SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

Are you scoring in the 600-750 range on SAT Math? Do you want to raise that score as high as possible—to a perfect 800?

Getting to an 800 SAT Math score isn't easy. It'll require perfection. But with hard work and my strategies below, you'll be able to do it. I've scored 800 on Math on all my SATs, and I know what it takes. Follow my advice, and you'll get a perfect score—or get very close.

Need to study for the SAT Math section but don't know where to start? On a budget, too? Not to worry! In this article, we've put together a comprehensive list of all the best (and free!) SAT Math study materials and guides currently available online.

Note: For info on the best SAT study materials you have to pay for, check out our picks for top SAT prep books.

The SAT math test is unlike any math test you've taken before. It's designed to take concepts you're used to and make you apply them in new (and often strange) ways. It's tricky, but with attention to detail and knowledge of the basic formulas and concepts covered by the test, you can improve your score.

So what formulas do you need to have memorized for the SAT math section before the day of the test? In this complete guide, I'll cover every critical formula you MUST know before you sit down for the test. I'll also explain them in case you need to jog your memory about how a formula works. If you understand every formula in this list, you'll save yourself valuable time on the test and probably get a few extra questions correct.

It's entirely possible to train for the digital SAT's Math section. The more you understand how it works, the better you'll perform on test day. Here, we'll give you absolutely everything you'll need to know to master SAT Math.

For SAT Math prep, no matter your strategy—whether you're doing self-study, taking a prep class, or working with a tutor—you need to be working with real SAT Math practice materials. The SAT Math test will be different from any other math test you've taken. You need to work with the real material to get used to the pacing and style of this unique test.

In this guide, I'll show you where to find official SAT Math practice tests and questions, and go over what materials to avoid.

This guide is fully updated for the digital SAT!

Want to test yourself against the most difficult SAT math questions? Want to know what makes these questions so difficult and how best to solve them? If you're ready to really sink your teeth into the SAT math section and have your sights set on that perfect score, then this is the guide for you.

We've put together what we believe to be the 15 most difficult questions for the current Digital SAT, with strategies and answer explanations for each. These are all hard SAT Math questions from College Board SAT practice tests, which means understanding them is one of the best ways to study for those of you aiming for perfection.

Trigonometry and radians are important parts of the digital SAT Math section! Do you love SOHCAHTOA and ${π}$ angle measurements? Do you hate trigonometry and radians and don't know what SOHCAHTOA or ${π}/{2}$ means?

No matter how you feel about SAT trigonometry, there is no need to stress. In this guide, I'll let you know everything you need to know about trigonometry and radians for the SAT Math test and guide you through some practice problems.

Many students taking the SAT are most daunted by the Math section. There are a lot of questions covering a lot of topics that you need to answer in a short amount of time. Fortunately, you can enter the exam room feeling prepared and confident for SAT Math. This guide contains the 16 best SAT Math tips and tricks you should be using. They cover all the bases from the time you begin studying to the moment time is called on the exam and you put your pencil down.

Triangle questions account for less than 10% of all SAT math questions. That being said, you still want to get those questions right, so you should be prepared to know every kind of triangle: right triangles, isosceles triangles, isosceles right triangles—the SAT could test you on any one of them. Since triangle problems only account for a small percent of the SAT math questions, you shouldn’t spend all of your study time on triangles.

The SAT doesn't give any penalties for incorrect answers, so you should always guess on a section, including the Math section. But guessing requires strategy, especially if you're hoping to get a high (or even perfect!) SAT Math score.

In this guide, we’ll go through how to guess strategically on SAT Math and show you examples of it in action.

Which is better/easier/faster—the SAT Math section or the ACT Math section? How does each stack up over the course of the entire test? Most importantly, which math section is right for you?

We’ll break down both the similarities and differences in this SAT Math vs ACT Math guide and help you decide which standardized test suits you better.

In our SAT guide to lines and angles, we dealt with parallel lines, perpendiculars, and the many different ways to find angle measures with two or more lines. Now, we’ll look at the other aspect of lines, namely their slopes and equations.

This will be your complete guide to lines and slopes—what slopes mean, how to find them, and how to solve the many types of slope and line equation questions you’ll see on the SAT.

If you’re planning to take the SAT, you may have heard of this strange question type known as grid-ins. You probably know that there are multiple-choice questions and an optional essay, but what are grid-ins? Problems that require you to draw pictures or graphs, perhaps? The reality is grid-ins are almost identical to multiple-choice questions; they just don’t provide answer choices.

This guide will explain what grid-ins are, discuss where they appear, outline how many appear on the SAT, and provide tips on answering them. 

In March 2016, the SAT underwent a complete redesign, concentrating more on testing reasoning skills than on obscure vocabulary knowledge.

So how do you study for the SAT now that there just aren't that many practice tests available? After all, there’s nothing quite like taking actual official SAT tests to get you ready for the real thing. The good news is that many of the questions that appeared on the old SAT format are still completely relevant and a great resource for practicing your skills!

Sure, you've done your paces on single variable equations and now they're no problem, but what do you do when presented with multiple equations and multiple variables at once? These are what we call “systems of equations” and, luckily for us, they are extremely predictable types of problems with multiple methods for solving them. Depending on how you like to work best, you can basically choose your own adventure when it comes to system of equation problems.

But before you choose the method that suits you (or the individual problem) best, let's look at all the various options you have available as well as the types of questions you'll see come test day. These questions will always show up once or twice on any given test, so it's best to understand all the strategies you have at your disposal. 

This will be your complete guide to systems of equations questions—what they are, the many different ways for solving them, and how you'll see them on the SAT.