My blog is full of primers on standardized testing and college application fundamentals. And today, we’re going to stitch them all together into a beautiful tapestry! Ok, maybe “beautiful tapestry” is an overly poetic way of putting it (forgive me; the college process enthusiast in me does tend to get excited about this stuff!). But at the very least I plan to show you today that these basics come together and become something that’s way beyond basic: a coherent, calm strategy for your test prep.
Developing an intentional, informed big-picture test prep plan is especially important for those of you early in your college admissions journey—the rising Juniors among you, who just wrapped up your Sophomore year.
Before you start assembling the plan that gets you a YES from your dream school, though, you need to assemble five core facts. In this post, I’m going to lay out the essentials you need to determine about a given school’s test prep admissions requirements...which is to say, when you’re figuring out what your test prep plan is in the first place! Without all the information about what the schools on your college list require, it’s nearly impossible to figure out what you should prep, how long you’ll need, and the most time-efficient way to go about it.
So, without further ado, here is…
How to Create Your SAT or ACT Study Plan
Remember: you’ll need to gather these five factoids for each individual college on your list! When locating this data, you might have to roll up your sleeves and do a significant amount of internet research, but putting in the time is well worth it. My favorite resources are CollegeBoard.org, the school’s own website, and books like The Fiske Guide To Colleges.
Decide if you’re taking the ACT, SAT, or Digital SAT
That’s right: the first piece of info in your arsenal is actually a decision on your part, not a data point to gather about the schools on your list. After all, it’s tough to develop a plan for a test you’re not certain you’ll be taking! Especially with the massive changes to the testing landscape that the incoming Digital SAT is bringing about, you want to get straight on this question sooner rather than later. Happily, I’ve developed a comprehensive—but quick—quiz to help you figure out whether the SAT, Digital SAT, or ACT will make YOU shine the brightest.
That being said, even after you complete that quiz and take some diagnostic SATs and ACTs, you might still be undecided as to whether the SAT, Digital SAT, or ACT offers you your best shot at your college list. That’s ok! In that case, what will make the final call for you is your target schools’ SAT/ACT requirements, median scores, etc. The next sections of this post will teach you exactly what to look for in these regards.
Median 50% SAT and ACT Scores
For each school on your list, you will need to find some sort of data about the middle range of SAT and/or ACT scores from their most recent freshman class. Usually, this is given as an interquartile range, from the 25th percentile score up to the 75th percentile score. In other words, this range will show you the scores that a full on HALF the incoming Freshman class got at that school. A quarter of the freshmen will have scored ABOVE that range, while another quarter will have scored BELOW it.
The reason this is so important is because you want to make sure that—regardless of which test you decide to take (SAT or ACT)—your score falls within that range...or, ideally, even above it!
Once you have this data on all your colleges, you can then figure out your target SAT or ACT score.
The ACT Writing on College Applications
The SAT no longer has an essay component, but the ACT still offers an optional one (which it calls the “Writing” test). No U.S. colleges require the ACT essay any more (as of today’s writing); however, a small handful do still recommend it. You’ll therefore want to check the admissions websites for each of your colleges to find out what they encourage in terms of the ACT Writing.
You may well end up facing a tricky decision: is it worth practicing the optional essay if just one or two of your target schools encourage (i.e. don’t even require!) it?! This can be a gray area, so my advice is to treat this info as just one data point among many in forming your study plan and admissions strategy.
Superscore Policy
Knowing how a college handles Superscoring is vital to your test prep plan! Did their incoming freshman class have to snag their scores of 33-35 ALL in a single sitting of the ACT, or did those high scores result from multiple test sittings, stitched together to show them off better? If the college doesn’t Superscore, you may have to plan more time for extra attempts at the SAT or ACT to get your target score in a single sitting.
It’s also important to understand whether the colleges on your list Superscore for BOTH the SAT and ACT, or if they Superscore for one but not the other. Much like schools’ median score data, this could also be a factor in choosing between the tests if your diagnostic scores were too close to call.
Score Choice Policy
It’s also vital to understand each college’s stance on Score Choice. If a school allows you to only send the scores that show you off, you should feel comfortable sitting for as many test dates as you need to get the target score you require. Even if you’re not completely ready, you could still sit for the test and perhaps be surprised by a great section score!
If, however, a college demands that you must send ALL test scores to them, you might wait to take the SAT or the ACT until you’re 100% ready.
With these five pieces of information, you can make basic knowledge into not-so-basic strategy.
So there you have it! Everything you need to research to create your own winning test-prep strategy and know EXACTLY what you need to accomplish Junior and Senior years! I get that this can still be an intimidating prospect. But that’s exactly why my private clients appreciate the decade of expertise that I bring to synthesizing the various pieces of information here (not just about colleges, but about tests and test schedules and YOUR individual needs and strengths) into a winning game plan. Set up your Ace the Test: Game Plan, and I’ll get YOU set up, too!
Or, if you’re more of a self-studier, check out my many digital classes and guides to the SAT and ACT. From Science to Reading, PDFs to video courses, I’ve got cutting-edge, no-nonsense resources to get you to that target score.
