SAT Preparation

The SAT, formerly known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test, is an exam that is given to fulfil the standardised testing requirements of universities. It aims to test how prepared a student is to attend college, and consists of two sections: Evidence Based Reading and Writing, and Math. It is designed so as to not incorporate any subject specific knowledge, since it is a generalised assessment for the myriad courses offered in university.

I did reasonably well on my first attempt, and managed to improve my score by 50 points after another. Since multiple people inquired about how I had prepared for this examination, I decided to write a blog about various preparatory resources that one can use for the same.

1) Khan Academy

The Khan Academy Official SAT Practice

This is hands down the best practice resource available for the SAT. Not only does it have the 8 official practice papers released by the College Board, but it also boasts of multiple practice sections, which help you solve specific types of questions on the test. Moreover, you can set up a customised practice schedule, to remind you to practice regularly and focus on areas where you frequently make errors. This being the Official SAT Practice, you need not even worry about the material being of differing difficulty from that which you will encounter on the date of the actual examination. You can even link your College Board account to Khan Academy, so that they can customise practice recommendations for you based on questions you answered incorrectly on your last SAT exam, to help you be better prepared for your next attempt. And all this while being free!

The only possible shortcoming of using Khan Academy to prepare for the SAT is the lack of practice on paper, which happens to be the only way to give the SAT till date. This is an actual problem which people giving the exam encounter (as even I did), as one tends to approach the test differently on the screen and on paper. However, this can be partially overcome by using the option of printing the practice paper and solution sets to try to simulate the actual SAT.
Overall, Khan Academy is sufficient practice for anyone giving the SAT.

You can practice on: Khan Academy Official SAT Practice

2) College Board: The official SAT study guide

 College Board: The Official SAT Guide

This book contains 4 of the official papers released by the College Board, and many useful tips and strategies for the test. Since it is by the makers of the test, one can depend on the verisimilitude of the material therein to that of the SAT. The essay is discussed, and multiple examples have been given to better explain the scoring rubrics for the same. 4 of the freely available official SAT papers have also been included in this book. Many students find this book disappointing as all of the information in this book is available free of cost elsewhere, even on the College Board website. I would recommend printing the information from the website instead of purchasing the book.

Link to Purchase: College Board: The Official SAT Study Guide

3) McGraw-Hill Education 6 SAT Practice Tests (2016 Edition)

 McGraw Hill Education SAT Practice Tests

This is a surprisingly good practice resource, and the types of questions asked are similar to the ones asked on the actual SAT. I didn't find any errors in this book, which is rare for any practice material that is not endorsed by the College Board, but it is ineluctable that a couple will be found in the course of solving the papers and checking one's answers. The answer explanations in this book are also comprehensible and articulate. However, the difficulty of some of the practice papers in this book exceeds that of the SAT, so it should only be used as an additional practice resource after one has exhausted all the official practice papers.

This also comes with an app which can be used to set up a customised practice schedule, which I did not use, so I cannot comment on its efficacy.

Link to Purchase: McGraw Hill Education 6 SAT Practice Tests

4) Princeton Review: 10 Practice Tests for the SAT (2019 Edition)

The Princeton Review 10 Practice Tests

This is another set of practice tests that one can use after completing the official bunch of papers. It is a quality resource and worth the money, as the practice papers are of a comparable difficulty to that of the Official SAT. The format of the practice papers is also similar to that of the actual test.
However, it lags behind McGraw Hill because of some mistakes that frequent its pages. Additionally, some Math sections seem much easier than the actual ones, while some graphs in the Reading section are pretty difficult to interpret, which is not how I felt they should have been. Furthermore, the answer explanations are ambiguous more often than not, and leave you scratching your head and wondering where exactly you went wrong.

Link to Purchase: Princeton Review 10 Practice Tests

5) Kaplan's 8 Practice Tests for the SAT (2018)

Kaplan 8 Practice Tests for the SAT

This, along with Princeton Review, is among the most popular brands for test preparation. In my opinion, it does not live up to the lofty standards that usually accompany such popularity. The publishers have been extremely economical with paper, as one is not given the luxury of a sigh of relief at the completion of a passage: No sooner has one finished answering it, then the next one starts. Despite the tests being of comparable difficulty to the actual SAT, some of the questions are dissimilar to ones that you would find on the actual test. While it is not a bad book, it is not among the first books I would recommend to anyone.

Link to Purchase: Kaplan 6 Practice Tests SAT

6) Princeton Review: Cracking the SAT Premium (2019 Edition)

The Princeton Review Cracking the SAT Premium

The papers in this book are similar to the ones in the aforementioned 'Princeton Review 10 Practice Tests for the SAT'. This also includes general information on preparing for the SAT, such as tips, strategies and whatnots. However, the title is misleading, as the book contains only 4 papers. The 'Premium online content' consists of the rest of the papers, some short videos and other paraphernalia, which can be accessed after entering the book code. I cannot comment on the quality of the online videos and extra practice material, as I have not used them. Not a bad resource, but if you wanted practice videos to improve your scores, you need not look any further than Khan Academy.

Link to Purchase: Princeton Review SAT Premium

7) Kallis' 6 Practice Tests (2015)

Kallis' SAT Pattern Strategy

This includes 6 practice tests in addition to numerous practice questions. However, many of the questions in this book are a lot more straightforward and easy than those on the SAT. Therefore, it is ironic that the answer explanations are more detailed and elaborate than most other books. The types of questions asked are also not accurately representative of those on the SAT. While this can certainly be used to gain some basic understanding of the some of the types of questions on the SAT, just practicing from this book may result in you underestimating the difficulty of the SAT. Hence, one should think twice before using this book as a practice resource.

Link to purchase: Kallis SAT Pattern Strategy



These are just my opinions about these practice materials, and may be quite different from yours. Let me know what you think of this post in the comments.

Thanks for reading!