SAT Math Study Guide – 7 Steps to SAT Math Success
Every year, nearly two million students take SAT tests in the US and worldwide. After teaching thousands of students, we’ve seen that there are certain steps for a successful SAT Math score. We’ve outlined 7 steps in this SAT Math Study Guide that will bring you a higher SAT Math score.
In this article
📌 Hint: Do not skip this article, you will find FREE Digital SAT Math Prep resources throughout the article.
What is the SAT Math Study Guide?
SAT score is one of the most important factors that will get you into your dream college. SAT consists of two parts: Reading and Writing and Math. When it comes to math, several students struggle to score a higher score although it is not hard as long as you have a solid SAT Math Study Guide. Several SAT Math prep students ask “Is there a proven SAT Math Study Guide?”, “What is a good SAT Math Study Plan?”, “What are the steps of an SAT Math Study Guide”.
After teaching thousands of SAT exam prep students, we’ve seen that there is no fixed SAT Math Study Guide that fits all. Some blogs, websites, or tutors have bold claims that “if you follow this SAT Math Study Guide, you will increase your math scores.” You should be careful of these kinds of bold claims as a study guide that fits many may not be a good one for you.
💡You might be interested in reading the Digital SAT Math Ultimate Guide post!
Anna B. Scored 800 on SAT Math!
Anna B. is one of our thousands of successful SAT students. She scored 800 on SAT Math. You can watch her SAT story.
We will teach you to create your own, unique and tailored for you SAT Math Study Guide in this post.
7-Step SAT Math Study Guide
Our SAT Math Study Guide includes 7 major steps. We will go over each step one by one.
Step #1 – Determine the Target Date for Sitting SAT Exam
The first step of the SAT Math Study Guide is determining the target SAT test date you will take the SAT exam. This is crucial because you have to plan your preparation time accordingly. The average preparation duration of our SAT exam prep students is ~150 hours. Note that this is an average value, we have students who studied much more than 150 hours as well as less than 150 hours.
However, you can take this ~150 hours of preparation time as a ballpark range. The next step is planning how many hours you can study each week until the exam date. Let’s say it is the 1st of September, and you are planning to sit for the SAT exam on December 7th. There are 13 weeks until the exam. Therefore, you have to study around 12 hours each week for a good SAT score.
There might be unexpected things during your preparation such as sickness, activities in school, etc. Therefore, it is better to plan around 2 weeks for these in your SAT Math Study Guide.
Watch SAT Math Prep Online Course – Sample Lecture on YouTube
We have a sample 8-minute video lecture from our SAT Math Prep Online Course on YouTube. You can watch below.
Step #2 – Set a Target Score
Before you start your SAT exam preparation, take a SAT practice test to see your results. The administrator of the SAT, The College Board, offers several full-length SAT Practice Tests. These tests are calibrated correctly and the distribution and difficulty of the questions are consistent as you will experience in your actual SAT exam.
Then, take a look at the colleges’ SAT score percentiles you are planning to apply for. We’ve given some of the colleges’s SAT score percentiles below. You can look for other Colleges’ SAT Score Percentiles and Acceptance rates in our post.
| College | SAT Score Percentiles |
| Cal Tech | 1530 – 1580 |
| Harvard | 1460 – 1580 |
| MIT | 1510 – 1580 |
| Yale | 1460 – 1580 |
| Stanford | 1420 – 1570 |
| University of Michigan | 1340-1560 |
| Boston College | 1330 – 1500 |
| U.S. Military Academy | 1210 – 1440 |
| Purdue | 1190 – 1430 |
| Penn State U.-Univ. Park | 1150 – 1340 |
| Univ. of Miami | 1250 – 1420 |
For instance, if you are planning to apply to Boston College, you should be scoring around 1330 and 1500. Note that, that is the average of all college applications. If you are planning to apply for a popular department of a college, you need to score more than these averages. For instance, Economics, Finance, and Computer Science are popular departments at Boston College. Therefore, the score percentiles of the accepted students in these departments are expected to be above the 1330 – 1500 range.
Depending on your initial result, if there is a huge gap from the target score, you should be studying harder. You can use our Digital SAT Score Calculator to calculate your scores in practice tests and quizzes.
7-Step SAT Study Guide – YouTube Video
You can view our 7-Step SAT Study Guide on YouTube.
Step #3 Take Notes During Your SAT Math Study
There will be lots of concepts, SAT Math formulas, tips, and tricks throughout your SAT exam preparation. Note that, some concepts and formulas are frequently occurring on the SAT exam. Therefore, it is crucial to take notes during your SAT Math study.
Especially, take notes where you found valuable information or a shortcut to a solution. These notes will be very useful, especially in the second half of your SAT exam preparation. As you progress in your SAT exam preparation, you may forget some of the topics you studied earlier. With the help of the notes you will be taking, you can memorize important points easily.
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Step #4 Make Practice as Much as Possible
The biggest tip we can give you for a higher SAT score is to do as much practice as you can. Actually, this is not a tip only for the SAT exam, for any kind of exam, practicing with as many practice questions as possible is the key to success.
Most of the SAT exam prep students look for Free SAT Math Practice tests on the web. However, most of these exams might be outdated, giving wrong answers or rationales. Moreover, the difficulty and the skills and knowledge point distribution of the questions may not resemble the actual SAT exam. Free SAT exam prep materials not only lack the comprehensive SAT exam prep content but also guide you inappropriately during your SAT exam study. Therefore, be careful if you will use free SAT exam prep materials during your SAT exam study.
💡You can see our Free SAT Math Exercises which has 50 exercises on all SAT Math domains.
SFBS Online Digital SAT Math Prep Through Questions Program
San Francisco Business School offers a comprehensive Digital SAT Math Prep Course taught by 99th-percentile SAT Instructors and exam experts. The program cracks down each content domain and 19 skills and knowledge testing points through 500+ realistic Digital SAT Math questions. You will see all the different types of questions that may appear in Digital SAT.
Step #5 Go Through Your Wrong Answers
The fifth step of the SAT Math Study Guide is going through the wrong answers that you selected during your SAT exam prep. Your wrong answers show your weaknesses. If you are making lots of mistakes for a particular content domain or skill and knowledge point, go through that particular area to improve your knowledge. The more practice you make on your weak areas, the better you will start to score.
Many students make the mistake of over-practicing questions from the areas they know better. For instance, if a student is good at SAT Algebra, but not in Geometry, he should be going through SAT Geometry over and over to improve his results. That improvement will make a significant increase in his score rather than practicing more Algebra questions.
Free Digital SAT Math Prep Course
SFBS offers a Free Digital SAT Math Prep course. The course goes through a particular skill and knowledge testing point and improves your problem-solving skills and test-taking strategies.
Step #6 Go Through Your Notes Frequently
The best way to keep your mind ready for the SAT exam is by going over your notes frequently. SAT exam preparation is a long journey, and the contents you completed earlier might be harder to remember when you come to further content domains. Therefore, the best way to memorize what you will learn throughout the SAT exam study is to go over your notes frequently. For instance, you can spend 15-20 minutes each week going over your notes from previous sections.
🗎 Download the 15-page Digital SAT Math Formula Sheet.
Step #7 Go and Crack the SAT Exam!
You have gone through all SAT exam topics, completed all quizzes, and scored around your target scores on quizzes and SAT practice exams.
You are ready for the Big Day! If you have still time for the SAT exam, spend your last days going over your notes. Get a good sleep before the day of the SAT exam, and stay calm during the SAT exam.
Frequently Asked Questions About SAT Math Study Guide
After helping thousands of SAT exam students, we’ve listed below the most frequently asked questions about the SAT Math Study Guide.
Is there any solid SAT Math Study Guide that will work for me?
No, there is not a solid, recipe-like SAT Math study guide that will work for all SAT exam students. However, there are important points that you must consider during your SAT exam study. We have outlined these steps in this post for you to create your own SAT exam study plan.
What is the 30-Day SAT Math Study Guide?
Most SAT exam students want to improve their SAT scores as quickly as possible. That is why you will see several SAT exam prep training providers, blogs, or platforms market “30-day SAT Math Study Guide”, “60-day SAT Math Study Guide” or “90-day SAT Math Study Guide”. However, SAT exam success requires rigorous SAT exam preparation.
Remember that average SAT exam preparation takes around 150 hours of study. To get ready for the SAT exam, you must spare around 5 hours each day if you have a 30-day SAT Exam Study Plan. We do not say this is impossible however it requires big dedication, a strong background, and sufficient time to study for the SAT exam.
If you consider the duration, time, and steps we outlined above, you can scale your SAT exam study into 30 days, 60 days, or 90 days. Respectively, you will have a “30-day study plan”, “60-day study plan” or “90-day study plan”.