When to Start Test Prep

I wrote a post similar to this last year, but it is such an important message for parents of high school juniors and younger. I received quite a few messages during the first week of August this year from parents of seniors who wanted to see when I was available for SAT tutoring. Every hour of every day of mine is booked until the test on the 23rd. The most alarming message I received said, “she’s thinking of taking the SAT in October so she has enough time to study.”

Seniors should not be starting to think about the SAT as they are beginning their senior year. Rather than beginning to take the SAT in October, most seniors like to view that as the final test they will be taking to try to raise their score a bit more.

When should students start preparing for the SAT? It really depends on their college list and PSAT scores. My test prep students are typically juniors. I like students to try both the SAT and ACT. The SAT is offered eight times during a calendar year, and the ACT is offered seven times. The average number of times for students to take these tests nationally is three. Students are not penalized for taking it multiple times, and colleges will only see the scores that students report.

Most students will have their first college application due on October 15 of senior year. They can update their application with test scores taken after that date. The advice I would give is to use junior year and the summer after that to focus on test prep and doing all you can to earn the score you are aiming for. It will be very helpful when creating a college list to know what scores you have.

So, while seniors can absolutely take the test in the fall, August of senior year is not the time to start preparing. The earliest I typically start test prep is the summer after sophomore year if the student has completed Algebra Two.