How Long Does it Take to Study for the SAT?
Knowing how long you should study for the SAT is a bit more complicated than you might think! The answer is a combination of your individual study plan and your goals for the test. Here are a few things to keep in mind when figuring out how much you should study.
What score do you want?
Depending on where you want your final score to end up, you may need to plan on some long study sessions.You’ll want to find out what SAT scores the colleges you’re applying to look for on applications. Once you have a good idea of what you need on your test to have the best chance of getting in, you can start to figure out your study plan.
Where are you starting?
Practice tests will help you figure out the percentile your score is landing in before any sort of preparation. If this is your first time taking the SAT, you should start by taking a few practice tests and find out what you can achieve before you even start studying. If you scored 1100 on average, but want to improve by 300 points, you’ll probably be looking at four or five months of study time. If you’re scoring around a 1300 on average, and only want to improve by 100 points, you probably will only need about one month of study time to get your score to your goal.
When is your test?
If your test is in six months, you’ll have plenty of time to make a thought-out plan for studying, and even be able to generously spread out the hours needed per week to be dedicated to test prep. This extended period of time you have to study can also be great if you want your score to increase significantly. However, if there’s only one month until you sit down for the SAT, you won’t have that luxury. You’ll need to study as much as possible if you’ve found yourself without a lot of time.
What are your study habits?
For some, studying doesn’t come easy. It can be hard to find the motivation to sit down and focus when preparing for a test, and you might be prone to procrastination. If this is the case, you’ll need to start a lot sooner to give yourself enough time to keep a slow, steady pace that will keep you on track, and a couple of distractions won’t take too much of a toll. If studying is second nature, though, you’ll already be on top of it. Know where you are, where you want to be, and how far away your test date is, and then you can figure out how long you’ll need to prepare.
When it comes to studying for the SAT, it all depends on you and your unique circumstances. Take everything into consideration when planning your study schedule, and soon enough you’ll have your own personalized timeline of how long it will take you to study for the SAT.
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