Top SAT Preparation Tips: Check Section-wise SAT Prep Tips

Follow the below-mentioned tips to understand the SAT exam 2024 pattern thoroughly and be able to crack the SAT exam with the right strategies.

1. Start early to Prepare for the SAT

It's the early bird that catches the worm. Thus, planning always helps! So, when in high school, it is better to start preparing for the SAT. Begin with understanding the SAT syllabus and while managing your studies, you need to take the SAT preparation. Select the SAT date by giving yourself an abundance of time to prepare for the test. Take at least 2 to 3 months to prepare for the test. As you start early, you will have the time to learn the concepts practice them and make a strategy. After learning the concepts you'll gain confidence while going into the test.

2. Make a study plan for the SAT Exam

Decide when you are going to take the SAT. Build a study plan and follow it rigorously. It will help you manage your time well before the test. Watch instructional videos and allocate specific time for practice. Work more on your weak areas set targets and try to achieve them. Make sure your target is aligned with the colleges that you want to apply to.

3. Prepare with Official SAT Practice from Khan Academy

It is always best to prepare for the SAT by using the official resources crafted by the makers of the SAT. College Board has partnered with Khan Academy for SAT preparation which is available for students for free. The Official SAT Practice includes the official SAT study resources. Khan Academy has created a study plan based on the latest Digital SAT exam pattern, your past scores, and the upcoming test date. You should prepare for at least 6 - 20 hours for your first SAT. After this take at least one full-length practice test on Bluebook. After completing this, you'll know about your weak areas and can focus on them more.

4. Pay more attention to details in class for SAT prep

Since 2016, SAT has been more aligned with classroom learning. So, it is imperative to pay attention in your class and learn the concepts wholeheartedly. If you think, you need to revisit some of the areas then spend more time on them. Catch hold of some of the important resources and work out your plan according to your weaknesses. Ask as many questions as possible in class and ensure that you are conceptually sound and have no queries whatsoever before attempting the SAT exam. Also, focus on building your SAT vocabulary for RW section. 

5. Practice & Practice to Crack SAT 

The key to success is to try, try and try harder. This is only possible if students preparing for the SAT exam can get a lot of practice before going in for the main exam day. Through practice, one understands the strengths and areas of weakness. If there is sufficient time in hand, the weaknesses can also be conquered. Thus, for individuals, it is highly important to get ahold of sample SAT papers and make the best use of them. Ultimately, practice makes a man perfect! 

6. Inculcate Regular Reading Habits

This is an important aspect of SAT exam preparation, where students have to regularly read to increase their reading speed and increase their vocabulary so that they can answer the questions in the Reading and Writing section of the SAT easily. The students will also build confidence because conversational skills will also improve when they read regularly. Their communication while studying abroad will be a cakewalk.

7. Manage Your Time Well

To ace the SATs, applicants should know how to time themselves well. For each section and each type of question, applicants should time themselves. They should check how much time are they taking to answer the questions. Based on the timing, applicants will get practice in attempting each question and not leaving any unanswered questions. Plus, it will help them understand how to utilise time to go back to unanswered questions, if any. Thus, managing time well is an asset to ace the SAT exam in one go. Check out the Powerful Time Management Strategies for Students.

8. Targeted Practice

Focus on weak areas identified through practice tests and use resources like Skills InsightTM for tailored SAT exam practice. Through this approach, applicants can ensure that their study time is optimized and that they're not wasting much effort on topics they have already understood well. 

9. Avoid Answer Choice Patterns:

Questions have varied answer distributions, so use the eliminator tool instead of relying on patterns of previous SAT exam mocks. 

Thus, by following these 8  SAT prep tips, applicants can ace the exam, score well and build up their soft skills with knowledge.

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 2024:

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 2024.

Since the SAT exam is divided into two broad areas of testing - Reading + Writing & Math sections, students registering for SAT in 2024 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 devised based on each section. 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. 

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:

• Read the passage carefully to find answers
• Use reasoning to support your conclusions from the passage
• Make sure that your answer should be from the passage only
• Use your time wisely and try to answer the maximum number of questions from one passage and then move to another one
• Stress facts, ideas, details, and points of view from the passage
• Passages can 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
• As the time is limited you can answer questions as you read the passage, maybe you won't get time to go through the whole passage completely
• You can read the first question and then read the first para to find an answer to it
• Read the question carefully and try to understand what is required to answer it
• Every question is designed in such a way that it tests your grammar, word choice, and sentence structure

Read: SAT preparation tips: Reading section

SAT Preparation 2024 Tips for Maths Section 

While the Math section of 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, and 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: 

• Candidates need to work on their speed and accuracy for the Math section.
• Pick up the best book for maths SAT preparation and solve as many questions as possible.
• The math section measures skills in solving problems with efficiency and accurately
• Candidates need to learn the math concepts, rules, and relations At times, it is better to find the wrong answers rather than the correct answer, this may help in saving your time
• Candidates should have knowledge of formulas as the section includes questions related to graphs, linear equations, or analyzing a solution
• As there is no negative marking on the SAT test, so, try to answer as many questions as you can

These above-given SAT prep tips can prove useful for those who are dedicated to their preparation for SAT and want to take one thing at a time and be able to master their preparation. It is not always necessary to go section-wise to prepare for SAT, rather, students who find that their weak points in specific areas, can start from there as well. The overall point is to have SAT preparation strategy and stick to it no matter what. 

Many candidates prefer self-study to prepare for the SAT test. With the best books and resources for SAT, you can prepare for the SAT exam on your own. Apart from this, there is online study material for SAT prep is also available which is helpful in preparing for the SAT. Some of the books that can be helpful in covering SAT preparation are as follows:

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.