Three Times Is the Charm When Taking the SAT

November 6th, 2009

If you are a college-bound student, the big question on your mind isn’t “Will you take the SAT?” but, “How many times you will take the SAT?”

I’ll make this easy. The answer is three. Three times is the charm for most things, but when it comes down to a big, bad standardized test like the SAT, it actually makes a lot of sense to cap yourself at three tries. Here’s why:

Take it once. No matter how many hours you put into studying for the SAT, nothing can quite prepare you for the actual day of the test. From the sneezing and sniffling student sitting behind you to the grunts of the football team as they practice right outside your window (that one happened to me), be prepared for a host of distractions. In fact, the only thing you can really be certain of the day of the test is that you will need a #2 pencil. In short—cut yourself a break. The SAT is a loooong test, and you don’t realize just how long it is until you sit down to take it.

Consider the first time you take the SAT to be a dress rehearsal for your second SAT. Give it your very best shot, but understand that you will have another opportunity to eat a better breakfast, get a better night’s sleep, and yes, get a better handle on all those vocab words.

Take it twice. Unless you are one of those lucky few who score 800s across the board on your first try, you’ll take the SAT again. (And if you do get a  perfect score, please don’t be tempted to go for a repeat performance. This is not the Olympics—pat yourself on the back and sleep in instead.) This second time around, you’ll have a better idea of how to pace yourself during the long stretch—you might have taken several practice tests already, but sitting in the comfort of your own home is not the same as sitting in a hard chair in a packed, overheated (or ice-cold) classroom.

What can you do differently this second time? Pull out a few of the test-taking strategies that you know and try them out. You might be tempted to fill in a circle for every single question, so experiment with leaving some of the hard questions out this time around. After all, you are penalized a 1/4 of a point for a wrong answer on the SAT, and it is possible to still get a very high score by skipping a couple of questions.

Remember that most schools will take the higher of two scores that are reported for an entrance exam, so if you pulled up your score for the second test, you might want to consider yourself retired from taking the SAT. But if you are still not happy with your score…

Take it three times. This time, your test-taking stamina should be your main concern. The SAT is not at all like your favorite movie that you can watch over and over again—a third try on the SAT requires you to give yourself a serious pep talk to get you through that last question, let alone yet another timed essay. But it’s not all bad—by the third time, you are a seasoned test-taker and know what it’s like to sit in a room for four hours straight. You bring your granola bars. You remember to layer your clothes. You might even hand out tissues to those who are inclined to sneeze. In short, you know what to expect and have learned to roll with the punches…and hopefully roll with a high score, too.

Good luck to all of you taking the SAT tomorrow! Check back to see Monday’s blog on what’s next for you after the SAT.

–Barbara Bellesi

Entry Filed under: General