How to Take SAT Practice Tests and How Often?

How Often Should You Do SAT Practice Tests?

SAT examination is Scholastic Aptitude Test. SAT is one of the two standardized college admissions tests in the US. The students of high school juniors and seniors wing applying to colleges and universities in US takes this test. The test is taken to know what the prospective student knows and how well they can apply their knowledge to colleges. The test is divided into three aspects- reading, math, and writing sections which project the student's ability to manage college courses in critical reading, mathematics, and writing.

The course content is much more complex in college compared to high school but the skills and practical application are the same. The Digital SAT examination assesses a few skills such as critical reading, grammar, and its usage, identifying errors in a written passage, arithmetic operations, algebra, geometry, statistics, and probability. The knowledge of the skills is shown by answering a number of multiple-choice questions. The exam also includes a written essay portion as well. The SAT only shows the scholastic ability of an individual, it doesn’t show the logic and abstract thinking.

But the preparation for SAT demands an understanding of SAT exam pattern and for that one has to know the method of preparation, the number of practice SAT tests to be answered, and many other things which will help students in achieving higher SAT scores:

The first and foremost step is to switch to Official SAT Practice Tests.

1. Most students go wrong at the very first step by being over-enthusiastic and overlooking highly important factors. Students generally try to finish as many practice tests as they can in a week’s time.

2. The other mistake students do is picking up a generic set of practice SATs, they don’t check the quality and the version of the SAT exam, and just see it as a test and solve it, which can be highly de-motivating in nature. The real problem is most SAT practice tests available in the market are not according to the SAT exam pattern, they are completely unofficial SAT practice tests, which should be definitely avoided.

3. There is another set of questions that float around all the websites that are some of the worst SAT questions as they have no real specialization on the SAT.

4. Even some of the best books referred to online or published by some of the biggest test-prep publishers such as Barnes & Noble should be avoided as they only appear to be legit but actually, they lack the real content. 

5. Another mistake students often do is to believe any question presented in multiple-choice formats is similar or meets the level of the Digital SAT examination. Some of the high-scoring experts claim that the practices mentioned above should be avoided as bad SAT practice can land you in trouble at the time of real official SAT practice. Avoid spending your precious time on the wrong and unofficial SAT prep questions. It is recommended to use only those SAT practice tests which are released by the College Board as they offer full-length tests all according to the rules and pattern of the official SAT examination.

The second step takes practice tests in a realistic setting. If you take the wrong training for the Digital SAT examination then there are chances that you will actually fail to complete your real SAT examination in the given time period.

It is advisable not to take shortcuts as they don’t do any benefit in the long run. When you train yourself in a completely unrealistic environment then you are fooling yourself as later you would not be able to finish the SAT in the normal four-hour context. It is important to time yourself according to the questions so that you don’t waste time during exams thinking about how to plan and go about it. Hence, it is highly recommended to use SAT practice tests from a reliable source. Here are a few things to keep in mind in order to practice and plan your PSAT examination in a realistic environment.

1. It is advisable to take the entire PSAT examination in one sitting. Do not split a practice SAT into a number of chunks as it will only provide you with fatigue, it will do no good.

2. Make sure you only take a short and quick break between the practice SAT test as, on the actual SAT, one really doesn’t get the long break for the meal and all.

3. Never ever peek into the answer sheet. Cheating is a sin anyway even though it boosts up your score for the time being but remember it is just a practice SAT, in the actual SAT you won’t get to see the answer sheet and this will kill the entire vibe and sequence of the test.

4. Try not to give yourself some extra time as it can be worse. It is highly important to manage your time as it can help you deal with a last-minute crisis and finish your exam in the set time period in a stress-free manner.

The best way is to take each and every SAT practice test in the best possible realistic setting, use a real timer, schedule your test in a way that allows you to take a short break only, and never give yourself extra time more than a minute. Taking a test in a realistic setting can boost up the student's confidence, in the best possible way.

The third step is to invest more and more time in SAT practice sessions in order to score higher and better. Practice makes a man perfect works indeed. It is advisable to put in extra time and effort in doing the right kind of SAT practice.

The fourth step is the identification of the errors and fixing those weaknesses. It is important to go through a critical analysis of your performance on each and every practice test. The analysis will provide you with your weak points and then you can put extra effort into those sections, and improve and score well.

SAT Preparation Resources:

SAT 1 / SAT General Preparation: