The final strategy from our book, The Insider's Guide to the SAT, is customization. This is the final pillar that will tie all of our strategies together. Why is customization so important?
You have different strengths and weaknesses from other students. You have different goals. This means you need to prep in a way that’s customized to you.
Just think about yourself compared to other students at your school. You might have gotten better grades in math than in English, or vice versa. Every student has different skills. It’s unlikely that any other student has the exact same skills as you. Therefore, every student needs a different study plan for the SAT.
Here’s the problem: many prep methods out there treat all students exactly the same.
Books give the same strategies and lessons to every reader, and students read the book cover to cover in the same way.
Expensive classes from big-name companies put 20 students into the same classroom and drag everyone through the same lectures. (Let’s put aside the fact that they hire inexperienced people fresh out of college.)
The way to solve this problem is to ensure whatever study method you choose is customized. Ask your program, what real steps are they taking to customize the study for you? If you use a book, don't simply read it from cover to cover.
Read more about how you can achieve customization from the rest of our book, and get more tips from our SAT Guide to 160+ Points:
Fred is co-founder of PrepScholar. He scored a perfect score on the SAT and is passionate about sharing information with aspiring students. Fred graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor's in Mathematics and a PhD in Economics.
Holly R.