The SAT exam is conducted in the U.S. 5 times a year. It is a mandatory exam to get admission to colleges for undergraduate courses in 90% of the colleges in the U.S. This test is of great importance and requires consistent study for at least 3 to 6 months.
However, do not worry if you are left with only one month for the SAT preparation. This article will guide you on how you can study less yet gain the most.
If you have the right material at your disposal, the perfect amount of dedication and a good strategy, you can easily clear the SAT with only a month’s preparation.
SAT Strategy
The first part of the strategy is always planning. You need to plan out your day, week, and month. You should make sure to add some recreational activities to your timetable, along with a good diet and sufficient time for sleep.
The three sections of the SAT exam are as follows:
- Evidence-based Reading
- Writing and Language
- Mathematics (With calculator) and Mathematics (Without calculator)
Another section of the SAT exam that was optional was Essay. However, Since July 2021, it has been discontinued.
Thus, you need to make sure that you give adequate time to all the sections, focussing a little more on your weak areas. You should also practice previous papers and tests every day, because as they say – Practice is the key to clearing any exam!
The Study Plan
We will now make a brief outline of the study plan that you can follow, and filling up significant details will be left to you, according to your circumstances.
- Week-1
The first week should focus on self-assessment. If you have little or no prior knowledge or practise for this test, you should focus on getting to know the exam and your capabilities in this week. The two things that you focus on in the first week are:
- Assessment of the exam
You need to thoroughly review the previous years’ question papers and the SAT syllabus and pattern. Accordingly, you will understand the nature of the question papers and the kind of questions asked in the exam. You can then focus on developing a strategy accordingly.
- Assessment of your own skills
The next thing you need to do is assess your skill levels. You can do this by reviewing the practice tests. You need to complete as many tests as possible. This will let you know which topic you excel at and which topic requires more attention. For example, if you see that you are unable to solve some types of maths questions, you will know that they are your weak spot and that you need to focus on them more.
You can take the last day of the week off and then utilize this day to plan for the coming week and assess the exam pattern based on your strengths and weaknesses.
- Week-2
In the second week of SAT preparation, you should focus on your weak areas. You should work hard to improve in the topics you couldn’t excel at in the mock tests. You can take the help of the topic-related books for the same. For example, if you feel you do not have enough mastery over solving mathematical problems in the “no calculator” section, you can take the help of the mathematics guides and work on solving problems that will get you a good score.
- Week-3
You can dedicate this week to mastering the topics individually. If you want to study for 6 days and take one day off, you can choose to study in the following way:
Day 1- Writing and language ability
Day 2- Reading skills
Day 3- Mathematics with calculator
Day 4- Mathematics without calculator
Day 5 and 6 – Work on your mistakes from all the sections practised before, and practice any topic you feel you still need to sharpen your skills in.
- Week-4
This is the last week of the SAT preparation, and thus it should be more of an overview. You can practice as many previous year tests or practice tests as possible. You can overview the complete SAT syllabus and be sure to strengthen your knowledge in topics that will carry the most marks.
Therefore, with the perfect plan and enough practice, you can clear the SAT exam and get admission into the university or college you’ve always dreamt of. Hop on to the Vocabulary Tablet website to get started with strengthening your vocabulary.
About the Author
Neha has been teaching English for about 10 years. She has trained and mentored students of different age groups for spoken English, IELTS, campus recruitment, competitive exams like SSC, IBPS and CAT, group discussions, and interviews. Currently, she is working as a freelancer, training Indian American students for SAT, mentoring Indian students for IELTS and placements. She is passionate about teaching, blogging, and editing videos. She has published 2 e-books “A Word A Day” and “Grammar Notes by Neha” which are available on Amazon. Her special skills include English grammar, proofreading, copy-editing, communication skills, and counseling. In her free time, she loves honing her skills, learning more courses, and spending time with her family. Her life purpose is to MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
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