SAT Sections
Critical Reading
The Critical Reading section of the SAT is divided between two 25-minute sections and one 20-minute section. There are two general types of questions that appear in the Critical Reading section: sentence completion and reading/response. Sentence completion questions test student vocabulary, organization and syntax. The Critical Reading is made up of three scored sections, two 25-minute sections and one 20-minute section, with varying types of questions, including sentence completions and questions about short and long reading passages. Critical Reading sections normally begin with 5 to 8 sentence completion questions; the remainder of the questions are focused on the reading passages.
This Section Tests
- Critical Reading
- Analysis
- Reasoning
Writing
The writing section of the SAT, based on but not directly comparable to the old SAT II subject test in writing, includes multiple choice questions and a brief essay. The multiple choice questions include error identification questions, sentence improvement questions, and paragraph improvement questions.
The essay section is always administered as the first section of the test. All essays must be in response to a given prompt. The prompts are broad and often philosophical and are designed to be accessible to students regardless of their educational and social backgrounds.
This Section Tests
- Knowledge of grammar
- Rhetorical skills
- Organization
Mathematics
The Mathematics section of SAT is widely known as Quantitative Section. Mathematics section consists of three scored sections. There are two 25-minute sections and one 20-minute section.
This Section Tests
- Number and Operations
- Algebra and Functions
- Geometry and Measurement
- Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability