<p>So, i'm going to be a freshmen this fall...and im pretty nervous!! is there anything i need to prepare for? act, sat, psat?</p>
<p>Oh freshman… how I remember the days haha.</p>
<p>ACT - not yet. Unless you’ve taken at least some form of Geometry and Algebra II, you probably won’t perform as well as you like. A general guideline is take one at the end of sophomore/beginning of junior year and then act accordingly.</p>
<p>SAT - pretty much the same as the ACT (minus the Algebra II part). You just need to make sure to pick <em>either</em> the ACT or SAT. You really don’t want to take both tests all of the time. Take both of them once and then decide.</p>
<p>PSAT - I suppose you can take this. At this point, I don’t really see any point in studying this, as it doesn’t become important whatsoever until your junior year. Take it to see how well you do (it correlates to the SAT).</p>
<p>I hope that helped and good luck freshman year!</p>
<p>Don’t get too worried about testing just yet. Take the most challenging courses that are available to you and that you can handle. Join extra curriculars that interest you (and possibly try to stay in them all 4 years). Have fun… relax.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about standardized tests just yet but you should probably set a brief 4 year plan, with what prospective SAT subject tests you’d like to take (coinciding with your classes) and the types of ECs you’re interested in and the full extent to which you can explore that EC (national awards, leadership, etc).</p>
<p>Also, you can also start looking at summer programs that you’d be interested in. My main problem was procrastination and missing program deadlines that I now regret not being able to apply for. </p>
<p>All in all, it’s practical to start early in practice SAT/ACT testing, I took the SAT in 7th grade (got 1600-1700s) through Duke TIP and it was a good experience in how to study and take such a rigorous standardized test. Over 4 years, I’ve learned how to take these tests and how to do well (in general). However, don’t stress yourself at all about SAT/ACT, you still have a long way ahead of you. It’d be more practical to start devoting yourself with ECs and making good connections with teachers/sponsors/supervisors.</p>
<p>What you can do that will definitely prepare you for the SAT/ACT/PSAT now is to start reading as many books as you can, but carefully. I suggest you read 18th and 19th and 20th century novels by respected authors such as Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Joseph Heller, Victor Hugo, Fyodor Dostoevski, etc. Keep a dictionary by your side to look up any and all unfamiliar words. Much of the vocabulary in those novels appear on the SAT. Plus it will help you with the CR passages and learn grammar.</p>
<p>You don’t really need to prepare of the SAT Reasoning test until sophomore year or the summer before junior year.</p>
<p>It would be a good idea to think about which SAT II tests you could take at the end of the year. Even then, you don’t have to worry until around May. It’s best to take SAT II’s earlier, so you don’t have to worry about them later on*. Just take them one at a time, right after you take the class the corresponds with the SAT II Subject.</p>
<p>*Exceptions include Foreign Language SAT II’s and Lit</p>
<p>Have fun and chill. Best advice.</p>
<p>If you want to feel like you are "prepping’ without getting weighed down, you might consider signing up for College Board’s Question of the Day. Just one SAT-style question every day, takes a minute or less but it would build up beautifully if you did it for years. Also, consider taking the PSAT as a Sophomore for practice and to identify weak spots. Good luck!</p>
<p>Lol, you need to enjoy your freshman year! 
After that, it goes downhill, trust me.</p>
<p>I’m a frosh, I’ve taken the SAT thrice. 1990 in January of 7th grade, 2250 this January, and 2380 in June. It’s a very easy test, if you can logically reason.</p>