How to Create A Study Schedule for the SAT or ACT

To prepare to do your best on test day, you will need to organize your time leading up to the exam. First, you will need to assess your strengths and weaknesses in order to figure out what to study. Next, you will need to organize how you will study in order to make the best use of your time before your test date.

Determine Your Strengths and Weaknesses

To identify your areas of strength and weakness, and get an idea of which concepts you need to review, work through some practice questions. You can try out questions for each section, and circle questions that you find more challenging.

After completing a section or practice test, check your answers against the correct answers. Write down how many questions you missed, and review these questions. Also take a look at the topics or types of questions you found most difficult: 

• What was challenging for you? 
• What did you feel good about? 
• Did you get questions wrong because you made an avoidable error, or did you get questions wrong because you did not know how to solve them? 
  

Reflecting on these questions will help you determine your individual strengths and weaknesses, and will help you decide what to focus on before your test date.

Personalize A Study Schedule

After determining your areas of strength and weakness, create a study plan and schedule for your test preparation. Work backward from your test date until you arrive at your starting point for studying. The number of weeks you have until your exam will determine how much time you can (and should) devote to your preparation. Make sure you leave enough time to review and practice each concept you would like to improve. Remember, practice is essential.

To begin, try using this sample study plan as a model for your own personalized study schedule.

If you do not make this goal, then spend more time studying.

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