My school recommends taking the SAT/ACT for the first time no prep in spring of junior year, and then if I want to try to raise my score, study over the summer and retake in fall of senior year. The school says that statistically, people score better when they’re older. A lot of people seem to disagree with this plan, saying it’s crazy to take the test the first time with no prep and it’s crazy to wait to fall of senior year to try to get the score I want since I’ll have so much else to do senior year. But I have a lot to do junior year too. I’m wondering if anyone out there did it the way my school suggests and if you can share your experience.
I think you should most definitely prep for your SAT every time you take it. You pay around 50-60 dollars per exam, and it would feel like a waste of money to me if I didn’t prep at all and then did poorly. I started taking SAT/ACT exams Junior year but in all honesty I didn’t study as much as I should and I regret that a lot. My scores I received junior year were good enough for my instate schools but for my dream school I had to take tests Senior year. Thankfully everything worked out but I was for sure much more stressed. If you think you’re busy junior year just wait until senior year. I was in the same place as you were junior year. I said " I have time senior year to do it, I’m busy now", but trust me you are much busier your senior year. On top of managing your classes you also have to fill out all your applications, write a bunch of essays/ supplements, and fill out scholarship applications and financial aid forms.
If I could offer any advice it would be to try to finish all of your testing Junior year if possible. Sign up for tests starting 1st semester of Junior year (preferably towards the end of the 1st semester, so you have time to study) and then continue to take them second semester as well. I’m not saying to take a whole bunch if you don’t need too, but take as much as you need to get the score you want. If you find that you need to take an extra test or two Senior year there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m just saying I wish I would have finished testing junior year to have one less thing off my plate.
Also I would recommend taking one SAT and one ACT. Whichever one you score better on focus on that one and raise your score.
As for studying if you study for 15 minutes or so on weekdays and then do full practice tests on the weekends for a few weeks (preferably more if possible, but I get how busy you can get once school starts) you should be fine taking the test. Also if the school offers any free SAT make sure you take it, as I stated above taking these tests can become very expensive if you don’t prepare yourself and find yourself not improving.
I understand how your school wants you to take your time and prepare but, spring of Junior year seems way to late to just start the process, especially if you’re considering schools that are hard to get into and very prestigious.
Always prep and get your best score if possible in junior year. I really doubt your school officially tells anyone to sit a test unprepped. You can sit still sit your first test in spring, then be signed up for the following two tests to optimise the time spent on prep. I would only say do the first test in first semester of junior year if you have really solid practise scores after rising junior summer prep. If you are that kid that works hard as a rising junior, to have a great score is a real help, if you are not that kid, then any extra time does help. Are you sitting the PSAT? Have you sat that as a soph?
Thank you so much!
Sybylla – I know, it sounds crazy, but literally this is the guidance from the college office: “If students’ PSAT/ACT score seems consistent with their academic performance, we usually recommend that they take the
SAT I or ACT at the end of junior year without test preparation.Then, if the first score seems low, test prep can occur over the summer between junior year and senior year to prepare the students for the test on which they are statistically likely to score the highest because of their age.”
Didn’t take the PSAT sophomore year. School administers Oct of junior year, so taking it in 2 months.
The strategy will depend on your goals and budget. If you are trying to get into a highly selective school (SAT 1400+; ACT 30+) every bite at the apple matters, so taking a test without preparation represents a wasted opportunity. By preparation, it doesn’t have to be private tutors, it can be reviewing and doing the practice tests in the official College Board or ACT prep guides and other test prep guides or the free online SAT prep through Khan Academy . It’s also advisable to either take one of the many ACT vs. SAT assessments or just take a couple of practice tests for each one to see which test is more suitable for you. As most of these schools will consider your best scores and many will even superscore by section (mostly for the SAT) taking the test 2 or 3 times seems pretty standard. Also remember that for many of the highly selective schools, they will require/recommend SAT II tests and the best time to take those tests will be right at the end of your Junior year when the course material is fresh. AP tests also occur then. So, for my kids, the strategy was to take their first ACT/SAT in the late winter/early spring of junior year and the second in September of their senior year before all the crazy college app stuff happened. There were still enough test dates available before the end of the year to take a third test if necessary.
Helpful. Thanks very much.
It IS crazy because a cold score tells you nothing, ACT has a fair bit of strategy. Prep for the PSAT as a junior too, it IS worthwhile.
There’s no point, in my mind, to taking a test with no prep.
But I do agree with their timeline-- May or June of Junior year, and then again in Aug/Oct or Nov of Senior year.
You can find free SAT prep on Khan Academy.
Thanks Sybylla and bjkmom.
Now that the PSAT and the SAT are more closely aligned in content, I’d advise prepping well for the PSAT (it’s your only chance for entry into the National Merit competition) and then taking your first SAT not long after the PSAT while all the prep is still fresh. I would not advise taking the junior year PSAT or SAT cold. I have heard of students taking a “baseline” SAT/ACT without prep in sophomore year but you’re beyond that.
Do you think you might apply to rolling admission universities with early application openings? For instance, where I live (Texas) most public universities opened their applications July 1. My son, who had prepped diligently for the October PSAT and December SAT, had already gotten the SAT score he needed (1560) and was ready to take advantage of the early application to get a head start in July. If you think you’d like to get a jump on summer applications it makes no sense to wait until senior year to fully prepare for the SAT.
My school forced us to take the SAT, and because of this I didn’t study. While I still scored super high, I would recommend studying for it because not all students are great test takers. The only case I wouldn’t study for it is if it’s free, your family has the money, but mainly if you get all A’s in honors and AP classes without batting an eye. I think the best time to take it is at the worst the end of junior year and at best anytime before then.
The strategy that worked best for us was prep in Aug/Sept of summer going into unior year so that you are essentially preping for both the PSAT and the October sitting of the SAT at the same time. Then depending upon your scores you have plenty of time to take one or two more SAT tests or even to try the ACT.
I took PSATs freshman and sophomore year, the ACT August of my junior year (did well so one and done), PSAT October? (for national merit), skipped SAT school day in March bc I have dual enrollment classes, took SAT subject tests im june of junior year. and took the SAT to confirm my PSAT score August of Senior year.
There’s no possible way waiting till I was older would have helped me on the ACT (the test I do better in) and I might have done worse in math bc I literally took the classes you need for ACT/SAT math in middle school (Algebra 2), so I would be forgetting stuff. If you’re ahead in math that’s something to consider.
Also, why would you not prep for a test? It doenst have to be super intense, just take some practice tests and understand why any answers you missed were wrong, get the timing down, and understand the instructions beforehand. Why would you want to take a test more than once if you don’t have to? It costs money and time, plus some colleges want to see all scores.
But they are right that there is improvement throughout high school- my PSATs went from ~1410 freshman year (201/240, old test), to 1460 sophomore year, to 1500 junior year. Addmitedly, I did prep more each year. I don’t think you should take college tests earlier than junior year (except for maybe sat subject tests) but there’s not that much difference imo between junior and senior year except that you have more going on senior year.
I took my major tests in August too, because I didn’t have much else going on (no school), so I could focus more on studying for them without overloading myself.