Aaron Andrikopoulos • June 18, 2025
While ultimately it’s your student who is responsible for their success on the SAT/ACT, you can play an important part in the process.
Emotional Support
At every point, it’s important that you provide a supportive, nurturing environment. Getting into college is more competitive than ever. Your child is likely loading their schedule with challenging courses, time-consuming extra-curriculars, and perhaps a job. Add standardized testing into the mix, and you have the recipe for a highly stressful period in your child’s life.
While pressure sometimes produces good short-term results, over an extended period of time it’s bound to harm performance and damage your student’s sense of well-being. Providing compassion and encouragement can greatly lighten your child’s burden—and, ultimately, produce better results. (There is extensive research in support of this idea.)
The Timeline
Starting early is generally a good idea—but, with test prep, it is inadvisable to start too early.
You want to strike a balance between the benefits of an early start and the possibility of wearing out your student. We have found that the best time to begin targeted test prep is the summer prior to junior year (or shortly thereafter if the summer isn’t feasible).
Why not begin even earlier? First, test prep is best approached as a series of sprints; start too early and the student feels as though they’re running a marathon without a clear end in sight. Second, the SAT and ACT require certain amounts of knowledge, particularly in math, that most students don’t complete until end of sophomore year.
At TestTakers, our preparation generally runs in cycles of 2-3 months, to match what we consider the optimal timeline for most students.
An Early Start
What can be done for a student who is too young for targeted SAT prep (not yet finished with sophomore year)?
There are two broad ways to “pre-prepare” a younger student for the SAT/ACT. For math, enroll your child in challenging courses in school, and make certain they’re doing well. (Note: the program doesn’t need to be accelerated; mastery over the standard math coursework is sufficient.) If they are struggling, intervene quickly with extra support, like a tutor; because math builds on itself, it’s hard to catch up once you’ve fallen behind.
To pre-prepare for English, it’s simple: read, read, read. Students who are habitual readers have a much higher starting point on the SAT/ACT, even before they start to prep. And, contrary to common belief, what they read isn’t particularly critical; it doesn’t have to be classics like Moby-Dick or Jane Austen. Lighter magazines like Sports Illustrated or Seventeen also work well (but not texting!) The trick is to cultivate an enjoyment of reading so the student does it routinely, without being compelled.
Which Test—SAT or ACT?
There is probably more time and energy expended (and wasted) on this decision than any other. The surprising fact is that most students perform similarly on the two tests. That said, a percentage of students do have a distinct affinity for one test over the other, and an expert at TestTakers can help you find which test is more advantageous for your student.
In the end, though, the most important recommendation is to pick one test and stick with it until you’ve fully exhausted your preparation; only then is it advisable to switch to the other. Colleges only need your best SAT or ACT, so you’re far better off doing very well on one test than fairly well on both.
How About No Test At All?
Until COVID, the vast majority of competitive colleges required an SAT or ACT from all applicants. While many colleges have become “test-optional,” research indicates that students who submit test scores are admitted at higher rates. This stands to reason: in building a case for admission, test scores can provide an important foundation. Remove those scores from the application, and the other parts have to be that much stronger to make the case. My advice: plan to have your child take the SAT/ACT—and enroll them in rigorous test prep to maximize their chances for success.
How to Prep
There are many resources available, from Khan Academy’s free online instruction to the College Board’s practice tests to countless books and videos. Of course, the most effective preparation is rigorous, personalized instruction, as provided by a qualified tutor or a well-organized course. If it’s a classroom-based course, it’s important that students are grouped by scores, to ensure proper pacing. It’s even better if the materials differ from class to class, tailored to each group’s score levels.
To create an individualized test prep plan for your student, contact TestTakers and speak to one of our experts.