Find the time to study

Although this might seem obvious, many students will often struggle to find the motivation to hit the books after being in school all day. The best way to counteract this is to study on a weekend, preferably Sunday. 

There are many companies that offer SAT practice books to help you study. It doesn’t even have to be a huge session. If you have an hour or two in your day free where you’re not doing anything, pick up the book and take a couple short practice tests. 

This might seem like a lot to some people, but putting in any sort of effort over time will build your comprehension skills, and it will improve your overall test-taking ability. This will help you get used to the format of the test, remember what kinds of questions are asked, how things are worded to trip you up, and allow you to track your pace.

Be consistent

If it’s difficult for you to find time in your schedule during a busy week, don’t be discouraged. You’ll find that sticking with it is very rewarding in the end. 

In terms of the practice tests themselves, my best advice is to treat it like the real test. Keep a timer on your phone or watch to keep yourself on time, and be strict. One of the most important factors to keep track of on the SAT is your timing. The more you practice, the more familiar you are with the test, and the more prepared you’ll be. 

If you find yourself stuck on a question that is taking longer than usual, don’t dwell on it too much and keep moving. It’s about timing, not time. There might be questions on the test that you don’t know how to solve. Keeping a consistent pace is key to taking a good test, allowing you ample time to solve the harder questions and enough time to get the easy ones right. 

Remember, the easy ones add up, so it’s better to get 20 easy questions right than to be stuck between “A or C” on a harder question and miss out on the rest of the test. 

I suggest even using the same calculator on the practice as the real test just so you’re extremely familiar and comfortable with all your materials so that your real test experience is as least stressful as possible. 

At the end of a section, take a five to ten minute break and clear your mind so you don’t burn yourself out. 

When you finish for the day, go back and check your answers to see which ones you got wrong. This will help you learn which sections you might need to work on, and it’s a good opportunity to see what you can do to get it right the next time. 

Helpful Techniques

Taking the actual test can be a skill in-and-of-itself. Something that I found especially useful for the reading portion was annotating as you go.