How Long Does It Take to Study for the SAT or ACT?
I’ve gotten this question a LOT recently from parents who are going through the testing and college process with their first high schooler. It usually shows up as a “Q” in the “Q&A” of a presentation I’m giving for a high school, as if there was a simple one-size-fits-all answer I could give them. (This actually happened last week!)
Unfortunately, as I have to tell the people who ask it, this question is complex, and as personal as pretty much everything else is in the college admission testing process! But I still wanted to give you a few guidelines to help you navigate how much time to carve out in your SAT or ACT testing timeline to actually STUDY for the SAT or ACT.
Consider these questions to start figuring out how long it will take you to study for the SAT or ACT:
What score am I starting from?
How much do I need to improve to get to my Target Score? And
Am I aiming for perfection (or very close to it)?
Your starting SAT or ACT score matters!
The reason is simple: your starting score generally relates to how much foundational knowledge and skills you currently have to work with. As in, do you understand how numbers and grammar work, and do you understand what you read in a passage or a two-way table or chart?
After you learn how to set up a math problem about rates to solve, can you then solve the equation to get to your answer, or do I first need to teach you HOW to solve a two-step equation? And furthermore, before teaching you HOW to solve a 2-step equation, do I need to backtrack and teach you how to add and subtract fractions in the first place and then do order of operations to THEN solve said equation?
Do you basically understand what you read and merely need help with passage strategy and question strategy…or do we first need to get you on a “reading diet” so you can comprehend the basics of a passage within the time limit?
If you’re learning grammar rules, and I’m teaching you about how to combine two complete clauses, is that enough? Or do I need to backtrack to explain what a “clause” is in the first place…and perhaps backtrack further to explain what a “subject” and a “verb” are, too?
In other words, if I’m teaching you to build a house, can I give you directions about “sawing off a 2x4 wooden beam and hammering it to another”? Or do I first need to teach you how to hold a saw and what a nail and hammer even are?
If you need to learn the very very basics first, that will take considerably more time to prep before we can even BEGIN to learn the actual concepts and strategies to improve your score! Thus, your starting score could easily add a few months to your prep time.
For instance, if you’re starting below an ACT composite score of 22 or an SAT score of 1100, you probably need to factor in about 3 months MORE prep time to learn the basics…and then continue prepping to actually learn the new concepts.
How much do you need to improve your SAT or ACT score?
Simply put, the more you want to improve, the more time it’ll take you to prep to get there!
For instance, if you want to increase 3 ACT composite points or 100 SAT points, that’ll typically take less time than it would to improve 6 ACT composite points or 200 SAT points.
Depending on your starting point, the first (3 ACT composite points / 100 SAT points) could be a 1-4 month affair, while the latter (6 composite ACT points / 200 SAT points) could be more like 3-6 months.
If you need to improve MORE than 6 ACT composite points / 200 SAT points, you’re generally looking at 6+ months of test prep. Like, let’s start right after Sophomore year ends and prep through til February/March as our first test date.
Aiming for a perfect SAT / ACT score?
As you near the top of the curves on both the ACT and the SAT, a funny thing happens: on one hand, each question starts to be worth more points. On the other hand, it does get harder and harder to get every SINGLE question correct, because there are so many miscellaneous topics one has to know cold that might not get tested on each test. You actually have to learn considerably more nuanced concepts and strategies, just to make sure you’re well versed in them all, so you can be prepared no matter what’s asked.
For example, in my experience (which is pretty extensive!), it’s easier to get a student from 1380 to 1520 on the SAT than it is to get a student from 1460 to 1600. Both are 140-point improvements. Both are starting at a pretty high level, and thus, we know both these students know their foundations. But the second scenario wants PERFECTION, while the first scenario just wants to improve 140 points and break 1500.
The first student needs to learn the concepts and strategies that consume the MOST number of points she missed on the test. Ideally, she’d learn as many concepts as possible, leaving room for errors. If she’s not the type of student to make errors on things she knows, then she could skip a few tricky miscellaneous topics that only show up on a test every once in a while. I’ve actually helped one student do this exact jump—1380 to 1520—with three intense WEEKS of private tutoring with me. And that’s what she needed to get an early acceptance to the University of Chicago this year.
However, a student starting at 1460 and aiming for a perfect 1600 would have to learn every single possible topic that MAY be asked, because the only way to guarantee you get a perfect score is to get every question correct.
Even if you’re aiming for a 1550+ on the SAT or a 35+ on the ACT, that part of the scoring chart isn’t consistent, and you may have to take the test a few times—not just to get your top performance, but also to get a test that has a normal (more forgiving) curve at the top. You may miss 2 questions in the ACT science and get a perfect 36 on one test…and get a 32 on a test with a more punitive curve. Basically, you can’t control how the scoring guide is going to pan out…the only thing you can do is not leave any points on the table by making mistakes.
But, of course, these are generalizations.
These other important factors impact how long your SAT or ACT prep will take.
There are SO many factors to consider, not just your starting score, your desired improvement, and how close to perfect you’re aiming for. You also have to consider these:
Which type or types of questions did you miss on the SAT or ACT? Are they “improvable”?
What’s your junior year schedule like? Do you have a stretch of time when you can focus on test prep, or do you need to do a little bit over a longer period?
What are you currently learning in your math and English classes? Would starting test prep later allow you to learn more in school, so you don’t need to spend quite as long on test prep?
How long it takes you to study for the SAT or ACT is about what YOU need to nail your target score.
All these very personal factors and MORE are exactly the type of things I take into account when I make individual testing timelines for my students. I’ve given you quite a bit to work with. If you find you need more help, book an Ace the Test: Game Plan™, and I’ll streamline this process FOR you.
