Digital SAT glossary

Where a figure moves from year to year — National Merit qualifying levels, test dates, fees, an institution’s testing policy — the entry describes the mechanism and tells you where to confirm the current number rather than printing one that will be wrong by next fall.

Format

Adaptive testing

Adaptive testing routes a test taker into a second module whose difficulty depends on first-module performance.

The digital SAT is section-adaptive rather than question-adaptive: every question inside a module is fixed, and only the second module of each section changes. Each section’s second module arrives in an easier or a harder form, and the harder form carries the higher score ceiling. Accuracy in the first module is therefore worth more per question than accuracy later. See digital SAT prep for what this changes about preparation.

See also Module, Section, Score band.

Module

A module is one timed block of questions; each digital SAT section contains two of them.

Reading & Writing is delivered as two modules of 27 questions in 32 minutes each. Math is two modules of 22 questions in 35 minutes each. Inside a module you may move freely between questions, flag them and return; once a module is submitted it cannot be reopened. The second module of each section is selected by performance on the first.

See also Adaptive testing, Section, Timing.

Section

A section is one of the digital SAT’s two scored parts: Reading and Writing, or Math.

Each section is scored 200–800, and the two section scores add to a total of 400–1600. Reading & Writing always comes first and is followed by a short break, then Math. The sections are scored separately and adapt separately: strong work in one has no effect on the module you are routed into in the other.

See also Section score, Module, Break.

Bluebook

Bluebook is the College Board application in which the digital SAT and PSAT are taken.

Bluebook is installed on a laptop or tablet before test day and delivers the questions, the timer, the on-screen Desmos calculator, the reference sheet and the answer submission. It also hosts full-length practice tests that students can sit for free. Because the application is the testing environment, practicing inside it removes a layer of unfamiliarity on test day. See SAT practice tests for how often to sit a full form.

See also Digital SAT, Desmos graphing calculator, Test day.

Digital SAT

The digital SAT is a two-section, computer-delivered college admissions test scored from 400 to 1600.

The digital SAT replaced the paper test in 2024. It runs about 2 hours 14 minutes of testing: Reading & Writing in two 32-minute modules of 27 questions, then Math in two 35-minute modules of 22. It is section-adaptive, there is no penalty for a wrong answer, and Desmos is on screen for all of Math. SAT is a trademark of the College Board.

See also Adaptive testing, Module, College Board.

PSAT/NMSQT

The PSAT/NMSQT is a practice SAT, taken in October and scored 320–1520, that enters students for National Merit.

The Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test uses the same adaptive digital format and the same question types as the SAT, on a slightly lower scale. Juniors who sit it and meet the entry requirements are considered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. It is the only route into that program, which is why the junior-year October sitting carries weight the practice label does not suggest. PSAT/NMSQT is a trademark of the College Board and NMSC.

See also Selection Index, National Merit Scholarship Program, PSAT 8/9.

PSAT 8/9

The PSAT 8/9 is an entry-level digital test for eighth and ninth graders, scored on a lower scale.

The PSAT 8/9 is the earliest test in the SAT suite. It is shorter in reach than the SAT, covers the same four math domains at an easier level, and uses the same Bluebook delivery. It carries no scholarship consequence; its value is a baseline early enough to act on. Confirm the current score scale and length with the College Board, because the suite has been revised.

See also PSAT/NMSQT, Bluebook, Diagnostic.

Test day

Test day is the administration date on which a student sits the exam at a test center or school.

A student brings an approved device, a charger, an acceptable photo ID where required and an admission ticket. Bluebook must be installed and updated beforehand, and the exam setup completed in advance. The proctor reads instructions and gives a start code. Dates, deadlines and fees change every year and are published by the College Board, so check them rather than relying on a figure in any article.

See also Bluebook, Proctor, Accommodations.

Proctor

A proctor is the trained staff member who administers the test, checks identity and releases the start code.

Proctors read the standard script, confirm that each testing device is ready, hand out the code that starts the first module and time the break. They do not answer questions about content. On the digital test the application enforces the clock, so a proctor’s main role is room management and irregularity reporting rather than timing. Students with approved accommodations are usually administered by staff briefed on those arrangements.

See also Test day, Accommodations, Break.

Accommodations

Accommodations are approved changes to testing conditions, such as extended time or extra breaks, for eligible students.

Requests go through the College Board’s disability services process, usually submitted by a school coordinator with documentation, and approval takes time, so families apply well before a chosen test date. Common approvals include extended time per module, additional or extended breaks, a separate room, screen-reader or assistive technology support, and permission for food or medication. An approval generally carries across the SAT suite and Advanced Placement exams rather than being requested again each time.

See also Test day, Timing, College Board.

Question count

The digital SAT has 98 questions: 54 in Reading and Writing and 44 in Math.

Those 98 split into four modules of 27, 27, 22 and 22. A small number within them are unscored pretest questions, so the number of items that count toward a score is slightly lower and is not disclosed on the report. Students cannot tell which is which, which makes the practical instruction simple: answer every question, because nothing is deducted for a wrong one.

See also Embedded pretest questions, Raw score, Module.

Timing

Digital SAT timing is 32 minutes per Reading and Writing module and 35 minutes per Math module.

That works out at about 71 seconds a question in Reading & Writing and about 95 seconds in Math, with a break between the sections. Total testing time is roughly 2 hours 14 minutes. The clock runs per module and unused time does not carry forward, so pacing has to be managed inside each block rather than across the section.

See also Module, Timing error, Break.

Embedded pretest questions

Embedded pretest questions are unscored items included in a test form to gather data for future tests.

Every operational form carries a few questions that do not count. They let the College Board measure difficulty and discrimination on new items before those items are used for real. They look exactly like scored questions and are not flagged, which is one reason a student’s own count of misses rarely matches the reported score. It is also a reason not to reverse-engineer a score from a question tally.

See also Raw score, Equating, Question count.

Break

The break is the scheduled pause between the Reading and Writing section and the Math section.

It lasts about ten minutes and is not counted in the roughly 2 hours 14 minutes of testing time. Devices stay in the testing room and the application holds the Math section until the break ends. Students approved for extra or extended breaks have those administered separately. Treating the break as part of the rehearsal — eating the same thing, moving, resetting — is worth more than it sounds.

See also Section, Timing, Accommodations.

Scoring

Section score

A section score is the 200–800 score reported for Reading and Writing or for Math.

Two section scores are reported and they add to the total. Each is produced from the questions answered correctly, adjusted by equating and by which second module the student was routed into. Because the sections adapt independently, a student can finish with very different section scores, and the weaker one is usually where the next points are cheapest. The score calculator shows what each costs in questions.

See also Total score, Scaled score, Equating.

Total score

The total score is the sum of the two section scores, reported on a 400–1600 scale.

A 400 is the floor and 1600 the ceiling, in ten-point steps. The total is the number colleges quote and the one a student fixates on, but it is the least actionable figure on the report: it says where you landed and nothing about why. Error categories and domain breakdowns are what a plan is built from. See how to score 1500.

See also Section score, Percentile, Error category.

Raw score

A raw score is the number of questions answered correctly, before conversion to the reported scale.

Nothing is subtracted for a wrong answer on the SAT, so a raw score is a simple count and guessing is always better than leaving a question blank. On an adaptive test the raw score alone does not determine the scaled score: two students with the same count can finish apart because they sat different second modules. That is why an honest estimate from a raw score is a range.

See also Scaled score, Score band, Adaptive testing.

Scaled score

A scaled score is a raw score converted to the reported 200–800 range so forms are comparable.

The conversion accounts for the difficulty of the particular form, established by equating, and on the digital test for the difficulty of the second module the student was routed into. This is why a harder module two carries a higher ceiling: the same number of correct answers is worth more there. No public lookup table maps raw to scaled on an adaptive test, and any site offering one is approximating.

See also Raw score, Equating, Adaptive testing.

Percentile

A percentile is the percentage of a comparison group scoring at or below a given score.

Score reports show more than one percentile, because the comparison group differs: one is drawn from a nationally representative sample of students, another from recent test takers. The same total can therefore appear with two different percentiles, and the gap is not an error. Percentiles move slightly year to year as cohorts change, so compare a percentile against the year it was reported rather than an older figure.

See also Score report, Total score, Score band.

Score band

A score band is the range around a reported score that reflects normal measurement error.

No test measures a student exactly. The same student sitting two equivalent forms in the same week would not post identical numbers, and the band expresses that expected variation. Treating a band as a point estimate is how families read a 30-point move as progress when it may be noise. For planning, compare bands rather than totals, and look for movement larger than the band before calling something an improvement.

See also Scaled score, Total score, Plateau.

Selection Index

The Selection Index is the number NMSC uses to decide National Merit recognition, derived from PSAT/NMSQT section scores.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation computes it from a student’s PSAT/NMSQT section scores and uses it to set who is named Commended, Semifinalist and beyond. Both the exact derivation and the qualifying level have changed over time, and the qualifying level also differs by state and by year. Confirm the current derivation and cutoff directly with NMSC rather than with any third-party figure, including an older one from this site.

See also PSAT/NMSQT, National Merit Scholarship Program, Section score.

Superscore

A superscore combines a student’s highest section scores from different test dates into one total.

If a student scores higher in Math on one date and higher in Reading & Writing on another, a superscoring institution reads the best of each. Whether a college superscores is that college’s own policy and it changes, so check the three or four that matter most to you. Where superscoring applies, a second sitting aimed at one weak section is often the cheapest points available.

See also Section score, Score choice, Test-optional.

Score choice

Score choice is the College Board policy allowing students to select which test dates’ scores are sent.

Scores are sent by date, not by section, so a sitting is released whole or not at all. Some institutions ask applicants to submit every score they have ever earned, which overrides the convenience of choosing; that requirement is set by the institution and changes. Check each college’s stated reporting rule before deciding, because sending less than a college requires is a problem that is easy to avoid.

See also Superscore, Score report, College Board.

Score release

Score release is the date a sitting’s scores become available in a student’s College Board account.

The digital test returns scores faster than the paper test did, typically within a couple of weeks rather than a month, but the exact interval depends on the administration and is published alongside each test date. Score sends to colleges take additional time after release. Build that lag into an application timeline: the useful question is not when scores arrive but whether they arrive before a deadline.

See also Score report, Application deadline, Test day.

Concordance

Concordance is the published mapping between SAT and ACT scores that places them on comparable footing.

The tables are produced jointly by the testing organizations from students who sat both exams, and admissions offices use them to read one score against the other. A concordance is a statistical correspondence, not an equivalence: it tells you which ACT composite sits alongside a given SAT total in a national sample, not which test you personally will score better on. For that, sit one section of each. See SAT vs ACT.

See also Percentile, Total score, Diagnostic.

Equating

Equating is the statistical process that makes scores from different test forms mean the same thing.

No two forms are exactly equal in difficulty, so a fixed number of correct answers cannot always be worth the same scaled score. Equating uses data from common and pretest items to adjust for that, which is what allows a 1400 in March and a 1400 in October to be read as the same achievement. It also means a student cannot gain by hunting for an easier test date.

See also Scaled score, Embedded pretest questions, Raw score.

Math

Student-produced response

A student-produced response is a math question with no answer choices, where the answer is typed in.

Often called grid-ins. About a quarter of Math questions are of this type. Answers may be positive or negative, integers, decimals or fractions, and where more than one value satisfies a question any one of them is accepted. There are no choices to work backwards from and no partial credit, so the risks are entry format and arithmetic slips rather than being misled by a distractor.

See also Algebra domain, Desmos graphing calculator, Error category.

Algebra domain

The algebra domain covers linear equations, linear functions, inequalities and systems of linear equations.

It is the largest of the four Math domains, roughly 35% of the section. Questions appear as equations, as word problems that have to be turned into equations, and as graphs or tables of linear relationships. Because almost everything later in Math rests on handling a linear relationship confidently, this is the domain to repair first when a diagnostic shows losses spread across the section. See SAT math prep.

See also Linear equation, System of equations, Advanced math domain.

Advanced math domain

The advanced math domain covers nonlinear equations and functions, including quadratic, exponential, polynomial, radical and rational forms.

Officially Advanced Math, it is about 35% of the Math section and the domain where scores separate at the top. Questions ask for solutions, for equivalent forms, for the meaning of a parameter, and for connections between an equation and its graph. Much of it yields to the on-screen calculator if the student has been trained to graph rather than solve, which is a learnable technique rather than a talent.

See also Quadratic equation, Function notation, Desmos graphing calculator.

Problem-Solving and Data Analysis

Problem-Solving and Data Analysis covers ratios, rates, percentages, data interpretation, probability and inference from samples.

It is about 15% of the Math section. The questions are less about technique than about reading a situation correctly: which quantity is the base of a percentage, whether a rate is per unit or total, what a margin of error does and does not permit you to conclude. Losses here are usually comprehension errors rather than gaps in mathematics, which changes how they should be repaired.

See also Unit conversion, Line of best fit, Error category.

Geometry and Trigonometry

Geometry and Trigonometry covers lines, angles, triangles, right-triangle trigonometry, circles, area and volume.

It is about 15% of the Math section, the smallest domain, and the one students most often leave untouched because it feels like older material. Bluebook supplies a reference sheet of common formulas, so what is tested is the decision about which relationship applies, not recall. Similar triangles, the Pythagorean theorem and the circle relationships account for most of the questions.

See also Circle theorems, Bluebook, Advanced math domain.

Linear equation

A linear equation relates quantities at a constant rate and graphs as a straight line.

On the SAT it appears in slope-intercept, point-slope and standard form, and the test moves between them freely, so recognizing the same line in three dresses is part of the skill. Most questions reduce to identifying the slope as a rate and the intercept as a starting value in context. Typing the equation into Desmos converts an algebra problem into a reading-off problem.

See also Algebra domain, System of equations, Desmos graphing calculator.

Quadratic equation

A quadratic equation has a squared variable as its highest power and graphs as a parabola.

The SAT asks for roots, for the vertex, for the number of real solutions and for the form that reveals a particular feature — factored form for the zeros, vertex form for the maximum or minimum. Factoring, completing the square and the quadratic formula all appear, but graphing the expression and reading the answer off the curve is frequently faster and less error-prone than any of them.

See also Advanced math domain, Intersection point, Function notation.

System of equations

A system of equations is two or more equations whose shared solutions satisfy all of them at once.

SAT systems are usually two equations in two variables, sometimes one linear and one quadratic. Substitution and elimination both work, and questions about how many solutions a system has can often be answered from the coefficients without solving. Graphing both equations in Desmos and clicking the crossing point gives the same answer in seconds and is the single highest-yield calculator technique in the section.

See also Intersection point, Linear equation, Quadratic equation.

Function notation

Function notation writes a rule as f(x), naming the input and the value the rule returns.

The SAT uses it to test whether a student can read an instruction rather than recall a procedure: evaluating at a value, solving when the output is given, composing two functions, and translating between a function, its table and its graph. The common error is treating f(x) as multiplication. Once the notation is fluent, a whole class of questions becomes bookkeeping instead of mathematics.

See also Advanced math domain, Table of values, Quadratic equation.

Unit conversion

Unit conversion changes a quantity from one unit to another by multiplying by equivalent ratios.

SAT questions supply any conversion factor a student is not expected to know, so the skill is arranging the factors so the unwanted units cancel. Multi-step conversions — currency per hour into currency per week, cubic units into liters — are where losses occur, and they are almost always careless rather than unknown. Writing the units beside the numbers prevents most of them.

See also Problem-Solving and Data Analysis, Error category, Student-produced response.

Line of best fit

A line of best fit is the straight line that most closely summarizes the trend in scatterplot data.

Questions ask for the slope or intercept in context, for a prediction at a value the data does not contain, or for how far an actual point sits from the predicted one. The wording matters: a predicted value comes from the line, an actual value from the plotted point. Desmos will compute a fit from a pasted table if a question supplies the data rather than the line.

See also Regression, Problem-Solving and Data Analysis, Table of values.

Circle theorems

Circle theorems relate a circle’s radius, arcs, central and inscribed angles, chords and tangent lines.

The SAT tests a narrow set: the equation of a circle in the coordinate plane, completing the square to find center and radius, arc length and sector area as fractions of the whole, the relationship between a central and an inscribed angle on the same arc, and radian measure. A tangent meets the radius at a right angle, which turns many circle questions into right-triangle questions.

See also Geometry and Trigonometry, Quadratic equation, Bluebook.

Reading and Writing

Information and Ideas

Information and Ideas is the Reading and Writing domain testing comprehension, evidence use and data interpretation.

It is about a quarter of the section and contains three question types: central ideas and details, command of textual evidence, and command of quantitative evidence. Every answer has to be supported by something on the screen, which is the habit the domain rewards. Students who lose points here are usually choosing the answer that is true in the world rather than the one the passage supports.

See also Command of evidence, Quantitative evidence, Craft and Structure.

Craft and Structure

Craft and Structure is the Reading and Writing domain testing vocabulary, text purpose, structure and cross-text connections.

It is the largest Reading & Writing domain, a little over a quarter, and holds words-in-context questions, text-structure and purpose questions, and paired passages that have to be read against each other. The vocabulary questions are the most trainable part of the whole section, because they test precision of meaning in a given sentence rather than the size of a word list. See SAT reading and writing prep.

See also Words in context, Information and Ideas, Expression of Ideas.

Expression of Ideas

Expression of Ideas is the Reading and Writing domain testing transitions and rhetorical synthesis of given notes.

It is about a fifth of the section and has only two question types, which makes it the fastest domain to improve. Transitions questions turn on the logical relationship between two sentences. Rhetorical synthesis questions give a set of bullet-point notes and a stated goal, and ask which sentence uses the notes to meet that goal. Both are rule-governed rather than matters of taste.

See also Transitions, Rhetorical synthesis, Standard English Conventions.

Standard English Conventions

Standard English Conventions is the Reading and Writing domain testing grammar, usage, punctuation and sentence boundaries.

About a quarter of the section, and the part of the test that is finite. Sentence boundaries, subject-verb and pronoun agreement, verb forms, modifier punctuation and the handling of supplements cover nearly all of it. A student who learns that list properly stops losing points here, which is unusual on a standardized test: the rules do not vary with the passage, so the same preparation works every time.

See also Subject-verb agreement, Pronoun-antecedent agreement, Punctuation of modifiers.

Command of evidence

Command of evidence questions ask which detail from a text or graphic best supports a stated claim.

Two forms appear: textual, where the support comes from the passage, and quantitative, where it comes from a table or graph. In both, the correct answer must do the specific job the question names — support, weaken, illustrate — for the specific claim given. Three wrong answers are usually true statements that do not do that job, which is why reading the task before the options saves time.

See also Information and Ideas, Quantitative evidence, Craft and Structure.

Words in context

Words-in-context questions ask which word or phrase best fits the meaning and tone of a given sentence.

The question is never what a word means in general but what fits here, so the method is to decide what the blank has to do before looking at the options. Two choices are often near-synonyms and the sentence separates them on connotation or register. Vocabulary study helps, but precision about what the sentence requires helps more, and it is faster to train.

See also Craft and Structure, Retrieval practice, Error category.

Transitions

Transitions questions ask which connecting word or phrase correctly expresses the logical relationship between two sentences.

The relationships are a short list: addition, contrast, cause, consequence, example, concession, sequence and emphasis. Covering the transition and naming the relationship in your own words before reading the options removes most of the difficulty, because several options will belong to the wrong relationship entirely. Students who guess by ear on these lose predictable points; students who learn the list stop losing them.

See also Expression of Ideas, Rhetorical synthesis, Error category.

Subject-verb agreement

Subject-verb agreement requires a verb to match its subject in number, singular with singular and plural with plural.

The SAT tests it by putting distance between the subject and the verb: a prepositional phrase, a clause, or a list that invites the wrong number. Collective nouns, indefinite pronouns and inverted word order also appear. The reliable move is to strip the sentence to its subject and verb and read those two words alone, which makes the error audible in almost every case.

See also Standard English Conventions, Pronoun-antecedent agreement, Punctuation of modifiers.

Pronoun-antecedent agreement

Pronoun-antecedent agreement requires a pronoun to match the noun it refers to in number and person.

The common SAT error is a singular antecedent followed by a plural pronoun, often because the noun names a group or an institution. Ambiguous reference is also tested: a pronoun that could point at two nouns is wrong even when the number agrees. The check is to name the antecedent out loud and substitute it for the pronoun; if the sentence stops making sense, the pronoun is the problem.

See also Standard English Conventions, Subject-verb agreement, Punctuation of modifiers.

Punctuation of modifiers

Punctuation of modifiers governs whether a descriptive phrase is set off by commas, dashes or parentheses.

The governing question is whether the modifier is essential to identifying what it describes. Non-essential material is enclosed, and the punctuation must match on both sides: a comma cannot open what a dash closes. Introductory modifiers take a comma and must describe the subject that follows, which is where dangling modifiers are caught. These rules carry a large share of the conventions questions.

See also Standard English Conventions, Subject-verb agreement, Error category.

Rhetorical synthesis

Rhetorical synthesis questions give bullet-point notes and a goal, then ask which sentence uses the notes to meet it.

The notes are presented as a student’s research and the stated goal is the whole question: emphasize a difference, introduce the topic to an unfamiliar reader, explain a method. The correct option is accurate to the notes and does the named job; wrong options are usually accurate but do something else. Read the goal first, then the notes, then the options, and the type becomes mechanical.

See also Expression of Ideas, Transitions, Command of evidence.

Quantitative evidence

Quantitative evidence questions ask which data from a table or graph supports or weakens a stated claim.

These sit in Reading & Writing rather than Math, and they are reading questions: the arithmetic is trivial and the difficulty is in matching a claim to the right row, column or series. Read the axis labels, units and legend before the claim. A frequent trap is an option that describes the graph correctly but has nothing to do with the claim being made.

See also Command of evidence, Information and Ideas, Line of best fit.

Desmos

Desmos graphing calculator

The Desmos graphing calculator is the on-screen calculator available throughout the digital SAT Math section.

It is built into Bluebook, so no student is at a hardware disadvantage, and it is available for every Math question rather than for one permitted section. Used as a graphing tool rather than an arithmetic tool it removes the algebra from a large share of questions: solving, intersecting, fitting, testing. Most students are never taught this, which is why the course trains it as a subject of its own.

See also Bluebook, Intersection point, Table of values.

Table of values

A table of values in Desmos lists paired inputs and outputs and plots them as points.

Tables are created from the expression list and let a student enter data a question supplies, read a function at several inputs at once, or check which of two relationships fits given pairs. Adding a column with a formula applies that formula to every row. For questions that hand over a short data set, typing it into a table is usually faster than reasoning about it.

See also Desmos graphing calculator, Regression, Function notation.

Slider

A slider in Desmos lets a student vary an unknown parameter and watch the graph change.

Typing an expression with an undefined letter prompts Desmos to offer a slider for it. Dragging the slider answers a class of SAT question directly: which value of a constant gives a line through a point, makes a system have no solution, or shifts a parabola to a stated vertex. It converts solving for a parameter into finding it, which is usually faster and harder to get wrong.

See also Desmos graphing calculator, System of equations, Quadratic equation.

Regression

Regression in Desmos fits an equation to a table of data using the tilde operator.

Entering a model with a tilde in place of the equals sign asks Desmos to find the parameter values that best fit the points in a table, and it reports them. On the SAT this answers line-of-best-fit questions where the data is given but the equation is not, and exponential-growth questions of the same shape. It is a two-keystroke technique that most students never meet.

See also Table of values, Line of best fit, Desmos graphing calculator.

Intersection point

An intersection point is where two graphs cross; Desmos reports its coordinates when the point is clicked.

This is the highest-yield calculator move on the Math section. Any equation can be split into two sides, graphed as two functions, and solved by clicking where they meet; any system becomes a crossing point. Questions about the number of real solutions become a matter of counting crossings. It replaces several distinct algebraic procedures with one habit, which also means fewer places to make an error.

See also Desmos graphing calculator, System of equations, Quadratic equation.

Domain restriction

A domain restriction in Desmos limits a graph to a stated range of input values.

A condition in braces after an expression draws only the part that satisfies it, which matters when an SAT question describes a quantity that cannot be negative, a time interval, or a piecewise situation. Restrictions also clean up a crowded screen so the intersection you want is the one you can click. Combined with sliders they let a student model a worded constraint rather than translate it.

See also Desmos graphing calculator, Slider, Intersection point.

Admissions

Test-optional

Test-optional means an institution lets applicants decide whether to submit SAT or ACT scores.

An application without scores is read on the rest of the file; one with scores has them considered. Policies are set institution by institution and have changed repeatedly in recent years, with some universities reinstating a requirement, so confirm the current rule on each college’s own admissions pages rather than relying on a list. Scores may still matter for scholarships, honors programs or course placement where submitted.

See also Test-blind, Test-required, Score report.

Test-blind

Test-blind means an institution will not consider SAT or ACT scores even if they are sent.

This is stronger than test-optional: the scores are excluded from the admissions decision rather than left to the applicant. A small number of systems and colleges adopted it, and some have since changed course, so the status of any given institution should be checked against its current admissions policy. Even at a test-blind college, scores can still be used for placement or for outside scholarship applications.

See also Test-optional, Test-required, Score report.

Test-required

Test-required means an institution expects an SAT or ACT score as part of a complete application.

A missing score makes the application incomplete, so the test date has to be chosen early enough for scores to be released and sent before the deadline. Several universities that suspended the requirement have reinstated it, sometimes for specific programs or applicant groups, so the policy to work from is the one published for your application year on the institution’s own site.

See also Test-optional, Application deadline, Score release.

National Merit Scholarship Program

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition entered through the PSAT/NMSQT and run by NMSC.

Juniors who take the PSAT/NMSQT and meet the published entry requirements are considered. Recognition proceeds in stages — Commended Student, Semifinalist, Finalist — with scholarships awarded to some Finalists by NMSC, by corporations and by colleges. The Selection Index decides who advances, and the qualifying level varies by state and year. See national merit prep.

See also Selection Index, PSAT/NMSQT, College Board.

Score report

A score report is the document showing a student’s section scores, total score and performance detail.

Beyond the totals it carries percentiles, score ranges, and knowledge-and-skills feedback showing how a student performed by domain. The domain feedback is the part worth reading twice: it points at what to work on, while the total only says where you finished. Reports are viewed in a College Board account, and sending them to colleges is a separate step with its own timing.

See also Percentile, Score band, Score release.

College Board

The College Board is the non-profit organization that develops and administers the SAT, the PSAT suite and AP exams.

It sets the test specifications, publishes the official practice material, runs the Bluebook application, holds the scores and sends them to institutions. SAT and PSAT/NMSQT are its trademarks; the National Merit program is run separately by NMSC. Cali Review is an independent preparation course with no affiliation with, and no endorsement by, the College Board, and every figure here should be checked against their published material.

See also Bluebook, Digital SAT, Score report.

Early action and early decision

Early action and early decision are earlier application rounds; early decision is binding, early action is not.

Both move the application forward in the calendar and return a decision sooner. An admitted early-decision applicant commits to enroll and withdraws other applications; early action carries no such commitment. For testing, the practical consequence is the same: the last useful test date is earlier than it would be for the regular round, because scores must be released and received in time. Deadlines are set by each institution and change.

See also Application deadline, Score release, Test-required.

Application deadline

An application deadline is the date by which a college requires an application and its supporting materials.

Deadlines differ by institution and by round, and they move, so the only reliable source is each college’s own admissions page for the year you are applying. Work backwards from the earliest one: subtract the time a score send takes, then the gap to score release, and you have the last test date that is actually available to you. That date is what a study plan should be built from.

See also Score release, Early action and early decision, Test-required.

Method

Error category

An error category labels why a question was missed: careless, timing, or not known.

The three need different repairs, and lumping them together is why most review changes nothing. A careless error needs a procedure, not more content. A timing error needs pacing work. A genuine gap needs teaching. Sorting a practice test into these categories takes twenty minutes and tells a student what to do next, which a score never does. The course marks every miss this way.

See also Timing error, Diagnostic, Spaced review.

Spaced review

Spaced review brings a missed question back at increasing intervals rather than studying it once.

A rule read once on Tuesday is usually gone by the following week. Returning to it tomorrow, then in three days, then in a week, is what moves it from recognized to known. The practical form is a queue rather than a list: a list of mistakes records what happened, a queue decides what you see next. Most score plateaus are a review-scheduling problem, not an effort problem.

See also Retrieval practice, Plateau, Error category.

Diagnostic

A diagnostic is a short assessment that identifies which skills are costing points before full practice begins.

A full practice test takes a morning and returns a score; a diagnostic takes much less and returns a list of named skills. Early on the list is worth more than the score, because the score cannot be acted on and the list can. Sitting full forms before the repeated errors are fixed measures the same mistakes again. Start with the study plan and a short diagnostic.

See also Error category, Score band, Plateau.

Plateau

A plateau is a stretch of preparation during which scores stop moving despite continued work.

Two things are commonly mistaken for one. A real plateau means the work is no longer addressing what is losing points, usually because review is unsorted and the same two or three errors keep recurring. The other case is movement smaller than the score band, which is noise rather than stagnation. Distinguishing them decides whether to change method or simply to keep going.

See also Score band, Error category, Spaced review.

Timing error

A timing error is a question missed because time ran out, not because the content was unknown.

It shows up as a cluster of misses at the end of a module, or as questions left blank. The repair is pacing and triage rather than content: knowing the budget per question, recognizing within fifteen seconds that a question will be slow, and leaving it rather than spending three minutes on it. Mislabeling a timing error as a knowledge gap sends a student to study something they already know.

See also Error category, Timing, Module.

Retrieval practice

Retrieval practice is recalling an answer from memory rather than rereading an explanation of it.

Rereading a worked solution feels productive and leaves little behind. Covering it and reproducing the reasoning is harder and leaves more. On SAT material the form is specific: say the grammar rule before looking at it, write the step you would take before checking, answer a question type cold a week after meeting it. Combined with spaced review it is the whole of what makes preparation stick.

See also Spaced review, Error category, Words in context.