When should you take the SAT/ACT?

Each high school student will have to eventually sign up for either the SAT or the ACT. Determining when to take the test is tough though. Should students start out early to get the test out of the way? Should students wait until junior or senior year to make sure they’re ready? There are several factors that you should use before signing up online for one of these tests.

First of all, students need to gauge when they’ve covered all of the test material in their high school courses. We never recommend signing up for the SAT/ACT before finishing out Algebra I & II and Geometry. These two subjects are the most important for securing a strong mathematics score. However, in many competitive high schools, students are taking these tests earlier in high school. If you’re finishing Algebra II during your freshman year of high school, then moving on to more complex maths, it does NOT make sense to wait two years before considering the SAT/ACT. The more time between Algebra II and the test date, the higher the likelihood that you will forget some important concepts and will perform poorly. On the same note, if you’re a student that struggles with math, and aren’t planning to finish up these courses till junior year, you should wait and take the test when this material is fresh.

The other sections of these tests are far less connected to typical high school curriculum (most high schools require language arts or english courses all 4 years), so it’s a bit less imperative to match them up with the test.

There are a few other important things to consider when looking at specific test dates within the year. Students should find a test center that they’re comfortable with, preferably one that they’ve worked in before. We’ve seen students become very distracted when testing in an unfamiliar environment, and have poor results due to this. Students should also gauge how busy their schedules will be during the test period, and should aim for times when their schedules are a bit more flexible so they can dedicate more time to studying.

Taking the SAT/ACT earlier in high school opens up time for other things that will increase college competitiveness such as SAT subject tests, additional extracurriculars, volunteer work, and often correlates to more competitive scholarships. However, there’s no point in working hard to take the test early if you’re not ready. Connect with us for a full-length diagnostic test, in which we’ll determine where you stand in terms of test prep, so you can hone in on weaknesses to dramatically improve your scores quickly.

-Mark Wilson, Director of Curriculum Development and Design