Many test prep companies state that the SAT only tests your ability to take the SAT and doesn’t actually test any real learning or knowledge. This statement is misleading, especially in reference to the Math SAT. Someone who has studied and understands the math topics on this test will do better than someone who only studied the SAT tricks. Knowing the tricks can be helpful, of course, but it will only augment your math knowledge. We’ll state it again, just because we are so annoyed at the test prep companies who self-servingly deny this fact: if you understand math, you will do better on the Math SAT than someone who knows little math, no matter which of you knows more tricks.

This does not mean you should study all of high-school math, and neither does it mean you should avoid learning the strategies and tricks. It means you should study the right topics in math—the math covered on the SAT, all of which is covered in the following chapters. It also means that you should learn and think about strategic ways to approach questions as a way to enhance your skill, speed, and accuracy, not as a replacement.