5 Important Components Of A Good SAT Study Plan

If you’ve suddenly realized that your SAT test date is just around the corner, don’t worry – three months is plenty of time to prepare to ace your test. Here’s a step-by-step plan to secure the score you want:

1. Know what concepts get tested

Regardless of section, the SAT has a fixed list of concepts they test.

This is great news because once you have a good grasp of these foundational topics, you should be able to handle any question the SAT throws your way. Working your way through the concepts could take as little as a week to as much as a month, depending on how much you already know.

Remember to focus on understanding the concepts rather than rote memorisation, as this will benefit you in the long run.

2. Create your own cheat sheet

Once you have fully understood the basic topics, create your own cheat sheet.

This should contain the various formulae and concepts tested in the SAT. Doing so will act as another form of revision while also providing you with a more convenient reference that you can use when completing practices.

3. Do topical practice first

Once you are confident in your grasp of the individual concepts, your next step should be to attempt topical practices.

Unlike full-length passages, topical questions allow you to focus on honing individual skills.

At Prep Zone, the Tutorverse book given to every SAT student contains a variety of topical practice sets to help you improve your proficiency across the different sections. Make sure you spend time trying them out.

4. Graduate to working on time management and stamina

Once you are acing topical practice, move on to full-length practice tests. Aim to complete one timed, full-length test per week.

The SAT is a long test and getting used to maintaining concentration for three hours will take some practice. Students at Prep Zone have access to over 20 practice tests, which differ in difficulty. Remember to review your mistakes after completing the test; you should go over both the questions you answered incorrectly and the questions you struggled with but ultimately answered correctly.

Bear in mind that tests from third-party publishers tend to be more challenging and may even include concepts outside the SAT syllabus.

5. An error log is your best friend

It is also important that you keep an error log to track your mistakes. In it, you should note the concept(s) the question tests and why you answered it incorrectly (conceptual misunderstanding, careless mistake, lack of time etc.). This will help you identify trends in your mistakes so you can revise smart instead of hard. Another effective practice is to save difficult questions for periodic review.

The repetition will help you remember the algorithms quicker and recognize the correct approach to questions faster.

While 3 months may seem like a short amount of time to comprehensively prepare for the SAT, if you remain consistent and follow the steps described above, you will be well on your way to acing the SAT.