If you’re heading into your junior year of high school, you may be wondering how to study for the SAT. A digital examination of high schoolers’ key ELA and math skills used by colleges to evaluate undergraduate applicants, scoring well on the Digital SAT can be difficult and competitive.
So, what’s the optimal way to study for the SAT? If you spread your practice over time and spend more time on the topics you’re less adept in, you’ll build the knowledge you need to get a good score. Read on to see how to create an easy and effective SAT study plan!
When to Take the Digital SAT
The first factor you’ll use to decide how to study for the SAT is determining when you’ll take it.
Most students take the exam in the spring of their junior year, mainly because that’s when schools who provide Digital SAT testing to students hold SAT school day. While it used to fall on one specific school day for students across the country, schools can now choose to administer within a two-month period of time: in spring 2026, this falls from March 2nd to April 30th.
As for all SAT test dates, the exam is administered once a month in August through December, March, May, and June. This means if you take the Digital SAT for the first time on SAT School Day in March, you have many opportunities to retake the exam over the summer and the first semester of your senior year before college application deadlines (typically in December).
Since the Digital SAT is administered several times across the year and colleges will take your highest score (some even superscore, considering only the highest of your section scores), it’s ideal to retake the exam until you’re satisfied with your score.
When To Start SAT Prep
The earlier you start to prepare for a test, the higher your score will be—but when is the right time to start SAT prep?
Considering that the SAT math portion tests students on many Algebra II concepts, starting in the summer before your junior year could be too early. You could begin around November or December, but the hectic nature of the holidays and end-of-semester school obligations could make it a difficult time to introduce test prep into your routine.
Every student will require a different amount of studying, but 3-6 months of SAT prep gives you plenty of time to gradually learn and absorb those ELA & Math concepts. This means October is a great time to start studying. It’s after the summer and start of school, it’s before the holiday season, and it gives you plenty of time to do a little practice every week.
If you have less time in the fall semester available for studying, you can definitely make significant progress in terms of SAT preparedness in 2-3 months. In that case, though, be sure to budget more time per week to studying.
How to Study for the SAT: A Digital SAT Timeline
An optimal SAT study plan includes both practice tests and retesting over time. Take several Digital SAT practice tests before your first real test, then retake the exam as needed until you reach (or get close to) your desired score. Whether it’s a practice test or the real thing, each iteration of the SAT exam you undergo will make you a better tester while serving as a benchmark to show you what topics to study.
However, the SAT is $60 per test—unless you qualify for a fee waiver, this cost can become quite high for many families. That’s why it’s so important to start studying well before the first time you take the test, which will improve your score and potentially minimize the amount of retests you will need.
Let’s say you’re taking the SAT for the first time on SAT School Day in March (although, this applies to anyone taking it for the first time in the spring of their junior year). Here’s what an SAT study timeline across your junior and senior years can look like.
October: Take a Diagnostic Test
As we mentioned above, October of your junior year is a great time to start SAT prep. It gives you 5 months to study before a March SAT test day—although you can start preparing in the spring semester, starting as early as possible will help you get a better score in fewer retakes.
At the very beginning of your test prep, take a preliminary digital SAT practice test to understand your baseline score and see where your strengths and weaknesses lie. Knowing your current capabilities will inform your practice going forward and help you see how you progress throughout the test prep journey.
In October, many schools administer the PSAT/NMSQT—an official “Pre-SAT” from College Board. If your school administers it, try your best on the PSAT—this will help you get an accurate snapshot of your current SAT skills. If your school doesn’t administer the PSAT, take a Digital SAT practice test on your own in an environment similar to the real exam.
After taking a diagnostic test, start becoming familiar with the test’s format and content. Understanding what is tested on the SAT, especially topics that were difficult or answered incorrectly, can put you in a better position to start your SAT studying journey.
How Late Can I Start My SAT Practice?
Let’s say you’re already in the spring semester of 11th grade without practicing one bit for the SAT. Is one month of SAT prep enough? How about two months, or two weeks?
If test day is coming up and you put off SAT test prep, don’t feel like you can’t make significant progress by studying. If you take a practice test and dedicate a handful of hours a week to SAT practice, you can still make sizable improvements and score well on your first real SAT. Remember—get that first test in during the spring so you can retest if you need to.
November–February: Practice, Practice, Practice!
Once you have your baseline score and know how much time you have before the exam, it’s time to study! The best way to ensure that you’re learning consistently and progressing towards your goal is developing a test prep routine. Set intermittent goals for your progress and create a realistic schedule that you’ll stick to.
Every student has a different learning pace and attention span, so there’s no SAT prep schedule that will work for everyone. Still, we recommend a solid pace of around 2-3 hours of test prep a week: 1 hour of learning and 1-2 hours of practice material.
Learning SAT Content
Use whatever means you like to digest material to concepts tested on the SAT.
As you learn new topics (using prep books, digital lessons, private tutors, video lessons, or multiple methods of learning), cycle through the topics tested on the SAT Math and the SAT Reading & Writing:
The learning phase of your study sessions will teach you what you don’t know and refresh your existing knowledge. There are many individual you to study for the SAT, so optimize your learning with a focused study structure. A weekly study plan you can try out is:
- 30 minutes reading/watching lessons about any material on the SAT. (Preferably in your areas of weakness—use your SAT results to identify them.)
- 15 minutes reviewing tested concepts in math. (Make your way through the questions you got incorrect, learning what you did wrong and how to answer correctly.)
- 15 minutes reviewing tested concepts in ELA.
- 10 minutes reviewing test-taking strategies. (Until you’ve developed a strong grasp of them.)
As you learn, make sure you are listening and reading actively. Stay engaged with what you’re hearing or reading by taking notes, highlighting important information, and talking through ideas aloud. If you want a deeper understanding of a topic, discuss your thoughts with a study buddy or tutor, look it up to learn more about it, or use classwork on related topics to draw connections.
How to Practice SAT Content
After you’ve done some learning, practice what you’ve learned by answering SAT questions. Take a digital SAT practice test and work through it section-by-section. This will help you become familiar with the way questions are presented and improve your test-taking comfort while quizzing you on what you’ve been learning. A student’s weekly SAT practice could include:
- 20-35 minutes working through the Reading & Writing section from a practice test
- 20-35 minutes working through the Math section from a practice test
- 25-30 minutes of supplemental practice based on the concepts you’ve studied that week.
- Occasional practice test sessions, simulating the format and setting of the real test as closely as possible. (Every 1-2 months, and preferably with an adaptive SAT practice test.)
How to Study for the SAT Over the Course of a Week
Considering all of the SAT practice pointers above, let’s look at a cumulative week of learning and practice for a student who wants to spend ~2.5 hours across four days a week on SAT prep:
- Day 1: 30 minutes reading/watching lessons on math concepts they struggle with.
- Day 2: 20 minutes working through an SAT Math practice test + 10 minutes on a practice question or two about the topics they studied day 1.
- Day 3: 15 minutes learning about an ELA topic they struggle with + 20 minutes working through an SAT Reading & Writing test.
- Day 4: 10 minutes reviewing test-taking strategies + 20 minutes working through the SAT Math test.
The next week, that student could shift more of their time to the Reading & Writing test, then the week after they can take a practice test and begin reviewing their answers. Every student has different needs, so your practice should be tailored to your abilities.
March: First Test Attempt
In March, many schools participate in SAT School Day, where the school administers the official Digital SAT test for students to take for free. If your school does not provide a free SAT test day, March is still a great time to sign up to take it for the first time. You’ll have ¾ of a full year’s worth of Algebra 2 knowledge and it’s early enough in the testing season to allow plenty of time for retakes.
In the week before your first real SAT, try to really hammer in those topics you’ve improved over the last few months and review test-taking tips. If you experience anxiety when you take standardized tests, it’s also a good time to review tips to manage test-taking anxiety. The night before, take a break from studying and get plenty of rest.
April–July: More Practice!
Once you have your SAT test results back (usually 2 weeks after the test), evaluate where you stand in comparison to your diagnostic test back at the start of the school year. Maybe you still have the same areas of weakness but improved from last time, or your stats are completely different.
Generally, don’t spend too much time on the specific topics you’re already confident in this time around. Delegate the time before your upcoming retests wisely by focusing most of your SAT studying on topics you’ve struggled in.
Model your practice in late spring and early summer ahead around your ELA/math weaknesses. Let’s say you did well in Algebra and Geometry but your Advanced Math could use some work. On the reading side, your grammar knowledge was spot-on, but you missed the mark on Standard English Conventions questions. You’ll still be able to review all tested concepts when you take practice tests, which will help you solidify your strengths and identify any unforeseen weaknesses.
August–October: Retest & Practice As Needed
The beginning of fall in your senior year is a good time for an official SAT retake. You’ll have had the whole summer to improve from your March performance, and there’s still time later in the semester for one last retake if you really need it.
Remember to study between retakes and practice tests by using your most recent results to guide you, review and practice test-taking strategies, and get a full night’s rest before each test day to approach the test with your best self.
Study Tools for the SAT: Lessons, Questions, and Practice Tests
If you were wondering how to study for the SAT, we hope that we’ve answered your questions! Effective test prep is results-driven—practice tests help you get comfortable with an exam and provide scores you can use to study for a retake.
If you’re looking for an abundance of affordable resources to help you on your SAT journey, Piqosity is here to help. Along with our full-length, online ELA and Math courses for grades 5-11, we offer full SAT, ACT, and ISEE test prep courses, each of which includes 12 practice exams, dozens of concept lessons, personalized practice software, and more.
In addition to our new digital SAT course, we’re also offering two free digital PSATs! These DPSAT practice tests are designed to help you prepare ahead of time for the October exam’s format, available for anyone who signs up for a Piqosity community account.
Our free community account allows you to try out all of Piqosity’s features—no credit card required! When you’re ready to upgrade, Piqosity’s year-long accounts start at only $89.
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