When I first started prepping for the December 2025 SAT last fall, I had no idea where to start. “Do I buy a SAT prep book, spend thousands on an SAT prep class my friends swear by, or take a bunch of practice tests?” were some of the thoughts running through my head. If you’re reading this right now, you’re probably in the same boat, or trying to improve your SAT score. Well, you’ve come to the right place! As a high school senior who’s been through everything SAT-related and raised my score to the top 3% without spending a penny, I’ve made a guide full of tips, tricks, and strategies I discovered along the way so you don’t have to. So sit back, relax, and let me transport you to the wonderful land of SAT prep.
Tip #1: Understand the types of questions on the SAT
As random and unpredictable as SAT questions may feel, they are actually easy to predict once you become familiar with the types of questions on the test, which show a clear, intended pattern. Understanding the types of questions you will find on the SAT and how to answer them is the key to scoring well. Don’t worry about remembering every graph transformation equation you learned in Algebra 2 for the math section, or memorizing 200 vocabulary words for the reading section. Those who score the highest on the SAT don’t worry about every single possible question they could encounter. They study how to answer each distinct question type and apply this strategy to the test. It saves them time and sanity, and best prepares them for the SAT.
What types of questions will you encounter? Glad you asked. The SAT consists of two sections: The Math Section and the Reading and Writing Section. Each section has four content domains, or question types. Each content domain has very similar questions and requires a certain type of thinking, so it is essential to familiarize yourself with them. You can get an overall rundown of what to expect on the SAT at this College Board website link: What’s on the SAT – SAT Suite | College Board. To start noticing the question patterns and understanding how to answer them, practice with real SAT-type questions. This brings us to tip #2:
Tip #2: Take advantage of the College Board Bluebook practice and the practice bank (IMPORTANT FOR APPLYING TIP #1)
When I prepped for the SAT, I found the College Board Bluebook SAT practice and the SAT practice bank on the College Board Website to be the most valuable resources to aid my studying. The practice bank lets you prepare with the exact types of questions you will encounter on the SAT, while the practice tests let you practice with the feel and look of the actual SAT and provide you with a score.
The first step you should take to prepare for the SAT is to establish a baseline by taking one Full-Length Practice SAT, accessed through the Bluebook app. This takes a little over 2 hours to complete, so set aside time to complete it. As tempting as it is, DON’T ask anyone (including Google and ChatGPT) for help or answers. This will ensure your baseline is accurate. Once you complete the practice test, you can access your score on College Board and see which questions you answered right and wrong. It is very important to review these questions individually and read the explanations shown under the answer choices. While it’s tempting to skip this part and take another practice test to see if you can score higher, understanding why you got the question wrong and the type of answers they are looking for is the fastest, most efficient way to improve your score, so don’t overlook it!
Once you have established your baseline score by taking the full-length practice test, utilize the question bank to work on your weak areas. The question bank has thousands of SAT-type practice questions recycled from past tests and made by the same question creators. The website also lets you filter by question type and difficulty and gives answer explanations. Regular practice with the question bank is one of the most effective ways to improve your score by building your understanding of question types and how to answer them. When practicing with the question bank, remember to take time to read the explanations and understand the reasoning behind them to make the most of your studying.
Every 1-2 weeks, take another full-length practice test on Bluebook to track your progress. There are 7 digital practice SAT’s, so be sure to use them wisely. With regular practice with the question bank, you should see your score improve!
You can access the question bank through this link: https://satsuiteeducatorquestionbank.collegeboard.org/
(Although this is the Educator Question Bank, it is still just as helpful for students practicing on their own.)
There is also a Student Question Bank you can access by looking at your past practice score details, and tailored practice that is found in the same way. Use this link to access your SAT practice scores: https://mysat.collegeboard.org/dashboard
Tip #3: Understand how to use Desmos
For the SAT math section, you are provided with Desmos, a graphing calculator embedded into Bluebook that is so easy to use it almost feels like cheating. Knowing how to use Desmos to find solutions, equations, and everything else you will encounter in the math section is vital to scoring high. So no, don’t worry about memorizing graph transformations or solving multi-variable equations. Desmos will do it for you if you know how to use it. Watch this YouTube video to learn about all the Desmos tricks: A Beginner’s Guide to Desmos on the SAT Math
Tip #4: The process of elimination is your best friend
Meet your new best friend, the elimination tool. Identifying wrong answer choices and ruling them out boosts your odds of answering questions correctly and allows you to work more efficiently.
