SAT/ACT Test Prep Tips for the Summer

Hello everyone! In this post I go over a couple of tips to help you study/prepare for the SAT/ACT over the summer. Read on to learn more!

Many juniors aim to take the SAT/ACT either in the middle of summer, or later on in the beginning of their senior year. It’s the most common time for 11th grade students to attempt either test. That being said, most students also prepare for the test during their summer holidays. Since students don’t have the workload that comes as a result of attending school, they may find that they have more time to study for these standardized tests over the summer.

Since you may have other extracurricular activities to commit to over the summer, it’s important to stay on track when it comes to studying for the SAT/ACT. Procrastination is one of the biggest factors that can lead to a lack of preparation, especially during the summer. That’s why I’ll be providing you guys with a couple of tips to help you stay on track when it comes to studying for standardized tests over the summer.

Make a schedule – This is a tip that pops up multiple times in my blog posts, but I cannot stress how important it is! A schedule is such a convenient way to map out your upcoming day or week, and ensure you stay on track. If you many different commitments over the summer, this is a good way to make sure you can fit in SAT/ACT prep along the way.

Set goals – You have to set goals to achieve throughout the various months of summer. If you want to take multiple practice tests as a means of practice, then you should set a goal like: I will have taken 5 full-length practice tests by July 31st. Goals should be attainable and realistic, so don’t set goals that seem extremely difficult to achieve. Depending on the time period until your test, and your levels of preparation so far, you should be able to make custom, achievable goals.

Set rewards – You should treat yourself if you achieve your goals! You don’t need to spend every waking minute studying for these tests. If you believe that you’ve achieved much throughout the past week, then take a day off and treat yourself to a movie night or day at the beach.

Take Breaks – Studying for stretches of 2-3 hours isn’t going to be much effective. Staring at a textbook for 2 hours, and not absorbing any information isn’t useful, and it’s a huge waste of time. You must be concentrated when you study, and study in bouts of time that are effective. Personally, I like to study for 20 minutes, and then take a quick 10 minute break. Depending on your way of learning, you should adapt to your level of concentration and take breaks as necessary.

Practice – Another important tip – practice! Aim to take as many practice tests as you can, and study between all of them. You can track your progress by taking practice tests, and adapt your studying based on where you’re lacking. If you don’t wish to take a full test, you can attempt practice questions. Ensure you do some form of practice with actual test questions, since you’ll become comfortable with the format of questions on the test.

I hope you all found this post useful! Please feel free to contact me with any questions!

Until next time, bye!