Happy Tuesday parents and students, and welcome back to 7EDU's blog!
As the next upcoming SAT examination is this Saturday (11/2), do not forget to sign up for our webinar class OR our live demo this week.
We have Jun speaking about what students will need to prepare the day before the test (online webinar Consulting Jun) and a class by educator Aimee to demonstrate our SAT course structure (online demo class). Head on over to our events page to see the calendar and register!
Let's get back to today's topic - a study plan for the SAT.
If you hope to do well on the SAT examination, you will need to prepare a study plan. Your study plan will be your guide, telling you:
What you need to be doing for the test
When you need to be completing your items for the exam
And how you will need to properly prepare yourself for the SAT
With an effective study plan, you will find that concentrating on specific subject areas and improving weak points will be much simpler since you are better able to handle your time.
Depending on the score goal that you have set for yourself on the SAT college entrance exam, there are different types of study plans that you may need to develop.
Today's blog article will provide students and parents with the core 3 preliminary steps that will answer how to make an SAT study plan (bonus tip at the end).
But if you are not convinced yet that a study plan will be beneficial in your preparation for the SAT test, see the information below on the advantages of a study plan!
The Benefits Of A Study Plan When Preparing For The SAT
The first and foremost positive impact of having a study plan for SAT prep is the ability to balance your calendar without overexerting yourself but also avoiding spending insufficient time preparing for the exam.
If you have a confirmed and registered SAT testing date that you will be taking the college entrance exam, a study agenda will inform you of how many days, for how many hours per week that you may require to adequately study and learn for the test.
Besides the benefit of knowing when and how much you will need to appropriately study, you will also find that a study schedule will help you decide when you will need to begin your studies for a particular topic in order to master the subject.
Want recommendations on books that will help improve your stud habits? Read our previous blog!
Say for example that you are a student that is not the strongest in the reading portion of the SAT and you are unsure of where you need to get started on your studies to be successful. A proper and good study plan will provide a template of when and how to learn all the major English components of reading on the examination.
A study agenda is intended to also ensure high school students the appropriate amount of time to also review the work that they have done and have additional time to improve and strengthen potential weak spots on the SAT.
Alongside helping students with the various advantages mentioned, your study plan should help monitor your improvement. A sound SAT study plan should encourage learning consistency throughout the timespan leading up to your test date, allowing you to identify whether or not your scores are increasing and if you have improved on questions in subjects that you might fall short on.
Supporting your child as they apply to college can be a confusing time. Learn about ways you can help encourage them with our previous article!
The 3 Primary Steps To Your Very Own SAT Study Plan
Before even constructing your very own SAT study agenda, you should be wary of developing one without an appropriate outline!
These five crucial measures will ensure that you have all the necessary information to determine what type of SAT study plan best fits your academic learning.
#1. Establishing A Target Score
The initial step is to define the SAT objective score. The objective score is the mark that a high school student would, in all likelihood, need to gain admission into all the colleges and universities that they are applying to.
This score is calculated from the 25th and 75th percentile SAT results for every individual school you are applying to (with the exception of your safety schools).
Well, what are the 25th and 75th percentile scores? These results constitute the average fifty percent of SAT scores for accepted college applicants. In other words, they represent the mean range of the scores.
A 75th percentile score corresponds to a student that is scoring above seventy-five percent of the admitted university applicants, whereas a 25th percentile score indicates that a student is performing greater than twenty-five percent.
Remember, you will need to keep this information for each university and college that you are applying for (excluding safety schools).
After you have compiled a list of the 25th and 75th percentile scores in the four sections of the SAT, for each school you are applying to, the highest 75th percentile score in each area of the exam will be your SAT target score.
It is your objective score because this is the test score that has the highest probability of gaining you admission into all the colleges you included.
#2. Identify Your Basic Score
After discovering what is your SAT target score, you will now need to find your base score for the exam.
This score is the beginning point of your SAT preparations; it is the results that you would receive on the SAT college entrance exam if you were to take it without any preparation whatsoever.
In order to identify your basic score, the College Board provides students with 10 official SAT practice tests. These are a great source of information and is where you will be able to determine your foundational score. They are the best option in terms of similarity to the SAT given that they were created by SAT test creators under the College Board.
After completion of the official practice test, compute your basic score by combining the scores you receive on each section.
What are the essential skills that you will need beyond high school and college? Read about the future skills that you will need to develop as a high school student in order to be successful!
#3. Arrange A Practice Schedule
Now that you have your SAT target score along with your baseline score, the third step is to organize practice time for the exam!
"Students who spent 20 hours on official SAT Practice saw an average gain of 115 points from the PSAT/NMSQT to the SAT." - The College Board, 6 Steps To Improve Your Score
Typically, the more time that a student devotes to their studying, the greater the marks will be expected to increase.
Cool fact: six hours of preparational studying on the Official SAT practice is associated with an average increase of 90 points.
Here is a rough breakdown of SAT point improvements per the number of hours studied from industry standards:
0-30 SAT point improvement: 10 hours
30-70 point improvement: 20 hours
70-130 point improvement: 40 hours
130-200 point improvement: 80 hours
200-330 point improvement: 150+ hours
Take your SAT target score and subtract that with your baseline score to calculate the number of hours you will need to distribute into your study plan!
BONUS STEP #4. Be Aware Of Your Study Preferences
While you have the estimates of how many hours you may need to begin your SAT study plan, consider your study preferences and habits!
Depending on your learning style, you may require fewer or more hours to see the score improvement that you desire.
Say for instance that you demand additional time to learn from the questions that you have got wrong, you may need more study time to determine and understand the mistakes that you made.
Lacking motivation as a student? Take a look at these four books 7EDU recommends to get your inspiration!
Or maybe you are a student who typically runs out of time on an exam. As you gradually practice more and more, the more comfortable and better-equipped you will become at finishing the test in time. You may require supplementary hours of studying before you feel less stressed with the material and time constraints.
