<p>I purchased a few SAT books from Princeton Review and Kaplan and worked out of those. Each book had at least 6 different practice tests, so I used some of the books for full test sessions and others for short section sessions. The important thing is to recognize when you have time to prep, such as the summer or fall break or winter break, and then maximizing that time. Don’t try and fit in prep time during the school year if you can’t.</p>
<p>For me, math was second nature and I never really stressed about it. I guess know how to use your calculator effectively if nothing else. For critical reading, it’s all about reviewing the questions that you missed after taking them (refresh yourself of course though) to understand why you missed them. Work on vocab nightly and you can improve your vocab section as well. Writing was probably the trickiest one of all of them for me, again understand why you missed the questions that you did. Writing is at least more rule-adhering than critical reading was, so familiarize yourself with writing rules. </p>
<p>Finally, the essay is all about being able to pull out a couple of examples to support either side of the essay prompt. Create a “toolkit” of a few possible examples that you could fit into almost any essay and then learn to reuse those examples. Again, nothing fancy, no expensive prep courses, just self-discipline.</p>