Studying for the SAT & ACT

Some helpful tips . . .

If you have a student in 9^th grade or above who is considering college, here is a recommended sequence for taking the PSAT, SAT & ACT:

1.      Sophomore year:  Take the PSAT in October. This is good practice for the SAT.  To register, contact your nearest high school counseling office in September, about two weeks after public school starts.
2.      Junior year:  Take the PSAT again in October (if you are interested in the chance to become a National Merit Scholar). Also take the SAT and ACT in the spring, or early summer right after junior year.  Note:  The SAT includes a mandatory essay segment. The ACT’s essay segment is optional and usually not necessary unless you plan to attend a more selective college/university that requires it.
3.      Senior year:  Take the SAT and/or ACT again in the fall; probably best to take the one you scored best on the first time if choosing one over the other.

A good chunk of study for either test will be beneficial for both tests. In order to maximize the effectiveness of study time, students should take the SAT and ACT as close together as possible. 

Now, please don’t worry if your student is in high school and hasn’t followed the sequence.  A student can certainly do very well taking either the SAT or the ACT just once!  However, if you’ve got the time to consider it, there are three reasons why the best scenario is to take both the SAT and ACT twice.  First, the SAT and the ACT are different tests and students will sometimes score better on one than the other.  Second, many students improve their scores the second time they take either test.  Third, testing more than once is an indication to some private scholarship foundations and colleges that the student is serious about scoring their best.

Again, wherever your student is, don’t worry.  Just get going on a plan.

Recommended Test Preparation & Study Materials:

1.      Plan for your student to have a month to study and prepare for testing.  During the month, the student should spend about two to three hours studying five days per week.
2.      The best free study resources I’ve found on the web include:  www.number2.com (includes study questions for the SAT & ACT, and a fabulous vocabulary builder); College Board free SAT practice http://sat.collegeboard.org/practice; ACT free practice http://www.actstudent.org/testprep/; and for learning Latin and Greek root words, prefixes, and suffixes to increase vocabulary, go to this site: www.palosverdes.com/jesse/pvphs/www-freecollege-com-vocab.htm.  Note:  Web searches for SAT or ACT “free practice tests” will provide some additional practice through various web sites.  Both College Board and ACT sell books and have on-line study courses, but I have no experience with these. 
3.      Other helpful resources you could borrow from a friend or buy:  Institute for Excellence in Writing’s High School Essay Intensive DVD course (SAT essay preparation). And a fun way to learn Latin and Greek root words is to play the card games “Rummy Roots” and “More Rummy Roots.”
4.      SAT and ACT preparation workshops are available through private homeschool organizations (check soon for summer):  HomeSchoolWorks4u - www.homeschoolworks4u.com/webworks.php - email Wanda Burdick at homeschoolworks@ncn.net to inquire about upcoming classes.  The Potter’s School has an SAT preparation course - www.pottersschool.org/ email admin@pottersschool.org.

This article was written by Lori Hostetler and published in the Clark County Home Educators Newsletter