Three months is a good amount of time for SAT preparation. You can spread out your studying and have plenty of time to master the SAT online.
It can be difficult to know where to begin with your SAT preparation. Finding the right resources, staying organized and sticking to your plan is critical.
Three Month Study Plan
Before you begin studying for the SAT, you should sit down and create a study schedule. By doing this at the start of your SAT preparation, you'll ensure that you have enough time to cover all of the material tested on the SAT test series, as well as enough practice with the test to become literate in its format.
Week 1
Week 1 is all about determining your starting point and determining how far you need to go in your SAT preparation.
- Begin by taking a full-length practice test in one sitting. The SAT lasts three hours, excluding the breaks.
- After you've finished your practice test, grade it. Plan your studying for the coming weeks based on the results of your first practice test. If the results of your first practice test show that you're further away from your target score than you expected, you should consider scheduling more study time each week, at least for the first few months.
- Set aside about 3 hours this week on a separate day or two to review your practice test. Many students skip this step, but it is critical if you want to become as familiar with the SAT as possible.
Week 2 – 4
Begin your preparation by reviewing any foundational concepts that you missed on your practice test. For example, if you got most of the Systems of Equations questions wrong, it means you need to spend more time studying that material. Prioritize that work early on because mastering it will take time and practice.
Include a review of topics that you got right at least 50% of the time, and make time these weeks to learn test-taking strategies and methods for each section.
Week 5
Take another SAT practice test in a single sitting in Week 5, and score it.
What has altered? Beyond your score, review your practice test as you did in Week 1, noting which concepts you'd like to focus on in the upcoming weeks.
It is not uncommon for students' grades to drop in the middle of their studies. This is completely normal. As your brain absorbs new information, it may become overburdened and slow down to process what it is learning.
Week 6 – 8
Use your second practice test results to guide your study over the next three weeks. Make sure to cover all sections of the SAT and to review if you intend to take it during these three weeks.
What to Study:
- SAT Math: Scatterplots / Two-way Tables, Statistics, and Probability / Exponents, Radicals, Polynomials, and Rational Expressions and Equations
- SAT Evidence-Based Reading: Connections and Vocabulary-in-Context Questions
- SAT Writing: Organization / Development / Language Effectiveness
Week 9
It's time for another practice exam! Take a SAT Practice test in a single setting to simulate the SAT experience.
- Score the test as you have in previous weeks, then thoroughly review the practice test in separate sessions, taking note of concepts that you still need to study.
- Rework problems that you got wrong until you fully understand the steps required to arrive at the correct answer.
- Make a mental note of any strategies you can use for those question types to get to the right answer faster.
Weeks 10-11
These two weeks are your last chance to study foundational concepts, so put them first, especially if you're still getting them wrong at least half of the time. Then, make sure to cover all remaining SAT topics, including those that you consistently get right.
What to Study in weeks 10 – 11
- SAT Math: Functions, Quadratic Equations, Geometry, Imaginary Numbers, and Trigonometry
- SAT Evidence-Based Reading Questions: Synthesis
- SAT Writing: Sentence Structure / Usage Conventions / Punctuation Conventions
Week 12
The SAT is this week! Take one more practice test with at least one week until Test Day. Then, review the test for a day or two. You should be an expert at this by now.
- Make a note of any mistakes you made and brush up on foundational concepts as needed.
- Then, take some time off. Make a time block of 1-3 days before Test Day. You should not cram. Instead, give yourself some alone time to rest and recharge.
- Do not change your routine in the days leading up to the test—go to bed when you normally do, eat the same breakfast, and so on.
- As your test date approaches, keep our 1-month SAT study plan in mind for more focused preparation.
- Wake up confident in your preparation on the day of the SAT. You've put in the effort over the last three months, and you're ready. Enter that room and crush it!
