{"id":1597,"date":"2014-02-03t09:00:21","date_gmt":"2014-02-03t09:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/sat\/?p=1597"},"modified":"2017-11-13t11:17:26","modified_gmt":"2017-11-13t19:17:26","slug":"how-long-should-i-study-for-the-sat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/sat\/how-long-should-i-study-for-the-sat\/","title":{"rendered":"how long should i study for the sat?"},"content":{"rendered":"

note: this post has been updated to reflect the scoring changes in the sat beginning in march 2016. <\/em>
\n <\/p>\n

some would say a weekend; some would say a lifetime. clearly, the truth is somewhere in between, and the answer really depends on you. are you the busy type, but have lofty goals? then studying an entire summer is probably necessary (and more, if you don\u2019t do as well as planned). not looking to rock the ivy league, but hoping for a decent in-state school? maybe a month is all you\u2019ll need.<\/p>\n

but don\u2019t spend just a weekend. whereas a month can make a big difference in your score, depending on the materials and whether you have a teacher, a weekend isn\u2019t going to make much of a difference on your score (and all-nighters are never fun).<\/p>\n

on the flip side, don\u2019t fritter your life away, attending sat schools every weekend, year after year (colleges do want well-rounded students). of course, most students do not fall into this category, but if you are a super-achiever keep this advice is mind.<\/p>\n

ultimately, how long you study for the sat<\/a> has a lot to do with your current score and the average score of the school you hope to go to. figure that out first, and then you\u2019ll have a better sense of just how much time you\u2019ll need.<\/p>\n

the 70-150 point plan = one month<\/h2>\n

life is busy, and you just don\u2019t have time to dedicate it all to one thing. but as long as you can give sat prep a month of your time, you can\u2014with hard work and a good teacher\u2014expect to improve about 30 to 70 points in both math and reading\/writing, or up to around 150 points overall.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"sat<\/a><\/p>\n

the 150-250 point increase = three month (one summer!)<\/h2>\n

with the right materials and a good teacher, a summer is ample time for you to raise your score by as much as 250 points (assuming you are not starting off with a score of over 1350). you will need to take practice tests every week and go through them with a really good teacher\/tutor. that person will also help determine your weak points.<\/p>\n

if you are unable to get a teacher\/tutor, you can still see such a point increase. it\u2019ll just be a little tougher; you\u2019ll have to be more disciplined and attuned to the errors you tend to make.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"sat<\/a><\/p>\n

the 250-350 point club<\/h2>\n

first off, i\u2019m here to tell you that such a score increase is possible. secondly, the higher your baseline score (the score you start out at), the less likely it is to see such an increase. so yeah, if you are already scoring 1400, then it is impossible to increase by 300 points.<\/p>\n

but for students scoring in the 900-1200 range, a 300-point increase is possible, given lots of hard work and, of course, time. you will need to become an avid reader, a math machine, and a grammar nazi (or at least think like one). but these are all learnable skills, with the right guidance and materials. you will probably need more than a summer; in fact, you might find yourself working back-to-back summers. but that\u2019s okay, if you are in between your sophomore and junior years. with the determination, you can do it.
\n <\/p>\n

the 1350+ plan<\/h2>\n

let\u2019s say you are already starting at the 1350- or 1400-level. increasing 100 or more points is going to be tough. but you are probably already a strong student. you might only need about 6 weeks, but that will have to be an intense 6 weeks (you will be dreaming in fourth-degree polynomials and reading passage quotes). going through multiple practice tests a week with an sat tutor may be necessary. with an entire summer, and the right instruction, you should be able to break the 1500-point threshold.
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

this is a big question. the answer depends who you are as a student: where do you want to attend college? how big of a score improvement are you looking for? how do you study? let’s break it down:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[36,44,53,64],"ppma_author":[24882],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nhow long should i study for the sat?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"the answer depends on the student: where do you want to attend college? how big of a score improvement are you looking for? how do you study? we break it down.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/sat\/how-long-should-i-study-for-the-sat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_us\" \/>\n<meta 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manager","worksfor":"magoosh","url":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/author\/chris\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":24882,"user_id":10,"is_guest":0,"slug":"chris","display_name":"chris lele","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/198545d5a4baea0ba0fd0c0fc8a5d466?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"lele","first_name":"chris","description":"chris lele is the principal curriculum manager (and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/vocabulary-builder-workbook-activities-must-know\/dp\/193975481x\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">vocabulary wizard<\/a>) at magoosh. chris graduated from ucla with a ba in psychology and has 20 years of experience in the test prep industry. he's been quoted as a subject expert in many publications, including<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/education\/best-colleges\/slideshows\/10-test-prep-tips-for-sat-and-act-takers\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> us news<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mba.com\/exams-and-exam-prep\/gmat-exam\/why-take-the-gmat-in-2021-when-many-schools-are-test-optional\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> gmac<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessbecause.com\/news\/gmat\/3263\/mba-admissions-gre-challenges-gmat\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> business because<\/a>.\r\n\r\n\r\nin his time at magoosh, chris has taught countless students how to tackle the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gre-prep-magoosh\/dp\/1939418917\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> gre<\/a>, gmat, sat, act, mcat (cars), and lsat exams with confidence. some of his students have even gone on to get near-perfect scores. you can find chris on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/ucz4sgyj6l0cgnvnihy8gy6w\">youtube<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/chris-lele-095005a0\"> linkedin<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chrismagoosh\">twitter<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/chrislelemagoosh1\/\">facebook<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1597"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1597\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1597"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}