SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. — Zig Ziglar

It can be hard to decide when to take the SAT for the first time. Should you wait until junior year? Is the fall better than the spring? Should you only take it if you've studied geometry or read the top 100 classics in English literature?

Since everyone's different, there's no blanket answer to the question, "When should I take the SAT for the first time?" Let's consider the most important factors in this decision so you can determine when to sign up for your initial test. First, what do most students do?

Before you start thinking about which colleges to apply to or what you want to study in college, you need to take the right steps to get there. For many students, this means taking the SAT.

You may be wondering when to start studying for the SAT. If you start too late, you won't get the highest score you're capable of. But if you start too early, you might struggle because you haven’t learned all the necessary content yet, plus you could forget things by the time the test rolls around.

Studying SAT vocab is a confusing topic for most students. It's unclear how many words you should memorize, which words to learn, and how to actually memorize these words without wasting time. If you think you need to memorize a list of 2,000 SAT vocab words you found on the internet, stop right there. We're about to save you a lot of time while delivering the same results.

In this guide, we'll discuss which words you should memorize and go over a reliable way to commit these words to memory.

You might have heard over the last year that a new version of the SAT is coming out in spring of 2016. You might have a choice between taking the current old SAT or the new SAT—depending on when you time your test. You're probably wondering, "when should I take the SAT?" Well, here's our definitive guide.

Note: The old SAT is no longer available. If you took the previous version and aren't sure whether to take the new one, check out our guides to deciding, depending on whether you got a high score or a low one,

In 2016, the SAT changed drastically from the old SAT. In terms of content, no other SAT changes in the past few decades have been this dramatic. If you're familiar with the old SAT, here's what you must know to do well on the 2016 version of the SAT.

Update: The SAT is now fully digital. As such, much of the information in this article is no longer relevant. You can learn more aboutthe digital SAT changes here.

Timing is everything, especially when it comes to the SAT. Besides managing your time on each section of the test, you also have to plan your day around this long exam.

Since latecomers won't be admitted to the testing room, when should you plan to arrive on test day? For that matter, what time can you breathe a sigh of relief and, all finished with the exam, head back home? This guide will go over the exact start and end times of the SAT so you can plan your schedule for that special SAT-urday.

Preparing for the SAT a second or third time is common. Back when I studied for the SAT, the first couple of strategies and study approaches I tried didn't actually work. It took me a few times before I finally found the method that bumped up my SAT score 200 points to a perfect score.

If you're retaking the SAT and want to ensure you improve this time around, this guide will show you how to do just that!

You've just taken the SAT. Congratulations! Once you get some rest, you'll probably start to wonder when your scores will come out and how to access them on the College Board website. In this post, we tell you exactly what time of day scores appear and how to check your SAT scores online.

NOTE: Have you been out of high school for more than a year and not taken the SAT in that time? Then you should read our article on how to get old SAT scores instead!

The reading sections of the SAT and ACT can be intimidating at first glance if you’re more inclined towards math and science than the humanities. All those passages! The horror!

Fear not, my number-loving friend. The reading sections of these tests are actually more logic and evidence-based than you might expect. In some cases, your science and math skills can even help you find the correct answers.

This article details three strategies for approaching SAT and ACT Reading if you consider yourself a more math and science-oriented student.

Can taking official SAT practice tests improve your SAT score dramatically? It can if you do it right. Most students practice the SAT incorrectly and are then surprised when their scores don’t increase. I myself essentially practiced my way to a perfect SAT score, and I’m convinced you can do it, too!

I've developed an SAT practice method that has worked for thousands of students—and I'll describe it right here.

The SAT is an extremely important test for those planning to attend college. It's definitely not one to neglect or ignore until the last minute. Preparing for the exam is the only way to make sure you're doing your best on test day. 

Well, that's all well and good, but how exactly do you study? It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the prospect, or else overloaded by information from a number of different sources all claiming to have the answer to every one of your testing woes.

Read on for my very best suggestions on how to study for the SAT, based on my extensive experience as a tutor. I'll cover each step you need to take to improve your score, from finding the best SAT practice tests to setting a goal to fine-tuning your section strategies. After reading this article, you'll know exactly how to prepare for the SAT.

Studying for the SAT isn’t just about practicing math problems and passage reading—it's also an exercise in timing and pacing. The length of the SAT test, as well as its difficult content, can make it an intimidating challenge.

Read on for our guide to the SAT’s length, individual section times, and section ordering. Moreover, learn how to deal with fatigue during the test.

This guide has been fully updated for the digital SAT!

Do you want to use the results of your first SAT to study for your second attempt? Are you interested in seeing exactly how your SAT scores turned out the way they did? Do you love the SAT so much that you want to order 1600 copies of your test and dive into the pile of booklets like a much nerdier Scrooge McDuck (disclaimer: you can't actually do this)?

Good news! The College Board provides the Student Answer Service and Question-and-Answer Service for the SAT to allow you to review your results in more detail after the test. In this article I’ll go through how these services work, why you might use them, and how to order them.

Studying hundreds of fancy words from big lists has long been a mainstay of SAT prep. But with the redesigned SAT focusing on medium-level words in the context of passages, do you still need to drill yourself on little-used vocab words?

Before you expend superfluous energy to bolster your cognizance of recondite terminology (or waste time learning lots of obscure words), read this guide to learn what vocabulary you need for the new SAT. First, what changes are being made to the SAT in terms of vocabulary?

I get this question from students a lot, and it's definitely an important one: how long before the SAT should you begin preparing for it? Moreover, how long is too long (you won't remember the material)? And how long is too short (you won't have enough time to study)?

You'll need to know how to answer these questions if you wish to study effectively. Our four most important tips will help you determine when you should start studying for the SAT.