Planning Ahead
Are you a procrastinator? Leaving your test preparation till that last minute is not a good idea. Cramming is okay if you have to remember a limited amount of material for a day or so. Because cramming does not lend itself to a deeper encoding of the material you are studying, the information rapidly decays in memory. Also, cramming generally produces a mechanical, superficial understanding of the information you studied. Best of luck applying this information when faced with the more challenging questions on test day.

Are you a slacker? It's never too late to start paying attention and putting some effort into your classes. What you learn in class will also help you on the test. In addition, a good test score only goes so far. Colleges are looking for well rounded individuals who take their studies seriously. They'll favor applicants who have embraced academic challenges and appear capable of handling independence responsibly.

Determining Your Needs
Before you decide to invest lots of time, effort, and money into preparing for the SAT, determine if it's necessary. To assess your needs, take two full length practice tests. You need to take more than one because it's important to become comfortable with the test format and time constraints. The College Board publication, 10 Real SATs, and many of the popular prep books contain full length exams. Arrange for a time and place where you will not be interrupted and take the tests under the same conditions you will face on the actual test day. If you've never taken a practice test before, throw out scores for the first test. Otherwise, average the two. Your scores across tests should be reasonably consistent.

If scores are low, you now know you have work to do. The results should also give you an idea of your strengths, weaknesses, and where to focus your energies. If your scores are high, then you need to consider whether spending a lot of time and money trying to improve an already high score is the best use of your resources, particularly if your practice scores are above what the school of your choice requires. It may be wiser to just brush up a bit for the test and use the extra time to obtain work experience, take an advanced course, perform community service, improve your GPA, and attend to other areas that impact your chances of admission.

Prep Courses
Over the past ten years, SAT prep courses have become quite popular. The increased pressure students are feeling regarding the SAT compels many to enroll in such courses. However, before you decide to enroll, ask yourself if you truly need to do so. The main benefits such courses offer are the structure and support they provide. These benefits can be considerable for some students.

However, if you are motivated, a self-starter, and work well independently, you're better off designing and implementing your own test prep program. Private prep courses entail lots of down time. There's the commute to and from as well as the fact that instruction is typically geared toward the class as a whole, not to your individual needs. That time is better spent focusing on the weaknesses identified by the practice tests you took. Prep courses are also expensive, some over $500. The cost of materials for your personal prep program should total no more than a tenth of that.

See More Test Preparation Tips
See Handling Test Anxiety