Test Day & Leading Up

You've put in the work. You've learned the strategies and skills needed to excel on the SAT. But now, it all needs to come together on test day. Even for smart, prepared students, there are numerous factors that can throw of their performance on when it comes time to actually take the test. Let's put you in the best position we can to avoid those pitfalls.

We've discussed the importance of pacing. This is a skill that needs to continue to be practiced to stay sharp. To make sure you have a good feel for what the pacing of an actual test feels like, I recommend you do a full practice test the weekend before you take the test. Do your best to simulate real-life testing conditions: do it in the morning, maybe check out a room at your local library, and take it seriously as if it's the real thing. The closer you can simulate a real test, the more comfortable you'll be on test day because you just did it.

Hopefully you've put in a solid body of work at this point preparing for the SAT. The couple of days leading up to the test is not the time to try to cram in a million new practice problems. If you want to do more work to prepare, the best thing you can do is review all the problems you have missed in recent practice tests/problems, making sure you now have a good understanding of what you did wrong and how to get the right answer. In the practice you've done, you've probably encountered problems very similar to almost anything you will encounter on the approaching test, so it's best to focus on the mistakes you've made and ensuring you don't repeat them.

Because you've already put in the work needed to do well, the best thing you can do is to make sure you are alert and focused on test day. Getting a good night's sleep not just the night before, but for a couple of nights in a row is crucial to making sure you are at full mental capacity on test day.

You don't want any curveballs to deal with on test day, which can throw off your focus and mentality, so make sure you are prepared with everything you will/might need. Make sure your device is fully charged. Make sure you bring the charger, and maybe even an extension cord to be safe. Make sure you know your College Board username and password, or maybe even bring it written down to be safe. Make sure to bring pencils and/or pens for your scratch work. See College Board's recommendations here.