With the MCPS SAT day passing, students worked and prepared to get the highest score possible: 1600 for the SAT and a 36 on the ACT. While the two tests are very different, they both contain English and math sections, with the inclusion of a science section on the ACT.
Some studied for months. Others only needed minimal studying to get a good score on either test.
“[I have] been prepping for about a month and a half so far [and] I’ve been using the College Board question bank which has been the biggest help for me,” junior Eli Geller said. “I have [also] been doing Bluebook practice tests.”
While some students prepared for a couple of months, there are also students that find it just as effective to start studying closer to the test date and still get a satisfactory score.
“I just started prepping a couple days ago and I am planning on taking the March 19th SAT,” junior Anna Kim said.”I’m gonna do practice questions and just try to review the ones I get wrong and watch review videos on YouTube.”
One’s learning style can correspond to how effective their test-taking strategies are. Since there is a math section consisting of Algebra one and two, geometry and precalculus as well, there is a lot of content that needs to be reviewed before taking the SAT and students have different ways of reviewing and making sure that they have all the resources they need to do well on the test.
Some students also decide to go for SAT or ACT tutoring to get extra help, especially if they are struggling in certain areas of math or English that could be strengthened with outside help. One can get a private tutor or go to SAT prep classes; however, both options can get very expensive, so most students stick with self-studying using College Board SAT question bank, websites such as Khan Academy or getting preparation books such as those by the Princeton Review.
“I got the Princeton Review Book and I have been trying to study for the SATs,” sophomore Charlotte Kuperstein said.”I’m thinking that I am going to study for it and take the August SAT and then see how it goes, but for the most part I am going to be using prep books to study.”
Studying for either the SAT or ACT can get really overwhelming due to all the different concepts that are presented on the standardized tests. Most of the questions also require a lot of strategic answering which can be challenging. With much practice and test-taking skills, students can be very successful when taking either test, and students who plan on taking the future SAT or ACT will work on preparing for the next tests by focusing on the sections that they struggled on.
