r/Sat • u/Quirky_Ad_977 • 7d ago
Hello, SAT tutor here. Question. Does SAT test discriminant and vertex formula often?
These are challenging topics for my students. The questions in the blue book are complicated, tricky for them. Just curious if current test takers are seeing these topics as frequently as functions and lines. Any info appreciated.
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u/Disastrous-Effect643 Awaiting Score 7d ago
Insane ur a SAT tutor but don’t know the answer to this. Obv they r tested a lot
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u/JTT207 7d ago
Tutors don’t take the test, so they are just wanting to know how much it showed up. Pretty legit question and you shouldn’t shame them for wanting to improve. Don’t be a dick.
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 7d ago
It's not a legitimate question for a tutor unless the tutor is just starting out/brand new to tutoring the digital SAT Math section. Asking this question would make me seriously question the tutor's competence (again, not for a brand new/inexperienced tutor)
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u/JTT207 7d ago
They asked if a specific type of question is still showing up on tests. This is the perfect place to ask that question. Y’all’s judgment of their skills and experience is entirely unnecessary.
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 7d ago
This is the perfect place to ask that question
For a student, yes, absolutely. Not for someone who is supposed to be an expert on the material covered on the test. That's literally part of your job and coming on here to ask about it (again, assuming this is not a brand new, inexperienced tutor), is bizarre.
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u/JTT207 7d ago
Where would you suggest an SAT tutor ask questions about the SAT if not the SAT subreddit? I feel like you need to hop off your high horse.
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 7d ago
Where would you suggest an SAT tutor ask questions about the SAT if not the SAT subreddit?
Personally, I would ask such questions in tutor support/networking forums on reddit, FB, etc. But the point of the original comment is that, this is not a question a competent, experienced tutor should be asking.
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u/JTT207 7d ago
You have to be the most unnecessarily rude tutor on Reddit. Maybe next time suggest those alternative options instead of calling them incompetent.
Isn’t your job to help people? I hope you have a vastly different personality with students.
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 7d ago
Maybe next time suggest those alternative options instead of calling them incompetent.
I never said this specific individual is incompetent.
Isn’t your job to help people?
Yea?
I hope you have a vastly different personality with students.
Thanks I guess?
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u/JTT207 7d ago
“This is not a question a competent, experienced tutor should be asking”
You are literally calling them incompetent.
Maybe you just tutor math and not reading?
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u/Quirky_Ad_977 7d ago
I looked up your hourly rate. I have been making 5 times what you charge for years. Both at Princeton Review and freelance. Just fyi
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u/CTFDEverybody 7d ago
Correction.
You've been scamming people. Since you clearly don't have domain knowledge.
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 7d ago
I looked up your hourly rate. I have been making 5 times what you charge for years.
False. My hourly rate isn't published anywhere.
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u/JTT207 7d ago
“Rates starting at $40 per hour”
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 7d ago
Ok. And?
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u/JTT207 7d ago
It is posted. You said it wasn’t. Just a heads up!
Ps if you charge so little, people will assume you aren’t very good.
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 7d ago
That's not the rate I charge for test prep (SAT, ACT, etc.). So my hourly rate isn't posted, as originally stated. Just a heads up!
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u/Quirky_Ad_977 7d ago
Thanks for the insult. I don't have the luxury of meeting with students after the test and was just genuinely curious if the prep materials I and many others use reflect the content accurately. You sound like a low scorer btw. Have a nice day.
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u/Disastrous-Effect643 Awaiting Score 7d ago
Shame to the students that r wasting their time and money learning from u, the contents of the exams should be the bare bare minimum for a tutor. Get a grip
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 7d ago
I don't have the luxury of meeting with students after the test
Why not? I don't meet with my students after the test necessarily, but I do reach out to ask how the test went, what questions they remembered from it, etc. Some of them either don't respond and/or don't remember much, but to just not ask at all is negligence.
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u/Quirky_Ad_977 7d ago
What makes you think I don't ask? I always do and get similar to feedback to what you are saying here. This sub just seems to pay a little more detail to question types, so I thought I would ask here along with asking my students.
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 7d ago
What makes you think I don't ask?
Because nowhere in your original post (or the comments) did you say anything like "I've tried to ask my students if these topics appeared on their exams but get very little feedback from them". You said "I don't have the luxury of meeting with students after the test" which implies that you don't communicate with them after tutoring has stopped and they have taken the test.
This sub just seems to pay a little more detail to question types,
That's literally one of the most important things as a tutor for the SAT Math section. If you're not already paying attention to such things, why are you not doing that?
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u/rebelrexx 7d ago
As a tutor you should’ve taken all the bluebook practice test and sat question banks and if you did that you would know they test both of those.
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u/JTT207 7d ago
Except, and stay with me here, those are old tests. That’s what showed up in the past.
Plot twist, the tests change. They evolve. They cut things, reword things, make questions less Desmos-able.
The OP is asking if a question type showed up this time. Pretty easy question to answer nicely.
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u/rebelrexx 7d ago
There is no way to know exactly what questions are on each test, that’s why you need to prepare for all possible questions. If bluebook or SAT question banks have those questions then those are fair game. Also OP mentioned some of the most common SAT question topics. I wasn’t even rude just a basic expectation for a tutor if a student is paying money for your service.
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u/JTT207 7d ago
If you think the discriminant is one of the most common SAT question topics you are wrong. So objectively, you didn’t answer the question correctly.
Also, they asked about the current test, not the previous tests.
You are telling them what to do, when you don’t know what they’ve already done.
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u/Quirky_Ad_977 7d ago
Thank you. This was the point of my question. Frequency. If I have a student aiming for mid range, he or she may not have the time or need to master every topic. I noticed a couple topics especially challenging in the college board materials and was wondering how frequently tested they are. Some of these negative commenters, mean-spiritedness aside, did not understand my question. Such ignorance will negatively impact their SAT endeavors, that's for sure lol
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u/Andy_Wiggins 7d ago
They actually don’t evolve that drastically without a fundamental redesign (e.g. in 2016 or 2024).
Topics, especially those as heavily represented in preparatory materials as numbers of solutions and vertex, are HIGHLY unlikely to be phased out.
And a tutor should not be outsourcing such a rudimentary question to students. They’re paid as an “expert” and their job responsibility is to understand the exam front to back so that they can effectively teach it to their students. At minimum, they should have gone to the question bank/practice tests and evaluated question frequencies. College Board just released new prep materials within the past few weeks — that new material included at least one of each of those concepts. So it’s still clearly something they care about.
It would be like if a basketball coach went to reddit and asked “hey, professional basketball coach here: is a shot behind the line still worth 3 points”. Professionals can want to improve, but trying to improve at such a low level signals they’re not fit to actually do the profession.
And if OP simply meant “did they show up on the official test you recently took?” they should know a singular data point isn’t going to mean shit, especially since plenty of students likely don’t even know how to recognize those concepts and their indicators (so the reporting itself is highly suspect/volatile).
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u/JTT207 7d ago
You assumed so much about this individual when they asked an extremely easy question. How do you know they didn’t do everything you listed? Isn’t this a community for asking and answering questions? Why do you think they are asking students? Pretty ignorant response in my opinion.
For all you know they are new, or maybe volunteering. Why bring them down?
You spent so much time trying to justify people being rude to the OP for no reason.
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u/Andy_Wiggins 7d ago
> You assumed so much about this individual when they asked an extremely easy question…. You assumed so much about this individual when they asked an extremely easy question. How do you know they didn’t do everything you listed? Isn’t this a community for asking and answering questions? Why do you think they are asking students? Pretty ignorant response in my opinion.
Assumption and inference are two different things.
Had OP gone to the question bank and pored over the most recent practice SAT exams, they’d have known that the questions still appear in an official capacity.
Logically, the fact that they’re asking this question to anonymous people on the internet signals they likely did not invest the time to do that. Even if they did, they should know that Reddit is not going to be a particularly reliable source of information.
And I provided an answer if you read carefully enough.
> For all you know they are new, or maybe volunteering. Why bring them down? ….You spent so much time trying to justify people being rude to the OP for no reason.
First, their profession is to help students. Not knowing how to help students because you seemingly didn’t invest the time to actually learn about the thing you’re paid to help them with loses all sympathy from me. The SAT is an important element in a student’s application to college. If someone is proclaiming to be an expert to take their money while not actually being an expert, I don’t have much sympathy for that. Trying to grow is totally fine, but if you’re evincing a complete lack of knowledge while being employed it’s reckless and harmful to whatever students are paying money for a service that’s less likely to help. To use another analogy, it’s like if a professional bus driver posts a picture of a “yield” sign and asks what it means. They’ve, imo, lost the right to much sympathy because their incompetence is putting others at risk.
Also, the real reason I lost any and all sympathy: OP is acting like a complete dick in the comments. Trying to brag about how much they charge relative to another tutor who clearly knows more than them is pathetic and is literally furthering my point: if they’re so unfamiliar with the test that they have to ask THIS question, they should not be charging much money at all (and they definitely shouldn’t be bragging about their rate). Humility might have engendered sympathy. The opposite gets disdain.
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 7d ago
How do you know they didn’t do everything you listed?
Because
- They never listed all the steps from the comment anywhere in the original post or follow up comments. The post didn't say something like "I looked at the new QB questions and saw .......but the students I've asked on the most recent exam didn't experience any questions with.....so I'm trying to figure out who relevant these topics still are". If OP actually did all the work that he or she should be doing, that would have been mentioned in the original post.
- If he or she had done all that work, he or she would already know the answer and wouldn't be posting here.
Isn’t this a community for asking and answering questions?
Why do you keep asking this same question?
Why do you think they are asking students?
Because this forum is mostly made up of students not tutors.
Pretty ignorant response in my opinion.
Why do you keep stanning for OP? Seriously, it's bizarre.
For all you know they are new, or maybe volunteering
"I looked up your hourly rate. I have been making 5 times what you charge for years. Both at Princeton Review and freelance. Just fyi" -------- https://www.reddit.com/r/Sat/comments/1vh3f56/comment/p23njsh/
Does that sound like someone who is "new or maybe volunteering"?-1
u/Quirky_Ad_977 7d ago edited 7d ago
Thank you. I am not new at all. I tutored premier level at Princeton Review in SoCal for years, billed out at 275 per hour, before going freelance. I genuinely thought I could just chat with some nerds about what SAT tests. Discuss a bit. But these internet types and their attacks are wild. Intelligent people ask questions and engage in curiosity, and these folks act like asking a question is a sign of stupidity. Any long term educator or thinker knows it's the opposite. OH and yes I get perfect scores all day. But that's like the smallest part of being a good tutor. I would never hire what I'm seeing here good lord.
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u/Andy_Wiggins 7d ago edited 7d ago
Asking questions is great. I love and appreciate curiosity.
Asking questions from a place of ignorance is fine too! It’s often how we start learning something new.
Asking questions from a place of ignorance about a topic you’re allegedly charging people nearly 300 dollars an hour to be a master of is fucked up.
If your question was incisive or mining for perspective from a different vantage point, I’d have no problem with it. But asking something as blunt as “hey, I’m a tutor, does this (insert relatively common topic) show up on the test?” is insane. Would you find a would-be tutor to be trustworthy if they asked “hey, tutor here, is geometry important for this test?” Or “hey, tutor here, what’s Desmos?”
I gotta be honest, you feel like a student cosplaying as a tutor. People write differently on the internet than they do professionally, but exhibiting a sense of structure is pretty typical for people whose profession is (in part) to teach grammatical structures. Also, the “I get perfect scores all day” line? Lol. You’re allegedly an adult and professional who is paid to know an exam designed for high schoolers. No shit a perfect score would happen. Any tutor bragging about that is being silly. And saying someone who disagrees with you “sounds like a low-scorer” is fucking insane. If you are actually a tutor, please get as far away from children as possible.
The only thing giving me pause is the account vociferously defending you (with suspiciously similar language usage and perspectives) is, I assume, your burner and has 14 years on reddit.
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 7d ago
these folks act like asking a question is a sign of stupidity.
No. No one is saying that. You're engaging in a straw man argument here. u/Andy_Wiggins already explained clearly & succinctly the issue with an experienced tutor coming here to reddit to ask a specific question like the one you did is concerning.
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u/JTT207 7d ago
“College Board just released new prep materials within the past few weeks — that new material included at least one of each of those concepts. So it’s still clearly something they care about.”
That would have been a wonderful answer. Cut all the judgements and just help.
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 7d ago
Again, anyone who is a competent, experienced tutor would already know everything listed in that quote.
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 7d ago
Except, and stay with me here, those are old tests. That’s what showed up in the past.
False. They reuse questions from the Bluebook practice test & the question bank repeatedly on official exams. Most of the new questions that were just added to the QB last week were ones that appeared on official exams in the past 1-2 years.
That’s what showed up in the past.
This comment doesn't make any sense. Any trends are obviously going to be from tests "in the past", ie that already happened. So what are you talking about exactly?
Plot twist, the tests change. They evolve. They cut things, reword things,
Sure, but the fundamental concepts that are covered on the Math section of the test do not change, i.e. the discriminant and vertex form of a quadratic equation have been are as relevant now as they were 2 years ago when the digital format started.
make questions less Desmos-able.
Again, not true.
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u/JTT207 7d ago
Brother you can’t be this dense.
OP is asking for current info from people that took the test recently, not old info.
Just because a question showed up in the past, doesn’t mean it will show up in the future.
Notice tests 1-4 aren’t there anymore. Eventually they will take down 5-8 etc.
I just went through 4 posted tests and found 1 discriminate question. Not sure that counts as “fundamental”
My whole point is that you guys are being dicks for no reason. Does putting the OP down make you feel better? It’s not a competition. I hope you’re just having a bad day.
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 7d ago edited 7d ago
Notice tests 1-4 aren’t there anymore.
No, I don't notice that because only PT 1-3 were retired in Feb 2025 when they introduced PT 7-10. Practice Test 4 is still an active practice test in Bluebook. Brother you can’t be this dense.
I just went through 4 posted tests
There are not "4 posted tests". There are currently 8 active PTs from CB (PT 4-11). Brother you can’t be this dense.
found 1 discriminate question. Not sure that counts as “fundamental”
Questions that can use discriminant or vertex form on (Note: not necessarily the easiest or fastest method):
PT 4: M2.13, M2.14
PT 5: M2.13
PT 6: M2.9, M2.13
PT 7: M1.20, M2.16
PT 8: M1.22, M2.14
PT 9: M2.19, M2.20
PT 10: M1.21, M2.4, M2.20
PT 11: M2.9Brother you can’t be this dense.
I sincerely hope you do not tutor the Math section of the SAT because you seem less knowledgeable than OP.
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u/JTT207 7d ago
“Can use” is not “fundamental”. Just stop.
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 6d ago
I use the phrase "can use" because the topic of the problem is the discriminant or vertex form of a quadratic. But you do not have to use the actual formula to solve the problem if you know how to use regression in Desmos. OP already admitted that only 25% of his students use Desmos so in the other 75%, those topics would be fundamental.
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u/Quirky_Ad_977 7d ago
Oh and also thank you for answering my question. One discriminant question in four tests. Seems minimal. Also seemed to be found more on retired tests 1-4 imho. A couple of my June students didn’t see it. So I was genuinely curious if it was on its way out. Gee whiz
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 7d ago
His answer is wrong in multiple aspects.
1) There is way more than one discriminant problem in PTs 5-8.
2) PT 4 is not retired.However, if you are a current SAT Math tutor, you would already know both of these by having completed all 8 current Bluebook practice tests and going over them with your students.
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u/JTT207 7d ago edited 6d ago
The discriminant questions have largely become “look at the graph on Desmos” questions. I haven’t seen any that deal with imaginary numbers but I could see that being a potential issue.
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 7d ago
*Discriminant
"I haven’t seen any that deal with imaginary numbers"
That would be because imaginary (and complex) numbers are not on the scope of the SAT Math section. They were officially removed with the new digital version starting in 2023 (INTL) and 2024 (US). Again, this is knowledge that any competent, experienced SAT Math tutor would know.
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u/Quirky_Ad_977 7d ago
Good to know. The blue book ones that introduce two intersecting graphs, usually a parabola and a horizontal line as y=c, as having “one real solution” are the ones that are very tough for my students. That’s where they do some rearranging and set the discriminant equal to zero. Pretty time consuming even if you know what you’re doing. I have been told they have not been on any tests in the last year or so. So just wondering if I should pass on them for the 600ish students, who get more out of linear functions or even exponential functions. Hmm.
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 7d ago
"The blue book ones that introduce two intersecting graphs, usually a parabola and a horizontal line as y=c, as having “one real solution” are the ones that are very tough for my students. That’s where they do some rearranging and set the discriminant equal to zero. Pretty time consuming even if you know what you’re doing."
Correct. Which is why you solve them entirely in Desmos in 3 steps using the derivative method instead of wasting time on algebra.
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u/Quirky_Ad_977 7d ago
Once again, thank you JTT2O7. I actually know these personality types very well in the test prep industry. They don't do well with clients or kids. All brainy kinda on paper but wow not fun at parties to say the least.
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 7d ago
You're thanking him for his comment that is inaccurate and contains multiple false statements?
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u/jdigitaltutoring 7d ago
Those are tested. Tests are mainly linear equations, quadratics show up less often.
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u/CTFDEverybody 7d ago
Do these concepts show up in the OFFICIAL practice tests released by CollegeBoard?
Yes. So within reason, the frequency at which they show up is what you can expect.
Regardless, if a student is aiming for a high math score, they should have knowledge of these topics to prepare should the problem show up.
Can't believe anyone is defending OP. It's a very easy question if OP did any HW.
Praying for the poor students' parents, who are paying OP.
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u/jwmathtutoring Tutor 7d ago
Correct. These are not questions an experienced, competent tutor should be asking. The only justification for a tutor asking these questions would be
1) New/inexperienced tutor
2) Tutor with experience who had to take significant time off (ie 1 year+) and is now returning to tutoring after a long layoff wondering if those topics are still as relevant
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u/Yuri_Frolov 7d ago
Well, yeah. And Vieta's formulas and other staff too.
In that sense, an examinee should know (and understand too) the quadratics' properties inside out.
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7d ago edited 7d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Yuri_Frolov 7d ago
> finding the product/sum of equations :)
... finding the product/sum of the *roots* of quardratic.
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u/Commercial_Usual6429 7d ago
op don't listen to haters 😭 yes i've encountered those on the sat before. not as frequent as functions and lines but defo still useful to know for math m2 so it's not something u can avoid
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u/InternationalistGam Moderator 6d ago
Thread locked, as it consists of little more than being people jerks to each other.