SAT Prep Here to Help

- Kennedy Kirkland, Writer|April 4, 2023

| Kenne

The SAT is coming up shortly on April 12th. While 9th, 10th, and 12th graders don’t have to take it, (unless you’re a senior who didn’t take the SAT yet), juniors will have to face taking the lengthy and difficult test.

SAT scores matter. Though you don’t necessarily need them to attend colleges, as not all colleges require your SAT score, however, your SAT score is a great way to get scholarships that pay more. It’s good to look into what scores can qualify for certain scholarships depending on the college or colleges you are looking to apply to. It’s good to go for somewhere between 1200-1600 to insure merit-based scholarships.

If you are desiring to get that high score when you come in to take your SAT, some good tips can be found helpful in your prep for the SAT and being able to handle the stress of the upcoming week.

For your SAT prep, according to what I pulled from “5 Tips to Prep for the SAT” by Taryn Turchi and “Last Minute SAT Tips” by Scott Woodbury-Stewart. What you can do is…

 

To Do before:

  • Study “two or three months before” as the ideal of studying the earliest you can. Acknowledging that many people will be studying at the last minute, just begin studying the earliest you are able too.
  • Use Khan Academy and College Board to help prep. Both provide practice tests to take and Khan Academy is a great way to help with strengthening and working on your skills.
  • When taking a practice test, take it like a normal test. This is good for your confidence when you actually take the real test. Do things normally.
  • When testing on your own, set out time to do this since it can take a lot of practice.
  • Act as if the school day is a normal day, since the day is already stressful to begin with when taking the SAT. 
  • Prior and the week of the SAT eat healthy, don’t skip meals, and hydrate for energy and for your head to be clear.
  • Daily exercise, but nothing intense. It can be just jogging for an example.
  • Lower your stress during the week of the SAT.
  • Imagining your success on the SAT and feeling good after the SAT to build your confidence.

 

Night/week before:

  • Make sure to relax the night before.
  • Have early bedtime. Your sleep schedule needs to be regular and where you get a healthy amount of sleep.
  • Have breakfast ready for the morning or get up earlier. Don’t cram at the last minute. (Side note from myself: If not ultra-prepared, briefly review and then relax).
  • Prepare your outfit, your ID, calculator, pencils (Or unless they provide them for you), a backup calculator, a snack, and a drink in advance for the SAT day.

 

Day of test:

  • Be at school at a good time to take the test, allow time to get there.
  • Before the test either at school or at home that morning, do some practice questions. Get you in that SAT mode before the test. It’s suggested to do 3 math and reading questions each and some writing questions too.
  • Listen to music that makes you feel good and happy. Full of energy.

 

During test

  • Expect the test to not be easy, don’t stress out over struggling with a problem or two
  • Don’t waste your time on thinking whether or not you’re doing good or bad as you take the SAT. 
  • Focus on one question at a time.
  • Have good time management as you take the test
  • Don’t leave a question blank if you have multiple choices. Just guess and shade it in. That can go for non-multiple choice questions, just put a random number down if you can’t figure it out.

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