<p>I've looked at many threads and am still debating at how many hours I should study. I have 2-3 months prep time. I recently just got done with a testmasters course, and when I began I took a practice test from there and got an 1170.. My recent score, 1700. It raised my score up by 530 points. If I'm aiming to get a score of at least 1800 - 1900, how many hours a day should I study? (Including weekends.) I'm an upcoming junior. And how should I study? By going over my last practice tests? Should I study one subject a day or all of them in one day?</p>
<p>Don’t overdo it. Spend a day doing one section for an hour or two. Use the flash cards for vocab whenever you have some down time. You’ll poison your mind and confuse yourself if you study too much (3+ hours a day, imo). Do fun things as well that will indirectly help you on the SAT; for example, read some really advanced literature. It’ll help increase your comprehension.</p>
<p>I might also suggest that you try to divide your study hours into 15-20 minute segments, with breaks in between. When you come back from a break, spend 5 minutes looking over what you did before break to reinforce what you learned there. You tell the brain what’s important by revisiting it. If you need to spend more than 5 minutes, do so but always leave time to bring new material into the 20 minute segment. There will be days when you forget to do this or are too busy to do it, but don’t go to bed without re-visiting for 15 minutes where you left off. It takes commitment, but you can improve your scores significantly.</p>
<p>For comprehension tests with my advanced students, I like them to read aloud passages from Lattimore’s translation of the Iliad and then tell me what is being said. The Lattimore translation is particularly formal, elevated, and poetic, elements of writing that our students haven’t often been exposed to.</p>
<p>All of them. Spend every hour of every day studying for the SAT. No, wait. Do the opposite.</p>
<p>Learn in school. Read regular books. Visit historical places. In short, LIVE. If you do so, you will do as well as you should do.</p>
<p>Take 1 practice test to familiarize yourself with the type of questions that are asked. If you do anything else, you are wasting your time. Any advantage you gain by cramming for the test will evaporate if you get into a school that is over your head because you spent hours ‘studying’ for the SAT.</p>
<p>What most people fail to realize is that the SAT/ACT is an endurance test. Sure, maybe you can get a 1900 by taking one section at a time over several days, but how can you do under test conditions? Exact timing and breaks as the real thing, with real tests, not imitation ones. THAT is what you need to prepare for. Maybe not every day, but several times a week if you can manage it. It’s a marathon, not a sprint and you need to prepare for it the same way.</p>