SAT Self-Study - Top 7 Tips for Your Preparation

Many of the largest institutions in the nation still require candidates to meet SAT standards and most certainly will in the future, even though other colleges are lowering their SAT requirements. As a result, the SAT plays a significant role in your college readiness strategy. It's crucial to get ready if you have to take the SAT in order to get the finest scores possible for top-tier college degree courses.

You Could Self-Study for the SAT, but Why? Top 3 Benefits

Instead of enrolling in an SAT prep course, using a digital prep program, or getting a tutor, the majority of students who are studying for the SAT choose to undertake their own self-study. This is due to the fact that self-studying for the test provides several important benefits that other solutions don't have or have in lesser amounts.

The top three advantages of using the SAT self-study strategy are listed below. 

It’s affordable

One of the most affordable choices for preparation is self-study for the SAT, which you may even do for nothing if you know where to seek.

Most students who self-study for the SAT only purchase what they actually need and rely primarily on free-approved materials. They might invest a small sum of money in an SAT prep book with excellent reviews or an hour of specialized tutoring to help them address particular areas of difficulty, but that's all.

• It's modular

SAT self-study gives you the ability to modify your prep schedule in accordance with your commitments, energy levels, and motivation, in contrast to more rigid SAT prep alternatives, which frequently require that you complete them at a given point in time on a particular day each week.

There isn't an easy method to make up a live lesson if you were to miss it (until and unless they provide that exact same class at another time at no extra cost to you, which is highly unlikely).

• It's Adjustable

The ability to tailor your schedule and your study materials so that you perform well on the test and achieve the results you want is the last advantage of SAT self-study.

For instance, instead of spending too much time studying arithmetic ideas you already know, you may devote more of your preparation time to practicing for the Writing and Reading parts if you are already achieving your goal mark for the Math test but not for these two.

In other words, you get to create your own course, which is fantastic if you want to concentrate on very particular areas of weakness or if you have a strict monthly budget.

7 Tips for Making the Most of SAT Self-Study

You must be prepared to identify your own areas of weakness, create a program, and stick to your preparation if you want to succeed at SAT self-study.  Here are seven suggestions to maximize the effectiveness of your SAT self-study program.

• Firstly, create a schedule.

You must first develop a SAT self-study strategy that suits your learning style. This is the fundamental structure you'll adhere to during the weeks you spend preparing. A scheduled timetable will not only help you feel more consistent, but it will also guarantee that you are obtaining everything done before the test.

You must first calculate your SAT foundation and target scores before creating your plan. A foundation score is a score you begin with prior to any test preparation; it represents your current SAT performance.

• Secondly: Begin with Official Resources and Materials

Before rushing out and purchasing a prep book, anyone taking the SAT independently should give priority to College Board SAT study tools in their preparation. Since these official materials are free, you should definitely look at them first if you're seeking to save money.

Don't bother purchasing The Official SAT Study Guide on Amazon because it is entirely available in downloaded PDFs on the College Board website. The website also provides 10 full-length practice tests and example SAT problems.

• Thirdly, Use Only Top-Rated Study Guides

Get at least one well-regarded SAT prep book to utilize as a guide and to give you the majority of the subject review you'll need for the exam if you're going to pursue a SAT self-study schedule. Books can also help you with study techniques and test-taking advice. However, not all SAT prep materials are made equal, so you should avoid any that have negative reviews or are out-of-date.

The top SAT prep books will typically include the following characteristics:

1. A thorough analysis of all main SAT themes or a specific SAT section's material
2. Tested test-taking advice and techniques
3. Realistic, excellent practice exams and questions
4. Explanations of the answers in detail

Fourth, Track Your Development Using Practice Exams

When you start your SAT self-study plan, you should allocate some time every two weeks or so for a full-length official (or, if you run out of them, a highly realistic and accurate) practice test to see how far you've come toward achieving your target score.

By doing this, you can assess your progress in the areas where you struggle the most and learn how to develop even more.

Each practice test can also be used to identify any similarities in your errors. For instance, perhaps you consistently make casual mistakes when answering fundamental algebra questions.

Fifth, Emphasize Your Weaknesses

Self-studying for the SAT is appealing in part because you have control over what you learn. In the other words, you can tailor your preparation so that you focus on the topics, sections, question kinds, and exam-taking techniques that are the most challenging for you.

An SAT self-study plan gives you the flexibility to adjust your plan as you go so that you're only studying what you really need to, unlike a prep class or online prep program that would generally require you to analyze a broad swath of test topics—even those you're good at and don't actually need to review.

Sixth, get assistance when needed

Although SAT self-study is all about studying—well, by yourself it's (and occasionally required!) to seek some outside assistance for particular study problems you might be experiencing. These issues could range from weaknesses in your general material knowledge to inadequate study methods and test-taking anxiety.

Consider talking to a professor at your high school or hiring a SAT tutor, even for just a few hours, to go over the topics you're having trouble with if you can't actually teach yourself what you need to know to perform well on the exam or have tried but feel you'll perform better with some direction.

Read our article on Virtual SAT Prep Classes to get a foundational understanding of Self-Study SAT Prep.  To get in touch with Masterclass Space contact us.

Seventh, Discover Ways to Feel Empowered

Last but not least, without motivation, a solid SAT self-study schedule is useless. This is unquestionably one of the most crucial (and frequently disregarded) components of self-study. Even if you have access to the best SAT available resources, your results won't increase if you don't stick to the study regimen you set for yourself.

While flexibility in scheduling is part of the appeal of self-study (and we definitely encourage it if you discover that you don't need to devote as much time on particular topics or parts), you should be prepared to adhere to your plan for the great most of the time.

You can get further details on applying to institutions, Counseling for different courses as well as information on the most effective SAT Preparation on our website info@masterclassspace.com.