There are two ways students prepare for SAT exam - Self-Study or Coaching Classes. Both options have their benefits, and they are equally good with quantifiable benefits. The SAT exam is for undergraduate applicants, right out of high school. SAT preparation tips that will help you in preparing for the SAT exam 2025 include starting early, studying with official SAT practice on Khan Academy, taking at least one full-length practice test on Bluebook, and paying attention to your high school classes. All these methods are free and you can follow them for better practice. We have mentioned the best ways with which you do your SAT preparation effectively along with some SAT preparation strategies that can be followed in this article.
Free SAT prep sources:
- Collegeboard.org
- The Princeton Review
- Kaplan
- McGraw-Hill
- Test Prep Review
Best SAT prep apps are follows:
- Daily Practice developed by the College Board
- Free mocks before main day on Bluebook app
- Khan Academy SAT created by the College Board and Khan Academy together
- Vocab Genius to prepare for the critical reading section
- Ready4 SAT
All these apps can be used for free.
The difference between Khan Academy's prep and digital SAT prep is that,
- Khan Academy not just provides mock tests, they also have teaching videos to aid applicants with SAT prep.
- Khan Academy is the official partner of College Board for SAT exam prep after it became digitalised.
- On the other hand, College Board just has practice papers in PDF formats that can be downloaded for practice.
- College Board does not give any prep material.
- Also, only when applicants register for SAT, can they access Bluebook App where they can take mock tests in the exact same format as they will on the exam day.
- How to Start SAT Preparation: Initial Tips & Strategies
- How to Prepare for SAT Exam: Timeline
- SAT Preparation Section-Wise Tips 2025
- Best Books for SAT Preparation 2025
- SAT Preparation 2025 FAQs
How to Start SAT Preparation: Initial Tips & Strategies
Before going to SAT preparation tips, first you should thoroughly understand the SAT exam pattern. Here are some of the key Digital SAT Preparation Tips which will help you make their preparation strategies for studying.
Ideally, this should be the strategy to prepare for SAT exam. Let us understand in detail all of these strategies and discuss a few more by the Digital SAT exam format.
Commonly asked questions
There are just five broad steps to prepare for SAT and be able to crack it in just one go with minimum effort, check them out below:
- Step 1: Understand the SAT exam pattern
- Step 2: Gather study material offline and online
- Step 3: Make a proper study plan
- Step 4: Work on your strategy
- Step 5: Take timely practice tests
These steps can help applicants prepare for the exam in a very systematic manner and will help them clear the exam as well.
Yes, there are certain digital test taking startegies that applicants must learn when taking SAT exam and they are as follows:
- Understand how the digital SAT works, take a mock test to understand all features on Bluebook.
- Applicants must time themselves and keep a check on their time management skills.
- Like any other digital exam, applicants must know the elimination of wrong options to maintain momentum of exam.
- Mark the questions for review if you wish to come back and do not want to spend additional time on them.
- Ensure that you attempt all questions because there is no negative marking for wrong answers or unanswered questions also.
How to Prepare for SAT Exam: Timeline
The following is the SAT Digital preparation timeline for prospective students, who are still wondering how and when to do what before appearing for the newest SAT Digital exam in 2025:
This is just to give an idea to students as to how to go about registering on Bluebook, then attempting a mock and when to download their admission ticket for the SAT Digital Exam to be conducted in 2025.
SAT Preparation Section-Wise Tips 2025
Since the SAT exam is divided into two broad areas of testing - Reading + Writing & Math sections, students registering for SAT in 2025 will have to devise their SAT preparation strategy in such a manner that they cover both areas with conceptual clarity and are able to get enough practice before finally attempting the SAT exam. The SAT preparation strategy can be tailored to each section of the test. There are just a couple of important preparation tips which can help students ace their SAT exam in just one go. Check out the following SAT section-wise preparation strategies and tips to be able to crack the exam.
Digital SAT Preparation Tips for Reading and Writing Section
This section includes reading and writing areas together and tests around 54 questions in the MCQ format. This section covers areas of Craft & Structure, Information & Ideas, Standard English Conventions and Expression of Ideas. Check out the following SAT RW Section preparation tips to ace the SAT exam:
- Focus on academic words often seen in arguments and rhetorical questions.
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Use chunk reading (groups of 3–5 words) to increase words per minute.
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Practice complex texts from old school textbooks of science, history and also social studies.
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Train yourself to quickly extract the main idea, tone, and author’s intent.
- Avoid reading “blindly”; instead, know what to find using the right strategy.
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Helps reduce rereading and improves passage efficiency.
- Avoid options that fall outside the scope or introduce new information not supported by the passage.
- Passages can be of two types: one where there will be errors that you need to identify after reading, and one where you need to understand the idea or theme of the passage.
- Every question is designed in such a way that it tests your grammar, word choice, and sentence structure.
Read: SAT preparation tips: Reading section
Digital SAT Preparation 2025 Tips for Maths Section
While the Math section of the SAT is the second area, which includes a total of 44 questions, where 33 are MCQ-based and the other 11 require students to produce an answer themselves without choosing from options. SAT Math comprises three sections: Algebra and Functions, Geometry, Statistics, Probability, and Data Analysis. In Maths, there will be two parts; test takers are allowed to use a calculator in both modules. Check out the SAT Math section preparation tips:
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Use diagnostic tests also known as mini tests to target specific topics of algebra, problem-solving, geometry, data analysis or others.
- Practice medium- and hard-level questions, as the digital SAT adapts based on performance.
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Simulate a digital setting by noting elimination and work neatly on paper for math problems.
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Know how to add hard questions for review and edit later.
Commonly asked questions
This is a very generalised question and there is no answer to such questions. SAT is designed in such a manner that international students are able to attempt this exam for abroad university admission to undergrad courses. The SAT syllabus is common and applies to all international students. Thus, there is no yes or no answer to the question if it is hard to prepare for SAT as an Indian student.
Yes, it is very much possible to crack SAT exam in one go, with a god score and without coaching. All the student needs to do is, begin his/her preparation timely, check SAT syllabus and have it handy at all times, dedicate a certain number of hours of study each day, begin preparing section-wise or based on weak areas and most importantly practice as much as possible.
The preparation of SAT exam solely depends on the applicants and how they have the SAT syllabus covered while they were in high school. The ease of SAT exam preparation depends on the applicants solely. For those who have even one SAT exam section covered, they can still take some more time to take up the next section of SAT and prepare. The preparation of SAT exam is easy for those applicants also who are good at Mathematics and English language.
SAT exam preparation will also be based on the applicant's previous knowledge. The applicants who are preparing for SAT exam will have to take into consideration that they also have to take up mock tests, which will further prove beneficial in cracking the exam. The SAT exam preparation can be eased off by following these five tips:
- Make a schedule and make a plan. Weak topics must be picked up first followed by the those topics which the applicant is confident about.
- Decide how much time needs to be given to each topic and how much time will it take to complete the entire syllabus.
- After the prep time is allocated, make some room for practicing on the SAT mocks.
- Also some time must be dedicated to revision, and coming back to those topics where the applicant lost marks in the mock test.
Upon following these steps, the applicants will be able to ease their SAT exam preparation.
Best Books for SAT Preparation 2025
Usually candidates prefer self-study to prepare for SAT. With prescribed books, you can easily prepare for SAT exam on your own. Apart from this, there are various online study material available which can be useful.
SAT Reading & Writing Section Best Books:
- Classical novels, literature, and unabridged books can be helpful in cracking the reading section.
- Reading is always essential because when attempting SAT RW section, will increase your speed of reading one, and two, and you'll be able to understand the context of the passages wth ease.
- The Critical Reader: The Complete Guide to SAT Reading, 3rd Edition
SAT Math Section Best Books:
- High school textbooks for conceptual clarity.
- 500 New SAT Math Problems by Dr Steve Warner's
- 800 Math Workbook New Edition by Dr Jang's SAT
Apart from the above-mentioned resources, students can look for more resources and prepare for the SAT exam based on their previous knowledge and the kind of time they have in hand.
Still, have more doubts about the SAT? Go through the most frequently asked questions about the SAT preparation FAQs given below for prospective students.
SAT Preparation 2025 FAQs
Q. I found common options as answer while preparing for SAT. How far is it feasible?
A. No, there is no common answer on the SAT. Each answer choice whether A, B, C, or D are evenly distributed, so, guessing a particular choice (e.g. option B) for most questions will not be the right approach. Even while preparing for SAT exam, students may have come across a couple of questions which may have a common option as answer but this rule may not apply at all times, especially for the main exam day. So please avoid falling into such traps and prepare for SAT based on will and academics.
Q. How to prepare your child for SAT?
A. Follow these steps to prepare your child for SAT exam:
- Make him familiar with the SAT test format
- Tell him to work on his reading skills
- Use free test prep available online
- Make a proper study plan
- After completing the syllabus give practice tests
Q. How to make SAT prep a fun activity?
A. Plan your study time to prepare for SAT exam in such a way that it doesn't seem to be a learning exercise rather it should be a fun activity.
- Start reading for fun and not just as an exercise every night before sleeping.
- Play word games to build a strong vocab for this you can read non-fiction books or solve crosswords in newspapers.
- Watch educational videos regularly.
- Pick up one topic everyday and discuss amongst yourselves while each member puts in some ideas, at the end there will be enough knowledge on the topic.
Q. Is it easy to prepare for SAT exam in a month?
A. Preparation for SAT in a month may be possible for some but may be a herculean task for others. The previous knowledge is key to preparing for SAT. If the student has a strong background in any of the two sections of SAT or in both sections of SAT, they can easily prepare for SAT in a month because they just have to brush up their skills. However, others not falling in any of these categories will have to buy more time to prepare for SAT exam.
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