You might be wondering when the best time is to begin studying for the SAT. You won't obtain the greatest score you're capable of if you start too late. However, if you begin too early, you may find it difficult to keep up because you haven't mastered all of the necessary material. Continue reading to gain some tiered advice on effective SAT preparation.
Highly Selective School SAT Prep
Getting a good SAT score is critical if you want to attend highly selective universities. As a sophomore, you should definitely take the PSAT to see how you're doing on the SAT. Because the PSAT does not cover all of the information examined on the real SAT, you should also consider taking a full SAT practice test. Once you have a beginning score, consider whether you want to study more gradually during sophomore year or use the summer before junior year to study more intensively. If you want to go to a top institution, your ideal SAT score should be 1500 or higher. This places you near the top of the admitted student score ranges for these schools, increasing your chances of acceptance.
Selective School SAT Prep
We define selective schools as those that accept less than half of those who apply. In other words, they have a lower than 50% admittance rate. While these universities are still competitive, they’re not as hard to get into as the Ivy Leagues. We also recommend taking the PSAT or a mock SAT as a sophomore to determine your base score for elite colleges. Next, search out the SAT score ranges for the institutions you're interested in attending. Set your SAT score goal based on the most selective institution to which you're applying. If you meet your score goal, you'll be able to apply to any school on your list with ease. If you're applying to NYU, for example, you should aim for a SAT goal score of 1350, which is the average score of admitted students.
Less Selective School SAT Prep
Schools that admit more than 50% of their applications are considered less selective. This is frequently the case with lesser-known local colleges or huge public universities. Your SAT score is essential here, but it doesn’t need to be really high. As a sophomore, take the PSAT to determine your starting point. If you’re having trouble, start studying sophomore year so you can get an above-average SAT score. Otherwise, you can wait until the end of your sophomore year and prepare over the summer. Look up the SAT score ranges for the institutions you're interested in and base your target score on them. If you want to attend the University of Kentucky, for example, you should aim for a SAT score of 1130 on the new SAT, which is their average SAT score for admission.
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