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Almost everyone who has ambitions of going to college will need to take a standardized admissions test. In this article, we will help you develop a strategy to improve your SAT score. In order to maximize your score, you’ll first need to know all about the SAT exam itself.
What is the SAT
The SAT is a college admissions test used by many colleges when making admissions decisions. Not every college requires an SAT score but most of the most selective colleges and universities do. The SAT exam is administered by the College Board.
The SAT is designed to measure a student’s preparedness for college. The score is a signal to the college admissions office of how ready you are for a college curriculum. ‘
What if I get a bad score on the SAT
Getting a bad score on the SAT is not the end of your college dreams. Most college admissions offices take a holistic view of applicants and will consider other factors in their admissions decisions. A bad SAT score can be offset by a stellar GPA, rigorous high school course schedule, extracurricular activities, or even letter of recommendation written by your teachers or counselors.
Getting a bad SAT score can limit your college options though. The rest of this article will show you how to improve your SAT score and unlock better colleges and more scholarship opportunities.
How long does the SAT take
A common question that students have is: how long is the SAT test. The SAT is scheduled to take three hours. If you choose to take the optional essay then your SAT sitting will take 3 hours and 50 minutes.
Here is the length of each of the SAT sections:
| Section | Number of Questions | Time | Minutes per Questions |
| Reading | 52 | 65 minutes | 1 minute 15 seconds |
| Writing and Language | 44 | 35 minutes | 48 seconds |
| Math | 58 | 80 minutes | 1 minute 23 seconds |
| Total | 154 | 3 hours | 1 minute 11 seconds |
How much does the SAT cost
The SAT cost is $49.50 for the regular exam and $64.50 to include the optional essay. SAT fee waivers are available for low-income students. Students are eligible for a SAT fee waiver if any of these are true:
- The student’s family receives aid from a public assistance program.
- The student lives in public housing, a foster, home, or is homeless.
- The student is enrolled in the National School Lunch Program.
- The student is an orphan or a ward of the state.
Similar to airlines, there is a change fee of $30 if you need to reschedule your SAT exam at the last minute. There is also a $30 late registration fee if you need to get into a SAT exam at the last minute.
You can send your SAT exam score report to four colleges free of charge but if you need to send your SAT scores to more than four colleges you will have to pay $12 for each additional score report.
What is the average SAT score
According to the Princeton Review, the average SAT score in 2018 was 1068. A perfect SAT score is 1600. The lowest possible, or minimum, SAT score is 400.
The average SAT score should be enough to get you into some of your local colleges. If you want to increase your college options you’ll want to keep reading to learn how to improve your SAT score.
When should I take the SAT
As soon as possible! We recommend that you take the SAT in the spring of your junior year in high school. Hopefully you’ll do really great and earn a score high enough to get into your shortlist of colleges. However, If your SAT score is lower than you would like you can simply take the SAT again the next fall to try to improve your SAT score.
Not very may students enjoy taking the SAT but there would be an opportunity to make a third attempt at the SAT in the spring of your senior year.
Even if you have a solid SAT score there are still circumstances where taking the SAT again and improving your score could be beneficial. For instance, some colleges offer scholarships to all students who have SAT scores above a certain threshold. It may be worthwhile to study up and take the SAT again if it meant extra scholarship dollars.
How is the SAT scored
The SAT is scored by combining the scores of reading and writing sections with the score of the math section. This creates the SAT total score.
Each section’s scores are calculated based on the raw score. The raw score is simply how many questions did you get correct. It is important to know that only correct answers contribute to your raw score. This means that incorrect answers or questions that you skipped over or didn’t get to will not be held against you. It is more important to get each question you do get to correctly than to mark an answer for every question.
That raw score is then converted to a scaled score between 200 and 800, which is used in your SAT score report.
How do I register for the SAT
You can register for the SAT online at the College Board website. You will want to register with the name that is printed on your photo ID because they will verify your identity when you check-in for test day.
How can I prep for the SAT
Here are eight tips how to improve your SAT score:
1. Sign up for the SAT
Signing up for the SAT will give you a deadline to work towards. Pick your testing date and pay your testing fee. No more procrastinating! You’ve committed yourself to taking the SAT.
2. Create a study schedule.
Dedicate time each day to devote to sitting down and intentionally improve your SAT score. It doesn’t even have to be every day! Maybe you can only schedule 30 minute blocks four days a week. That’s fine. Create a schedule and stick to it. You won’t be disappointed.
3.Use SAT prep books
Most high schools have a lending library that you could check out a SAT prep book from. If not, public libraries are a good alternative to purchasing one. Look for a SAT test prep book that has individual practice questions, descriptions of each of the test sections,or practice tests. Speaking of SAT practice tests…
4. Take SAT practices tests.
A Lot. Take them often! Not only will you become familiar with how SAT test questions are structured, you will also learn from your results about which areas of the SAT test you are strong in and which area could use improvement. You can use these strengths and weaknesses to modify your SAT study schedule to focus on where you can most improve.
5. Utilize your down time
Put your “dead time” to use. Whenever you find yourself wasting time on Instagram or Tik-Tok switch over to a study app. There are lots of math and reading apps in the app store. You don’t have to get a specific SAT study app. Any app that has math problems or word games to improve your vocabulary will do. If you want to maximize your SAT score then you need to attack the marginal improvements, even your down time
6. Find a study partner
Get yourself an acountibili-buddy. Find a friend who is also taking the SAT. Study together. Keep each other accountable. Share study tips. Maybe even compete against each other. It is much easier to achieve your goals if you have someone that will help you on track.
7. Visualize your test day.
Think about your entire test day experience. You will feel much more prepared if you’ve get yourself ready mentally to take the SAT. What time will you wake up on test day? What will you have for breakfast? What time do you have to leave to ensure that you’ll be at the testing center on time? Do you have a favorite pencil? Are you familiar with your calculator layout? What are you going to treat yourself to after you’ve taken the SAT? These are not silly questions. They are important details. You will feel much better going into the SAT if you have a thorough gameplan.
8. Reflect on your SAT experience
After you’ve taken the test, take a few moments to reflect about it. How do you feel about it? What were some questions that you struggled with? What were questions that you felt good about? Make notes of these so that you can focus your study on areas of weakness if you end up needing to retake the SAT to improve your score.
How to improve SAT reading score
The simple answer is to practice. You know that there are 52 questions and the time block is 65 minutes. Take practice tests with those parameters.
You don’t need to read every word. The SAT reading section measures how well you can comprehend content. Don’t get stuck on words or sentences that you don’t fully understand. Read the passage quickly then go to the questions. The questions will be about a specific portion of the passage so you can go back and reread the section of the passage that the question is asking about.
It is more important to get correct answers than it is to answer every question. Feel free to skip questions that are too difficult. Your SAT reading score will improve by answering more questions correctly, even if it means that you leave some skipped questions unanswered or incorrect.
When will SAT scores be available
SAT scores are available about two weeks after you’ve taken the SAT test. SAT scores are usually available the second Friday after your testing date. If you took the optional essay then your score will take an extra 2-3 days to be released.