The complete map
Every Digital SAT question type, explained
The Digital SAT isn't a mystery box. It draws from a fixed list: 11 Reading & Writing skills and 4 Math domains, repeated on every test. Learn the list and each question stops being a surprise and starts being a category you've seen before. Here's the whole map, with a plain-English guide to each — what it measures, and the move that turns its medium questions into its hard ones.
Reading & Writing
Two of the four modules. Every R&W question belongs to one of these ten skills — and the test tells you nothing about which. Learning to name the type on sight is half the battle.
Central Ideas & Details
Pin down the main point a passage is built to make, and the details that serve it.
Read the guide
Command of Evidence: Text
Match a claim to the one quote that actually proves it.
Read the guide
Command of Evidence: Data
Find the figure in a graph or table that supports the passage’s point.
Read the guide
Words in Context
Choose the word the sentence’s own logic demands, not the one you like.
Read the guide
Cross-Text Connections
Put two authors in a room and say exactly how they would disagree.
Read the guide
Rhetorical Synthesis
Pick the sentence that hits a stated goal using the given notes.
Read the guide
Transitions
Read the logical turn between two sentences, then name it.
Read the guide
Inferences
Supply the one conclusion the passage has already earned.
Read the guide
Text Structure & Purpose
Name the job a sentence does, not the fact it states.
Read the guide
Boundaries
Punctuate by clause structure, not by where you would pause.
Read the guide
Form, Structure & Sense
Make the underlined word agree with the partner the sentence hides.
Read the guide
Math
The other two modules. Four domains, tested with multiple-choice and student-produced (grid-in) responses. A calculator is allowed throughout.
Algebra
Translate the words to an equation, then keep the scale balanced.
Read the guide
Advanced Math
Read the form of the equation the question hands you.
Read the guide
Problem-Solving & Data Analysis
Track the units and read the figure before you compute.
Read the guide
Geometry & Trigonometry
Pick the one formula the figure calls for, then chain them.
Read the guide