Throughout your school life, you will take a lot of tests, but the SAT is different. This is one of the most defining tests you will take during your school years and that is why you need to prepare for the SAT. There are a lot of steps that you can take to prepare for the SAT and you need to know what they are.
Know What To Expect
Before you can look at what you should study, you need to know what to expect from the test. In fact, there is no reason why you should not be familiar with the SAT content and format before you take the test. There are a lot of practice tests that use the same format and information you can look at.
There are 2 primary sections to the test which are the evidence-based reading and writing section and the math section. There is a third essay section, but this is optional. Knowing the sections is important, but you also need to know what is covered in each.
Know Your Starting Point
You cannot create your study schedule if you do not know where to start from. While the SAT requires diverse skills, very few people have to study every part in detail. There are certain parts of the SAT that you will need to spend less time on.
The only way to create a balanced study plan and to prepare correctly is to know what your strengths and weaknesses are. One of the best ways to determine this will be to take a practice test. This will help you see what you should focus more on and where you already do well.
Create A Solid Study Plan
Your study plan needs to be tailored to your needs. Ideally, you should have a target score that you work toward. This score can help you structure your studying correctly and ensure that you achieve what you want.
When creating your study plan, you need to leave a week open before the test for review. You should also fit your study time into your usual schedule while leaving enough time to sleep and relax. You do not want to burn out before your test because this will undermine all of your preparation.
Knowing the material is important, but you also need to have a strategy for taking the test. The basis of the strategy should be to not leave any of the questions blank. It is important to note that there are no penalties for wrong answers so picking something is important. As you go through the test, you need to eliminate answers to narrow down your choices.
You also need to have a time management strategy in place. This could be skimming the reading test and answering the questions as you go. You can skip the hardest math questions and return to them later after doing all of the easy ones.
When it comes to preparing for the SAT, you need to know what to expect. You also need to know what you have to focus on to achieve the score that you want and have a solid plan for studying and taking the test.
