When to Start Prepping

<p>How early should I start prepping for the SATs? I'm a rising sophomore currently.</p>

<p>I started in the summer between my sophomore and junior years and ended up taking the SAT in the January of my junior year. It all depends on where you feel you are academically and how much work you think you will need.</p>

<p>How do you prep for the essay / writing portion? =/</p>

<p>That was the one part I felt I could not prep for, so I really didn’t. Except taking the most rigorous English courses at my school. It’s really hard to teach writing ability, but the key is to get your voice through. You could also read well-written pieces to sort of discover your style. I used to read TIME (which sometimes does not have well-written pieces at all), NY Times online and The Atlantic. I now read Forbes and some of the Forbes articles are quite well-written.</p>

<p>I am a soon-to-be junior and I’ve been studying for the SAT since the beginning of Summer. I took the PSAT last October and earned a 231 which qualified me for the scholarship foundation. I consider myself average. What can I do to improve? Particularly with reading comp. thanks</p>

<p>To improve with reading comp, it’s necessary to do as many CR practice passages as possible, since that’s the only way you’re going to be able to get better at dissecting passages.</p>

<p>You should start (if not started already) to work on your vocab. You may try a couple practice test to get a feel on it. Also, if your school can register you for PSAT, try it in sophomore year. For the real SAT/PSAT preparation, you may wait until you finished sophomore year.</p>