Is the SAT Hard? (What Makes It Difficult & How to Prepare)

Quick Answer

The SAT is scored on a scale of 400-1600, and, for the Class of 2025, the national average was a 1029 out of 1600.

If you're hoping to make the SAT less difficult, the most important things to do are brush up on any content weaknesses and take official practice SATs under timed conditions to get more used to the test and its quirks. Most students who study for the test and get familiar with it will get an above average score.

Is the SAT Objectively a Hard Test?

The SAT is designed to spread scores across a wide range, not to be uniformly easy or hard for all students. The purpose of the SAT isn't to ask you questions on subjects you haven't learned about before. SAT questions are meant to test topics most students have studied by the end of 10th or 11th grade, such as algebra, basic geometry, grammar and usage, and reading comprehension, plus a few more advanced topics sprinkled in. This means that you'll have learned the vast majority of what the SAT tests by the time you're halfway done with high school.

Some students also find the SAT easier than a typical school exam because there's no memorization required and almost all the questions are multiple choice (there are 11 grid-in questions on SAT Math where you'll need to type in the correct answer).

So if the SAT tests subjects you should already know, why do many students struggle to do well on it?

What makes the SAT feel hard isn't the content it's testing. Instead, it's a combination of:

Strict time limits on sections

A digital format many students aren't familiar with

Questions worded in ways that can seem confusing or tricky

Questions written to test reasoning, not just recall

Pressure from taking an important exam

None of these factors makes the SAT harder than, say, a final exam in calculus or world literature, but because the SAT can be quite different from the tests you're used to taking in school, it can feel harder because you're not used to it.

What Makes the SAT Feel Hard Even When the Content Isn't That Difficult?

Many students who say the SAT was hard don't think it was difficult because the math or reading concepts themselves were so advanced. Instead students typically struggle with three things:

Pacing: On the Reading and Writing section, students only have about 71 seconds per question, and on Math, it's closer to 95 seconds. That's more time pressure than most school exams, and it can definitely make easy questions feel much harder.

Digital Format: The first difficulty of the SAT is that most students take it on the computer, using Bluebook software. If you're unfamiliar with Bluebook (and most students who haven't taken the SAT are), it can be strange to navigate at first and make use of tools like an onscreen calculator. Another aspect that adds to the SAT's difficulty is its adaptive format. The Digital SAT gives every student the same first module, then it adjusts the difficulty of the second module based on how the first one went. Doing well on Module 1 means you get more difficult questions for Module 2 (which can ultimately lead to a higher final score). Many students aren't aware of this, so they might be surprised and intimidated when questions suddenly get harder.

Question Style: The questions you see on tests you take for your high school classes are typically straightforward and often test straight recall. Many SAT questions are worded in a way that can make multiple answer choices seem correct. This is one of the biggest challenges students face with the SAT, but it's also one of the fastest issues to overcome with smart practice.

How Hard Is the Digital SAT Compared to the Old Paper SAT?

The College Board has stated that Digital SAT scoring is calibrated to match the paper test. That means that a 1200 today reflects the same ability level as a 1200 before 2024, when only the paper test was in use. However, some students may find the Digital SAT to be easier or harder than the paper SAT, just based on what they're used to and the kinds of tests they do best on.

Here's how the Digital SAT and old paper SAT compare:

The shorter length and calculator use for all of Math generally make the Digital SAT feel less difficult. The adaptive structure and shorter reading passages are the biggest changes for students used to the old format.

Is the SAT Harder Than the ACT?

Neither test is objectively harder than the other, and many of the skills they test overlap. However, you may feel that the SAT is harder than the ACT (or vice versa) and do better on one test compared to the other depending on your personal test-taking strengths.

Here are some key differences between the SAT and ACT:

Students strong in algebra and who prefer short reading passages often feel more comfortable with and do better on the SAT. In contrast, students stronger in Geometry, who can absorb long reading passages, and move through questions quickly, often find the ACT to be easier.

The only way to know which fits you is to take an official practice test for each, compare the scores, and see which test you feel more comfortable with.

What's a Good SAT Score?

The SAT is scored on a scale between 400 and 1600. The SAT has two major sections: Reading + Writing and Math. For each section, you'll receive a score between 200 and 800 points.

But what's a good score on the SAT? The easiest way to determine this is to look at the scores of everyone who takes the SAT in a given year. Here's how the Class of 2025's scores break down by percentile, based on College Board's data:

A score of 1400 or higher is competitive at most top-50 universities. A 1200 score means you did better than about 75% of test takers and is a strong score for many state flagship schools. The "average" score of 1029 is a typical result, not a sign that the test is unusually hard.

How Long Is the SAT, and Does Time Pressure Make It Harder?

Timing is the single biggest factor students underestimate. The Digital SAT breaks down like this:

The Digital SAT gives more time per question than the old paper SAT did, and for most students, they're able to answer all or most of the questions in a module once they're familiar with the test. However, it does take time to get used to the fast pace of the SAT, the types of questions you'll see, and an understanding of how long you can spend on each question before deciding to skip it and move on.

Many students who feel that the SAT is hard feel that way because they aren't used to the time pressure of the SAT, and that's another reason why taking practice SATs (with correct timing) is so important.

How Can You Make the SAT Easier?

The SAT is actually a very predictable exam. You'll always know:

What order the sections will be in

How many questions each section will have

How much time you'll have for each section

The types of questions you'll be asked

Making use of this predictability is the key way to making the SAT easier. Once you know exactly what to expect from the test, you'll feel much more confident taking it.

To get comfortable with the SAT, our biggest recommendation is to take multiple full-length practice tests. The College Board currently has 8 full-length, official practice SATs you can take on Bluebook, the same software you'll use for the actual SAT. We recommend you take as many of these practice SATs as possible before test day.

Here are a few tips for getting the most out of your practice SATs:

Practice with real timing. Untimed practice can help you learn the content, but it doesn't get you used to the time pressure of the SAT. Always take practice tests with the same amount of timing you'll get on the actual SAT. That way, you'll get used to moving through questions quickly.

Go over every question you got wrong. It's important to understand where and why you're making mistakes. If most of your wrong answers are on geometry questions, you know that's probably a weak area that you should practice. If most of your wrong answers are from careless errors, you know you need to practice being more methodical when answering questions, and potentially leave yourself some time at the end of a section to review your answers. Going through every incorrect question will help ensure you improve on each practice SAT you take.

Use the process of elimination. If you're stuck on a question, rather than keep trying to find the right answer, start crossing off answer choices you know are wrong. Even if you can't get down to one remaining answer, by crossing off one or two choices, you'll have given yourself a better chance of choosing the right answer. Remember, there's no penalty for guessing on the SAT, so you want to answer every question.

Try to keep test anxiety in check. A lot of what makes the SAT feel harder than it is comes from pressure to do well on it. Remind yourself that it's just a test and, even if you don't get the score you want this time, you'll likely have time to take the SAT multiple times to reach your goal score.