mathematics. The test is organized as follows:

Sections	Component	Time Allotted (min.)	Number of Questions/Tasks
1	Reading	65	52
2	Writing and Language	35	44
3	Math (No Calculator)	25	20 (5 Grid-in)
4	Math (Calculator)	55	38 (8 Grid-in)
	Total	180	154

The duration of the test is 3 hours and 50 minutes, excluding breaks. 2 breaks are allowed during the exam: one 10-minute long and another 5 minute long. The sequence of the sections can vary, and a candidate cannot jump across sections; a section needs to be completed fully before moving on. Candidates are not penalized for wrong responses.

SAT Syllabus

Reading

The reading section has questions related to reading passages of 500-700 words, and each passage consists of 11 questions. There are 5 of them in total, and the length of the passages vary. The primary purpose of the section is to assess the candidate’s ability to understand and assimilate written text that may include infographics. The candidate is expected to know the meaning of words in context, along with associated variations in implied meanings and impact due to the exact word usage. They are also expected to understand and infer from data provided in the infographics – tables and charts – in context of the passages.

Candidates with long-standing reading habit usually perform well in this section, and getting the overall idea of the passage is paramount for scoring high. It is always a good idea to restate the whole idea of the passage in your own language/words, as it makes the elimination process easier. Answer choices can be confusing, and a candidate is expected to know why a particular answer is wrong among the choices given (not-stated assumption, opposite true, too specific/broad assertion etc.) It is generally a good idea to skim the passage once and get into the details only while answering a particular question as it might save some valuable time.

Writing

Writing section has 4 passages, with each passage associated with 11 questions. A candidate is expected to spot errors, rephrase marked/highlighted sentences with better alternatives etc. Main focal point revolves around the usage and understanding of grammar.

As in reading, smart work is required to ace the section, especially given the fact that the correct answer needs to be marked in less than a minute. It is a good idea to read only the relevant parts of the passage, rather than focusing on getting into the details. Smart eliminating of choices is also a good-to-have skill, and the right answer is usually the most relevant choice within the context. Brushing up on punctuation rules is also a good idea, as some questions can be eliminated purely on the basis of incorrect punctuation use. Understanding of connecting words can also come in handy, especially to delineate and establish relationships between ideas. ‘However’, ‘Therefore’, ‘Afterwards’ etc. have usage which varies and signals different transitions among sentences.

Mathematics

This section is 80 minutes long and has 58 questions. It has a couple of basic sub-sections: a 25-minute section (no calculator) and a 55-minute section (calculator allowed). Each section has grin-in problems that are not multiple choice but rather requires students to solve and enter answers in grids provided in the answer sheet. Non-grid in questions are multiple choice.Here is the link to the calculator policy for SAT, in case you were curious. Math questions involve knowledge of subject areas such as arithmetic, geometry, algebra, statistics and probability. It also involves data interpretation from tables/graphs and problem-solving.

For Mathematics, it is usually a good idea to identify your areas of improvement early on (insufficient grasp of fundamentals, or skewed time management etc). Once you zero-in on a deficiency, it is advisable to devise a laser-focused strategy to strengthen the deficiency.

Practice is of paramount importance, and a log of the mistakes can do wonders for your test score. If you want to score a perfect score (stereotypes of Indian nerdiness at Math notwithstanding), you should have a good grasp of all possible content along with good time-management skills. Moreover, many candidates make careless mistakes which drag down the overall score dramatically.

List of topics for Mathematics:

Solving linear equations and linear inequalities
Interpreting linear functions
Linear inequality and equation word problems
Graphing linear equations
Linear function word problems
Systems of linear inequalities word problems
Solving systems of linear equations
Solving quadratic equations
Interpreting nonlinear expressions
Quadratic and exponential word problems
Radicals and rational exponents
Operations with rational expressions and polynomials
Polynomial factors and graphs
Nonlinear equation graphs
Linear and quadratic systems
Structure in expressions
Isolating quantities
Functions
Ratios, rates, and proportions
Percents
Units
Table data
Scatterplots
Key features of graphs
Linear and exponential growth
Data inferences
Center, spread, and shape of distributions
Data collection and conclusions
Volume word problems
Right Triangle word problems
Congruence and similarity
Right triangle geometry
Angles, arc lengths, and trig functions
Circle: Equations and theorems
Complex numbers

Essay (Optional)

As of 2021, the optional essay section is no longer a part of the SAT General Test. However, in a few states in USA, certain school districts still have the access and requirement to complete the SAT Essay. So, here are a few things to note if you belong to that category.

The time allotted for one task is 50 minutes and the net score, and it is meant to assess your understanding of the given data/case and the quality of your writing. 650-700 is the expected length of the essay, and the candidate should take a stance on the issue at hand. However, expounding on personal opinions is not expected and the purview is limited to the given data. Precise language in a logical and consistent manner fetches good marks.

Here is a link for an official sample SAT essay, along with a high scoring student response.

Here is a link for further information on SAT Essay scoring.