I haven't taken the SAT and I think I may be too late?

Test Preparation
1

So, I’m going into senior year and I haven’t taken any SATs. I was going to take the one on August 24th, but all of the locations that are near me are completely full. To take that one, I would have to go about an hour away, and I’m not sure that’s a possible option. If I were to take the one in September, would it be too late by the time apps are due? Or is it possible to send SATs later? I was planning on applying to a couple of CSUs (San Francisco and San Jose) and one UC (Santa Cruz). I’m not sure if I’ll have my scores back by the time the apps are due.

Sorry if any of this sounds ignorant, I’m a first generation college student and my school doesn’t inform us very well on this stuff. I’m very worried and would appreciate any sort of advice or other possible options.

2

UC’s have a December 31 deadline for test scores while the majority of CSU’s have a January 3 deadline. Exceptions are SDSU and Cal Poly SLO that have a November deadline. It is easy to google the test deadlines to confirm.

3

Just to make sure I’m understanding this correctly, the college’s application deadline is different than the SAT deadline? I was always made believe that the SAT + other test scores were supposed to be sent in with the application.

4

You do not need to send you test scores with your application. When you complete your application there is a place to self report current scores (if one has taken SAT/ACT) and another spot to note that you are planning to take the test in the future. Applicants are then required to send official test scores from SAT/ACT by the deadline for a particular school I would suggest that you register for your test as soon as possible to avoid getting shut-out of your local test center.

5

IMO, I would take the test in August. This allows you another opportunity in September to take it again if you want to try to raise your scores. If August is not an option, the September test results will be back in time for the application deadlines you had mentioned.

6

Take the first one that’s available to you, and don’t worry about it.

7

The advantage of taking the SAT early before completing your applications is that it gives you an idea of which school’s to target. The CSU’s superscore so taking the SAT more than once can be an advantage since they will take the highest scores from each sitting. The UC’s do not superscore so they will consider only the highest score from a single sitting. If you wait until the last minute, you will need to send the test scores in blindly meaning you will not be able to view the scores before they are sent to meet the deadlines. The UC and CSU application deadline is November 30th while as I stated above in my original post, you have until end of December/Early January to send the official score reports. If you plan to take any SAT subject tests, these have to be scheduled at another time to fit them in by the deadlines.

8

What about the ACT?
Don’t forget to prepare seriously. There’s free prep online (Khan academy…) + books at your local library (up your score, Kaplan, Princeton Review, Erica Meltzer’s books…) Use them every day.

9

As far as the time you actually have to take an SAT, be aware: (a) the UCs take through the December SAT; (b) the same applies to the CSU’s except Cal Poly SLO in the past wanted testing done by November; © For regular admission , most colleges accept through the Dec SAT (and some even take the Feb ACT), although some that have e regular admission application deadlines in early Dec or before require testing to be completed by Nov; (d) most colleges that have early decision and early action, which often have Nov 1 application deadlines, accept through the Oct SAT for ED or EA and many even accept through the Nov SAT, although some want all test scores in their hands by the application deadline which means taking the Sep test is good and even the Oct test but with some risk it might be too late.