WHEN TO START PREPARING FOR THE SAT AND ACT (AND HOW!)

Creating a Test Prep Plan

When do I start?

There are many questions and alot of confusion about formulating a test prep plan. That’s because each student is a different kind of learner, has different testing or college goals, and has a different weekly schedule. However, we have boiled it down to a few key points of reference when thinking about your test prep plan.

Satellite Prep suggests allowing for at least 3 months of solid preparation prior to your first scheduled SAT or ACT. So if you are taking the SAT in June, let’s say, you’d want to get focused on preparing by the start of March. 

What do I do?

There are three key elements to a great test prep plan:

1. Diagnostic Test

2. Weekly Test Prep

3. Mock Testing

The best kind of diagnostic test is a real, full length SAT or ACT. If you can take both, say, 4 months prior to your official test date, you can very easily make the decision as to which test you’ll target.

Weekly test prep involves content building, technique development, and practice sections.

Mock Testing should be done at least twice before taking the official test. Check out our Mock Testing Blog to read more about the value and purpose of Mock Testing.