A Tutor’s Dispatch from the December SAT

As an SAT prep professional, I’ve spent countless hours teaching students strategies, reviewing  practice tests, and breaking down question types. But nothing compares to sitting for the test  yourself. This past weekend, I found myself doing just that: spending my Saturday morning  taking the SAT. High school me definitely wouldn’t have had that on his 2024 bingo card. I’m  here to share what I learned—not to spill test specifics (hi, College Board!), but to offer insights  and strategies for students preparing to tackle the test themselves.  

Let’s get into it. First things first…  

Yeah, it was harder than the Bluebook practice tests.  

You’re not crazy. Even to a seasoned SAT vet, the December SAT felt about 10% tougher than  the official materials that College Board has released to the public—albeit maybe not in the way  you’re expecting. While the hardest questions on the test weren’t quite as diabolical as those  found toward the end of, say, Bluebook Practice Tests 4–6, the medium-difficulty questions had  been stepped up to medium-hard across both Reading and Writing and Math.  

This made pacing more challenging than I anticipated. I found myself working right up until time  expired on both Module 2s, even submitting a “buzzer-beater”—single digits remaining on the  timer—at the end of the Math section!  

The time crunch wasn’t unique to Math, either. The Reading and Writing section also required  careful time management, with denser texts, more nuanced questions, and a few sneaky traps all  threatening to siphon off your time. A strategic approach can make all the difference here. My  advice?  

Start on Question 15.  

That’s where you’ll find Standard English Conventions (SEC) questions, which focus on  grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. These are quicker to answer than the lengthier  Text Structure and Purpose, Command of Evidence, or Inference questions found earlier in the  section.  

Work through Questions 15–27 first, then loop back to tackle 1–14. This approach ensures you  grab all the low-hanging fruit first and reserve more time for the trickier, lengthier questions. If  you run out of time, at least you’ve locked in the points from SEC. 

Practice logical reasoning, especially on science texts.  

Apparently, the SAT has a thing for proxy measurements. A proxy measurement is an indirect way to  measure something when you can’t measure it directly. Here, I’ll do my best SAT impression: 

To investigate the role of alkaloid concentrations in plant defense mechanisms, researchers measured the fluorescence of leaf tissue under ultraviolet (UV) light  as an indicator of alkaloid levels. Alkaloids are natural compounds known to deter  herbivores, and fluorescence measurements offer a non-invasive way to estimate  their presence. By exposing plants to varying levels of herbivore activity and  recording the corresponding fluorescence levels, the researchers concluded that  higher fluorescence correlates with greater herbivore deterrence: ______  

Which choice best describes data that would support the researchers’  conclusion? 

Notice: fluorescence isn’t the same thing as alkaloid concentration—it’s just something  researchers can use to estimate it. The researchers are measuring something that’s easier to observe (fluorescence) and closely connected to the thing they’re really interested in (the alkaloid  levels). 

This is the sort of logical relationship you have to be ready to engage with. College Board’s  Student Question Bank has questions like these that you can use to prepare, but you might also  want to consider just reading scientific texts that feature complex experimental setups. Pay  attention to how variables are measured indirectly, consider possible confounding factors, and  practice questioning the validity of the conclusions drawn. This will help you tackle these more  complex Reading questions with confidence. 

Get ready to synthesize. 

While the content on the December SAT’s Math section didn’t stray far from what you’ll find on  the Bluebook practice tests, it demanded more synthesis of ideas across multiple concepts. An  ordinary Bluebook practice test question might test just one concept—like, say, finding the area  of a triangle or deducing a circle’s radius from its circumference. But the December SAT often  required you to weave together multiple skills to reach a solution. 

I wrote a multi-step problem in the style of something you might see on the SAT. Try it!

The area of square A is 9π times the area of circle B. The side length of square A is 18 centimeters. The circumference of circle B is nπ centimeters. What is the value of n ? 

X doesn’t mark the spot.  

Another thing I noticed about December’s SAT is that x and y were in short supply. Many questions leaned on less familiar variables and constants such as k, n, or r,  adding a layer of sophistication and forcing students to engage more deeply with the algebra. It’s a subtle tweak, but it adds complexity and discourages reliance on Desmos (which supports only implicit equations of x and y) for shortcuts.

That said…

Desmos is still essential. 

Even as the test evolves, Desmos remains a lifesaver for tasks like solving systems of equations,  quadratic modeling, regressions, and even just plain plugging in the answer choices to see which  one works. A strong grasp of the built-in calculator is key for efficient problem-solving. Check  out Method Learning’s Desmos tutorial videos to make sure you’re fully prepared.  

Finally, remember that you get eight freebies!  

By now, you might find yourself fretting over the notion of a difficulty spike beyond what you  were expecting. But take solace in this fact: the SAT includes eight experimental questions—two  per module—that don’t count toward your score. These are designed to test new question types  and gather data. While there’s no way to know for sure which questions are experimental, if a question feels unusually tricky or out of place, don’t let it shake your confidence—it might not even count.  

Final Thoughts  

The December SAT wasn’t just a test of knowledge—it was a test of adaptability, reasoning, and  clarity under pressure. For students preparing for upcoming SATs, the lesson is clear: focus on  understanding concepts deeply, and practice navigating new contexts confidently. Memorizing  question types has its place, but your ability to think flexibly and adapt to the test’s challenges  will ultimately determine your success.