Before I continue my story, and before the new SATs come out, I wanted to offer some insight on my personal experience with the SAT. I took the exam in January 2015 and scored a 2310: 730 on critical reading, 800 on math, and 780 on writng. However, I didn’t just wake up and score the 2310- I earned it through hours upon hours of studying in pain, sweat and tears. When I first took the PSATs in my sophomore year in 2013, I scored around a 1900, and on the PSATs I took in my junior year, I only scored 100 points higher. What did I do to improve?

General Tips:

1. Go Earlier Rather than Later:
This goes for both studying and taking the test itself. I personally started studying for SATs in January 2014. Just building a foundation for your vocabulary in the first few months is crucial for your success in the critical reading section of the test. Memorizing vocab is something that doesn’t happen overnight, as your brain likely won’t remember the meaning of a new work until you go over it a couple of times. Additionally, a huge mistake that many of my friends have made is pushing the test off until May or June of their junior year. Take it as early as possible, as it will give you more time to improve and more opportunities’ to retake the test if needed. Plus, the time frame from the end of junior year to the first semester of senior year is the most hectic time for most students; you don’t want to have to worry about SATs on top of all the AP tests and college applications.
2. Practice Tests are your Best Friends:
The best way to improve your score in especially the critical reading and math sections is to keep taking practice tests!!!This, I can say is the one thing I did that helped me improve my score the most. There are only so many types of questions that the College Board can ask you, and practice tests allow you to get accustomed to the types of questions being asked and give you sense of what to expect. I suggest buying the Official SAT Study Guide and/or signing up for the Official SAT Online Course for practice tests that best simulate the real SATs.
3. Familiarize Yourself with the Most Frequently Appearing Vocabulary Terms
As I mentioned before, having a strong vocab foundation is crucial for your success in the Critical Reading Section, as not only is there a designated vocab section, but many vocab terms are embedded in the passages and questions as well. Although it is impossible to memorize all the terms out there, it is important that you take note of words that have appeared multiple times in practice tests. I suggest you buy a box of SAT vocab cards (the brand I used was TestTakers) and look over a few a day. If you find yourself short on time, make sure to at least search up the 50 most common SAT words. I looked over my version the morning of my SAT and can truly say that it saved me about 50 points. I actually have a copy in PDF, so if anyone would like to see it, feel free to reach out to me in the comments
4. The Grammar Section is FREE POINTS
Grammar is literally a bunch of rules, and unlike critical reading and math, you can guarantee yourself a perfect through learning the rules and doing practice. I used a couple of books, but McGraw Hills Conquering SAT Wiring was the best by far and helped me improve my writing score from 600 to 780.
5. Do not OVERTHINK!
A huge error that I used to make is overthinking the questions in all three sections. Especially with the questions in the beginning of each section, which are the easiest, the answer is the obvious. In Critical Reading, do not get distracted by those long winded complex answers that “sound good”. For me, I would always jot down what I thought the answer to the question was before looking at the choices so as not to be distracted by some of the better sounding but WRONG choices. Remember that the answer always lies within the passage. Regarding grammar, in the first half of the questions at least, usually the choice that sounds best is correct (of course always base your answers on the premise of fundamental grammar rules, but this is usually the case). The same applies to the math section; many of easier questions in the beginning only require one simple computation. Make sure you are aware of what the question is actually asking you as well.

Tips for the blind and visually impaired:
1. MAKE SURE YOUR ACCOMMODATIONS ARE SET AS NEEDED PRIOR TO THE TEST:
College Board can be a bit tricky when it comes to accommodations and they do take a while to get approved. I actually encountered some issue with my accommodations before I took the PSATs my junior year. Because my vision decreased that summer, I now required a VisioBook or a reader to succeed on the test, but my previous accommodations only called for large print, which was no longer sufficient. Unfortunately, I did not address this issue until school started, which did not give College Board enough time to review and approve my new accommodations in time for the PSATs. After a week of arguing with College Board, they agreed to give me a reader and VisioBook for the test on the condition that my score would not be officially counted, making me ineligible for the National Merit scholarship. Accommodations should be done well in advance. I also suggest you put more in your accommodations than you may need at the time, as you never know when your vision may decline and the process of adding accommodations is long and tedious.
2. Make sure you are AWARE of your accommodations
I have a visually impaired friend who assumed that extra time was in his accommodations fort he SAT. However, it was never approved and he took the SATs in half the time that he was practicing in and consequently did not score as well as he would have liked. Make sure you are clear on what your accommodations are. Additionally, it is extra important for visually impaired and blind students to take the SATs as early as possible so if there is a problem in the accommodations, you have enough time to get it fixed and retake the test.
3. Practice with Your Accommodations
Many times, your SAT accommodations will be different than those you have in school. When you take practice tests, simulate the real SAT accommodations so you become comfortable with them even if it is inconvenient or not what you are used to. For me, since my SAT reader was a teacher I had never worked with before, I made sure to schedule some appointments with her during our free periods to do some practice passages with her, so I could adjust to her voice and she could learn to change her reading speed. Additionally through simulating the real test, I realized that using a reader wasn’t ideal for the grammar section, and instead worked on improving my skills and speed with the VisioBook.

I hope you found this helpful and good luck to anyone who hasn’t taken the SATs yet! Remember that although the SATs are important, it doesn’t define you or your success in the future. Just try your best and see where it takes you!