SAT Math Tips and Tricks, Ranked by What Raises Your Score

Desmos comes first: it’s the tip top scorers credit most, and the one that wins points fastest. The other four are where points still go after Desmos: setting the question up, misses that come back, answering the wrong question and running out of time. Which one wins you points first depends on your Math score now. Find yours:

Math Score	Where your next points are
500s or below	Learn three Desmos moves: graph both sides, click the intersection, use a table. They’re the first lessons in our Desmos course. Fix the algebra under most questions: linear equations, percents and word problems into equations. Get Module 1 nearly clean: it decides which Module 2 you get (the time plan). Reread the last line before every answer (the slips that cost the most).
600s	Find out your weakest Math domains and skills to focus on. Add the tilde and sliders: the Desmos moves, then Desmos Regression Practice. Redo every miss until you get it right (how to review a miss). Reach question 16 of Module 2 with about 18 minutes left (the time plan).
700+	Every question in the 200 Super-Hard SAT Math Questions, timed: about 2 minutes each. The by-hand route and the rare skills: circle equations, special right triangles, sum and product of roots. Zero slips: check every Module 1 answer a second way (the slips). Question 16 with 20 minutes left: about 2½ minutes for each of the last 7.
No score yet	Take a free practice test first, so you know where your points are. Until then, start with Desmos.
Test this week	Four things that still help, and nothing new.

1. Learn Desmos: It Solves Most SAT Math Questions

About 7 in 10 SAT Math questions have a Desmos route, and Desmos is built into the test for everyone.

Desmos doesn’t do the math for you. It turns a question that needs a trick into one you can type. Try this question: only a third of students get it right.

Try one: a quadratic from three facts

f

Your answer

Here’s the Desmos route. It works without seeing the symmetry trick at all.

In Desmos: under a minute, no trick needed

A quadratic fitted in Desmos: the points (-2, 9), (10, 9) and (1, 0) in a table, y1 ~ ax1^2 + bx1 + c giving a = 0.333, b = -2.667 and c = 2.333, and the parabola through all three points — Three facts, three points, one fit. The tilde does the algebra.

1Make a table. Click + at the top left, then table. (Or type table on an empty line.) You get two columns, $x_1$ and $y_1$
2Enter the three facts as points. Row 1: -2, 9. Row 2: 10, 9. Row 3: 1, 0. “f(x) = 9 at x = −2” is the point (−2, 9).
3Fit the quadratic. On a new line, type y1~ax1^2+bx1+c. Desmos turns y1 and x1 into $y_1$ and $x_1$ as you type. The ~ (tilde, top left of your keyboard) means “fit this to the table”, not “equals”.
4Read the constants. Desmos shows $a = 0.333333$ $b = -2.66667$ and $c = 2.33333$ and draws the parabola through all three points. $a$ is positive, as the question says.
5Answer what it asks. The coefficient of $x$ is $b$ Type b on a new line, then click the fraction button beside its value: $-\tfrac{8}{3}$
6Enter it. Type -8/3. A decimal works too if it fills the box: -2.666 or -2.667, never -2.67.

Custom regression with several conditions

That one move, the tilde, solves a big share of the hardest Math questions: tables, constants, “equivalent for all x”. Here are the moves worth knowing cold. Each one links to its free lesson.

When you see… type…

When you see	Type	Lesson
An equation to solve	`y=` the left side, then `y=` the right side. Click where they cross: the x is your answer.	Solve one-variable equations
A system, or “how many solutions?”	Both equations. Cross once: one solution. Parallel: none. Same line: infinitely many.	How many solutions?
A table of values	`table`, then `y1~mx1+b` for a line or `y1~ax1^2+bx1+c` for a parabola	Regression from a supplied table
An unknown constant and one fact, like f(4) = 16	For f(x) = (p−3)x + 2p + 4, the fact with a tilde: `16~(p-3)*4+(2p+4)`	Custom regression with one unknown
“Equivalent for all x” or “infinitely many solutions”	`x1=[1...10]` to give Desmos ten x-values, then both sides with a tilde: `(2x1+p)(x1-3)-(x1+q)(x1+1)~x1^2-10x1-11`	Constants in equivalent expressions
“No solution” or “exactly one solution” for some k	Both sides as graphs, k on a slider. Drag until they stop meeting, or just touch.	Sliders for unknown constants
A percent sentence	Type it the way it reads: `65% of x=117`	Solve percent problems in Desmos
Mean or median	`mean([3,7,8,10])`, `median([…])`	Mean, median and frequency tables
Which data set has the larger standard deviation	`stdevp([…])` for each set, then compare	Spread, standard deviation, and box plots
An angle in radians, like π/6	Wrench icon → Radians. The test’s Desmos opens in degrees; `sin(30)` shows 0.5 there	Introduction to Desmos
A decimal where you need a fraction	Click the fraction button beside the value	Exactness, rounding and output verification

When by hand is faster. Start in Desmos unless the question is obviously quicker in your head: an angle sum in a triangle, what the 40 means in $y = 12x + 40$ a value you read straight off a graph. Desmos is a calculator too, so even plain arithmetic is safer typed. The other 3 in 10, mostly geometry and setting up word problems, need you. See When not to use Desmos.

Is it cheating? No. College Board built it into the test, for everyone. The students at 790 and 800 settle it the same way: Desmos and the math, for different jobs. Desmos is for speed and for checking. Understanding is for setting a question up, and for the hard ones Desmos can’t start. Mark, who got an 800 in Math, put it this way: “don’t go over too much on Desmos syntaxes without actually understanding the concepts.”

2. Know the Math Desmos Can’t Do for You

Desmos computes. You set the question up. Geometry and trig are where this matters most. Try one.

Try one: the ladder

65^{\circ}

Desmos did the arithmetic for everyone here. The 9% who picked 10.6 chose cosine: that’s the setup, and it’s yours. And a quarter picked 21.4, the closest choice to what Desmos says in radians.

Geometry and trig are about 15% of SAT Math, and the reference sheet helps less than students think. Here’s what it gives you, what it leaves out, and what you can skip.

The reference sheet, sorted

On the sheet, so you don’t need to memorize them: area of a circle, rectangle and triangle; a circle’s circumference; the Pythagorean theorem; the 30-60-90 and 45-45-90 triangles; volume of a rectangular prism, cylinder, sphere, cone and pyramid; 360° (or 2π radians) in a circle; 180° in a triangle.

Not on the sheet: learn these.

Formula	Lesson
SOHCAHTOA	Use sine, cosine, and tangent
$\sin x^\circ = \cos(90^\circ - x^\circ)$	Use sine, cosine, and tangent
Circle equation $(x-h)^2+(y-k)^2=r^2$	Read and write circle equations
Completing the square to get there	Complete the square for a circle
Arc length and sector area: the angle’s share of 360°, times the circumference or the area	Find arc length, sector area, and radian measure
Surface area: add up the faces	Find surface area and volume
Similar figures: lengths scale by $k$ areas by $k^2$ volumes by $k^3$	Use scale factors in two and three dimensions
Vertex form $a(x-h)^2+k$ and the vertex at $x = -\tfrac{b}{2a}$	Use the three forms of a quadratic function
Discriminant $b^2-4ac$ positive, two solutions; zero, one; negative, none	Use the quadratic formula and discriminant
Sum of the roots $-\tfrac{b}{a}$ product $\tfrac{c}{a}$	Connect quadratic roots and coefficients
Growth and decay: $a(1 \pm r)^t$	Build, identify, and interpret exponential models
Parallel lines share a slope; perpendicular slopes multiply to −1	Work with parallel and perpendicular lines

Safe to skip: the law of sines and cosines, hexagon area formulas, logarithms, matrices. The SAT doesn’t test them.

Every formula, with a lesson for each: SAT Geometry and Trigonometry

3. Practice Just Past Your Level, Then Redo Every Miss

Points come from questions a little harder than the ones you already get right. Too easy and you’re only practicing speed; far too hard and you’re guessing.

$Train harder than the test.$

Where to find the hard ones. All of these are free, with no sign-up:

200 Super-Hard SAT Math Questions, the hardest we have across all four domains
By domain: Problem-Solving and Data Analysis (50), Advanced Math (25), Geometry and Trigonometry (25)
Desmos Regression Practice: 68 questions the tilde solves, each with a step-by-step Desmos solution
The Math question bank, by domain and skill, for drilling one skill at a time

Many students say the real Module 2 felt harder than their practice. That’s one more reason to practice on questions harder than you’ll need.

How to review a miss. Reading the explanation isn’t enough. When students meet a Math question they missed before, they get it right only about 6 times in 10. So redo it until you can, without the explanation open:

Name why you missed it, in one of five words: misread (answered something it didn’t ask), method (didn’t know how), setup (wrong equation or wrong side), slip (arithmetic, sign or typing) or time. “Careless” isn’t a reason; it’s a pattern you haven’t named yet.
Redo it a day later, from a blank page.
Do three more like it, with the same method.

On Aniko, the Error Log keeps every question you’ve missed and haven’t fixed yet. Retry answers one again, and can add up to 10 similar questions on the same skill to lock it in. Parsa, 800 in Math, on what made the difference: “really understanding why you got a certain question wrong… keeping a proper error log.” Ologist, 790: “the similar questions have a very similar solving method to a question you missed.”

A week you can follow:

Most days: one practice session on your weakest skill, 30 to 45 minutes.
After each session: open the Error Log, name the why for each miss and Retry it with similar questions.
Every week or two: a full timed practice test on Aniko, Module 2 included, to check your score and rehearse your time plan.
After the test: name every miss, and let the misses choose next week’s skill.

Volume works. Students who answered 1,000 or more Math questions on Aniko before their SAT scored a median 105 points above their first Aniko Math estimate.

4. Answer the Question It Actually Asks

This is the slip students repeat most, and the cheapest points to win back. You do the math right, then answer a different question. Try this question.

Try one: the greatest x

x

Your answer

Half the students who tried it answered 5.5: every step right, then they forgot x is an integer. The fix is three habits:

Circle what’s asked before you start: the word after “what is”, and every condition, like integer, positive or x < 0.
Apply every condition to your answer before you enter it.
Check by a different route. Redoing it the same way repeats the same slip. Solved in Desmos? Plug the answer back in by hand. Solved by hand? Check it in Desmos.

These are the traps students fall into most, each with the one line that beats it:

The slips that cost the most

The slip	What beats it	Lesson
You solved for x; it asked for 3x (or 2x + 1, or x + y).	Reread the last line before you click.	Solve linear equations
“Integer”, “positive”, “x < 0”.	Apply every condition before you enter the answer.	Solve one-variable inequalities
16% less means ×0.84, not ×0.16. And a factor of 0.84 means 16% less, not 84%.	Percent less = 1 minus the factor.	Model percent increase and decrease
“150% more than 10” is 25, not 15.	“More than” adds to the 100%: ×2.5.	Model percent increase and decrease
“Given that” picks the row or column.	Divide by that row’s total, not the whole table’s.	Use two-way tables and conditional probability
A shift moves the mean, not the range. Adding 32 to every value adds 32 to the mean; the range stays put.	Ask what each step does to the center and to the spread.	Reason with range and standard deviation
Radius or diameter, area or circumference.	Write the label next to the number.	Find perimeter and area of plane figures
A hidden minus.	Copy the expression into Desmos instead of retyping it in pieces.	Distribute, combine, and rewrite expressions
Words into math: “of” means ×, “is” means =, “at least” means ≥, “x is 40% of y” means $x = 0.4y$	Translate word by word before you solve.	Model and interpret one-variable equations

Grid-in rules. About a quarter of Math questions have no choices, and a right answer typed wrong scores as wrong:

The box takes 5 characters, or 6 for a negative answer.
A fraction that doesn’t fit goes in as a decimal, and a decimal has to fill the box: for 2/3, enter .6667 or 0.667, not .67.
No %, $ or commas. A mixed number like 3½ goes in as 7/2 or 3.5.

More in How do I enter grid-in answers on the SAT?

5. Plan Your Time in Both Modules

Each Math module is 22 questions in 35 minutes: about 95 seconds a question on average. Questions get harder as the module goes on, so the last few need more than average.

Module 1: accuracy first. Module 1 decides which Module 2 you get. Do well and you get the harder Module 2, the only path to the top scores. So take the time to get Module 1 right, and use Desmos to check your answers.

Module 2: bank time for the end. Here’s the plan:

Module 2, 35 minutes

35:00 → 20:00 Questions 1 to 15 · about a minute each: you can do these
20:00 → 3:00 Questions 16 to 22 · about 2 to 3 minutes each: the hard ones
3:00 → 0:00 Fill every blank · a guess can be right; a blank can’t

Stuck after about 20 seconds, with no first step? Pick your best guess, Mark for Review and move on.
Past 3 minutes on one question? Guess and go. Those minutes buy more on the questions ahead.
Never leave a blank. There’s no penalty for a wrong answer.

The 3-minute rule comes from students’ answers. On hard questions, students get about 3 in 4 right when they spend 20 seconds to 1½ minutes, and 6 in 10 past 3 minutes. A long time on one question usually means you don’t have a way in yet, and those minutes buy more on the questions you haven’t reached. Guess, mark it and come back with the time you banked.

Miu, who got an 800 in Math on her next SAT, lost points to clicks, not math: “I made sure to solve everything with 10 to 15 minutes left over so I could re-verify that I selected all the right answers.” You don’t need 15. Bank what you can, and check by a different route.

Three myths, quickly:

“Do Module 2 back to front.” Most top scorers advise against it. The hard questions can eat 10 minutes, and the easier points at the front turn into guesses. If you want to try it, try it on a practice test first.
“Easy questions are worth more points.” No SAT question has a fixed point value, so ignore the point charts. What is true: missing easy questions can cost you more than missing only hard ones. Don’t rush the first 15.
“The easier Module 2 caps you at 600.” There’s no fixed number. The easier path can’t reach the top scores, which is why Module 1 accuracy matters. See How is the SAT scored? Is it curved?

If Your Test Is This Week

You won’t learn a new domain in a week. You can stop giving points away. Do these four things:

Answer every question. A blank is always wrong; a guess sometimes isn’t.
Read the slips that cost the most once a day, and reread the last line before every answer.
Use the time plan: question 16 of Module 2 with 18 to 20 minutes left. Rehearse it once on a timed half test early in the week.
Redo your misses, not new topics. Spend the last days on your Error Log. Retry each question until you get it right without the explanation.

On the morning, look over your own misses or the sorted reference sheet, not something new. Bumbu, who went from 940 to 1600, did exactly that: “take a screenshot of all formulas… and go over them right before the exam.”

Find Out Which Tips You Need

The score table gave you a place to start. Your own misses tell you the rest: after a few sessions, the reasons you named in your Error Log (misread, method, setup, slip or time) show which tip wins you the most points next.

Aniko builds your study plan around your test date and target score. It tracks how well you know each of the SAT’s Math skills, and puts your practice where the most points are at stake. When you keep missing the same idea, a lesson on it comes first, then a session to put it to work. The Desmos course and our hardest sets are free, with no sign-up.

$One skill at a time.$

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SAT Math Tips, Ranked for Your Score