7 Tips for Taking an Awesome SAT Practice Test!

Because your student’s test scores are so important, you should have her take a practice test before taking a real one. Here are some guidelines for any student looking to take a practice SAT.

1. Schedule a 4.5-hour window to take the test.
While the SAT is a 4 hour exam, each SAT practice test is half an hour shorter than the real SAT. So, while the practice test will take 3.5 hours to complete, you want to schedule a wider window of time. If there is something – an activity or appointment – that a student must get to right after the test it will be a distraction during the test. The SAT is stressful enough! Don’t let the timing complicate matters further.

2. Download and print a free practice SAT.
As a test prep provider, using official test prep materials is one of the most important things I can do to ensure students will feel comfortable on test day. Printing the exam is also a really important step. The SAT & ACT are both paper-and-pencil exams. It doesn’t make sense to take either exam on the computer if they will be paper-and-pencil on test day.* Your student should always take the exam in practice as she will when it counts.

3. Treat your practice test like the real deal.

Think of the practice exam as dress rehearsal. Done well, it helps students calm real test day jitters and feel “in the zone.” Do everything you can to simulate the real experience.

Have your student get plenty of sleep the night before. Serve up a nutritious breakfast and have a few snacks and water packed up and ready to go. Then have your student gather his or her pencils, calculator, and timer and head to a quiet spot. The library is often a great place for students to take their practice exam without being disturbed.

Try to use a real timer (i.e. NOT a cell phone). Ideally, cell phones wouldn’t even be in the same room since they aren’t allowed on test day, but if students must use their phones as their timer, it should be on airplane mode to ensure there are no distractions during the exam.

4. Take a break.

The College Board allows for 3 5-minute breaks after every other section. In the instance of the SAT practice test listed above, there is no 3rd section. [It has been omitted by the test makers.]

Therefore the break schedule for the practice test should look something like this:

After Section 2 – 5 minute break
After Section 5 – 5 minute break
After Section 7 – 5 minute break

While on break, students should walk around to get their blood flowing, eat a snack to fuel their brains, and drink some water to stay hydrated. Students should give themselves every advantage by practicing good break habits.

5. Score out your SAT practice test after a break, but read the directions first!
The SAT is a long test. Some students want to rush in and grade it immediately. I advise against this because it is actually pretty challenging to grade an SAT practice test because of the guessing penalty. It makes for extra math as a part of the process. This is a step a lot of parents like to do, but I always advise that students grade their own exam. It puts an ownership of the practice test on the student, and students can actually learn a lot about their scores by grading themselves.

6. See where you stand.
Students are rarely pleased with the results of their first practice test. It makes sense! It’s a tough exam with a guessing penalty, so don’t expect too much on a first attempt. That being said, a “good” score is the one that gets your student into college. So, before passing judgement on the results of the exam, take a look at the median score of 3 to 4 colleges your student is interested in. 

7. Determine your course of action.
Once you have the full view of where your scores naturally fall and where they need to be to get into your dream school, it’s time to determine your course of action. Are your scores good enough? Should you prepare for the test more before taking a real SAT?

If you’d like a little guidance, I would love to hear from you.