Test Prep

Test prep information

21 Day SAT Practice Test Schedule

Posted on by Kennon McCaa

The College Board was nice enough to publish 10 practice tests. These are the best resources available for succeeding on the SAT. Below I have created a 21 day schedule for completing all of the math practice tests and getting some extra help that will hopefully help you do your best on the SAT.

The SAT Starts at 8 AM, Do You?

Because the real test occurs around 8 AM in the morning, it is good to get used to using your brain in the morning. So, try to do your practice at 8 AM. If you are going to be your best in the morning, get to bed early in the evening (9:30 if you can).

This schedule is designed for summer studying when students have all day to study. Morning studying during the school year can be a bit of a challenge, but you can do the “morning” session by completing the problems at the wasted time at the end of a class or two.

Plenty of Sleep is Your Secret Weapon

Evening sessions should be done just before going to bed. Studies have shown that your brain will continue to work on the problems and integrate your learning into your brain after you have gone to sleep. Frequent rest and plenty of sleep are a very important part of the learning process. A lack of sleep has been shown to impair your cognitive ability more than drinking alcohol, so don’t do either!

Practice Makes it Easier

This might look like a ton of work, but the harder you work, the easier the test gets. While it might take a full 25 minutes to finish the Section 3 test when you start, after some solid practice the test might take as little as 10 minutes. It gets easier the more often you practice. Never miss a day! When you take a day off, your brain loses momentum.

Success Through Repetition

The biggest challenge of SAT prep is getting enough practice and getting comfortable with the format of the questions. This study plan tries to combat that by having students re-do the same test they have completed previously. It might seem insane, but after searching for years for an effective way to make the test seem as familiar as an old friend I have started seeing significant improvements for students that are using this strategy. I have spent years studying this test and its content is extremely repetitive (it has to be to allow for valid comparisons of students), but the test writers are masterful at changing the phrasing of the questions. By re-doing tests it helps students become more and more comfortable at focusing more on the math and less on the confusing wording. PLEASE don’t skip the “Re-do” practice, it can be extremely effective and it takes far less time to re-do a test you have done before.

Save a Tree – Printing Tips

Most people know that many printers allow for printing on both sides, choosing this simple option can cut your paper usage in 1/2. What many people do not know is that you can print multiple pages per side. This option can additionally reduce your paper usage by 1/2 again. As important as it is to save paper, it is also very important to use paper. Do NOT do these practice tests by reading them off of a screen, print them out, and write all over them. Become an expert at circling facts, underling the most important word, and crossing off incorrect answers by writing all over the practice tests.

Be Organized – Keep Your Practice Tests

The final day before the test you will want to review all of the problems you missed while practicing. In order to learn from those past mistakes you must write the test number at the top of each test packet and keep your completed practice tests.

Practice Makes Perfect! - Carter's completed official SAT practice tests that helped him get his perfect 800 on the SAT math test in 9th grade.
Practice Makes Perfect – Carter’s Practice Tests from his Perfect 800

21 Day Schedule

  • Day 1 (Morning): Do Section 3 Test #1 (no calculator).
  • Day 1 (Afternoon): 90 Minute SAT Strategies tutoring session.
  • Day 2 (Morning): Do SAT extra practice assigned by tutor.
  • Day 3 (Morning): Do SAT extra practice assigned by tutor.
  • Day 3 (Afternoon): Get some more tutoring!
  • Day 4 (Morning): Do SAT extra practice assigned by tutor.
  • Day 5 (Morning): Do Section 3 Test #9.
  • Day 6 (Morning): Do Section 3 Test #10.
  • Day 6 (Afternoon): Get some more tutoring!
  • Day 6 (Evening): Re-do Section 3 Test #1 (Yes, do it again!).
  • Day 7 (Morning): Do Section 3 Test #2.
  • Day 7 (Evening): Do Section 4 Test #9, questions 1-20 (calculator).
  • Day 8 (Morning): Do Section 4 Test #9, questions 21-38.
  • Day 8 (Afternoon): Get some tutoring on Section 4!
  • Day 8 (Evening): Re-do Section 3 Test #1 (Yes, do it AGAIN!).
  • Day 8 (Evening): Re-do Section 3 Test #9 (again).
  • Day 9 (Morning): Do SAT Section 4 extra practice assigned by tutor.
  • Day 9 (Evening): Do Section 4 Test #10, questions 1-20.
  • Day 10 (Morning): Do Section 4 Test #10, questions 21-38.
  • Day 10 (Evening): Do Section 4 Test #1, questions 1-20.
  • Day 11 (Morning): Do Section 4 Test #1, questions 21-38.
  • Day 11 (Afternoon): Get more tutoring on Section 4!
  • Day 11 (Evening): Re-do Section 4 Test #9 (again), all questions.
  • Day 12 (Morning): Do SAT Section 4 extra practice assigned by tutor.
  • Day 12 (Evening): Do Section 4 Test #2, questions 1-20.
  • Day 13 (Morning): Do Section 4 Test #2, questions 21-38.
  • Day 13 (Evening): Do Section 3 Test #4. (We’re skipping test #3)
  • Day 14 (Morning): Do Section 3 Test #5.
  • Day 14 (Afternoon): Get some tutoring!
  • Day 15 (Morning): Do Section 3 Test #6.
  • Day 15 (Afternoon): Re-do Section 4 Test #9 (Again!), all questions.
  • Day 15 (Evening): Do Section 4 Test #3, all questions.
  • Day 16 (Morning): Re-do Section 4 Test #10, all questions.
  • Day 16 (Afternoon): Do Section 4 Test #3, questions 21-38.
  • Day 16 (Evening): Do Section 3 Test #7.
  • Day 17 (Morning): Do Section 4 Test #4, all questions.
  • Day 17 (Evening): Re-do Section 3 Test #1 (Yes, do it again!).
  • Day 18 (Morning): Do Section 4 Test #5, all questions.
  • Day 18 (Afternoon): Get some tutoring!
  • Day 18 (Evening): Re-do Section 3 Test #9 (again).
  • Day 19 (Morning): Do Section 4 Test #6, all questions.
  • Day 19 (Evening): Re-do Section 3 Test #10 (again).
  • Day 20 (Morning): Do Section 4 Test #7, all questions.
  • Day 20 (Evening): Re-do Section 4 Test #9 (Again!), all questions.
  • Day 21 (Morning): Do Section 3 Test #8 and Section 4 Test #8.
  • Day 21 (Afternoon): Get some tutoring!
  • Day 21 (Evening): Review all the problems you missed while practicing.
  • Day 21 (Evening): Get plenty of sleep!
  • SAT Test Day! Good luck!

Perfect 800 on the SAT – Congratulations Carter!

Posted on by Kennon McCaa
Carter on the first day of 9th grade

We just got the official score from the College Board that Carter got a perfect 800 on the SAT math test. We are so proud of Carter for this outstanding accomplishment.

Use the Official SAT Practice Tests

Carter had taken the SAT at the start of 7th grade and scored a 760, so we knew he was going to do well, but we decided to not take any chances and have him do all of the official SAT practice tests, just to get his mind back into SAT mode. He did a great job as you can see below:

Practice Makes Perfect! - Carter's completed official SAT practice tests that helped him get his perfect 800 on the SAT math test in 9th grade.

Rewarding Hard Work Paid Off

Part of why Carter succeeded (and why some others do not) is that he was really motivated to do quality work on these practice tests. I offered him the following incentive plan, $5 for 80% (90% on packets 5-10) correct and $10 for perfect packets. Then, if he got a perfect score on the actual SAT test, I would double the total. Carter likes money just as much as most people that I’ve met, so he was highly motivated to do quality work. This is the component that I see lacking in so many students these days. They seem to be going through the motions. They don’t really want to do the work and do not push themselves to get every question correct, regardless of the how difficulty of the question. It’s sort of an “I’ll try harder next time” approach. Rewarding him for his tenacity on the practice problems is the key ingredient to making sure that he has the will, the skill and the experience to break apart any unusual question that appears on the actual test.

Why Younger Students Can Succeed When Older Students Sometimes Cannot

Some people are probably wondering why a 7th or 9th grader would be taking the SAT at all. There are several reasons. First, the 7th grade test was to qualify for talented youth programs like Duke TIP and Johns Hopkins CTY. The 9th grade test was based on what I was seeing every week in my tutoring center. Older students often have too many distractions and too much stress to actually perform at their best. Also, older students seem to forget a lot of what they learned in middle school (which to the surprise of many people is actually a sizable portion of what is on the SAT math test). Carter has a fantastic understanding of math, so I never worry that he will forget his middle school math, but I wanted to shelter him from some of the pressure that I see negatively affecting the older students.

Only time will tell if a perfect score in 9th grade will be a benefit or not, but for now we are celebrating his extraordinary achievement and could not be prouder of him! Congratulations Carter! You are amazing!

Register for the October 5, 2020 SAT ASAP!

Posted on by Kennon McCaa

The October SAT is one of the three tests per year where you can select the “Question and Answer Service” (QAS). For an additional $18 you get to see a complete copy of the actual test as well as your answers. This can be really helpful for reviewing and eliminating mistakes. Got questions about the SAT? Our SAT FAQ page is packed with valuable information.

Make sure to select this option during the registration process:

Spend the extra $18 and get a full copy of the test!

My son Carter is just in 9th grade, but he will be taking the October test as a diagnostic check-up and a chance for me to analyze the latest trends in the test questions.

Make sure to register ASAP because registration after Sept. 6th requires paying the “Late Registration Fee.”

You can register for the test here.

More Free Official SAT Sample Tests

Posted on by Kennon McCaa

The College Board has recently released two more free sample tests on their website. Now there are 10 free practices tests available online!

We have all of the math sections available on this page.

The topic of Standard Deviation is starting to appear on the test more and more. It does not appear often, but it was not on any of the original 8 practice tests. Because most students have not taken statistics, this is a way to help those that have as well as help many students learn something new. If you do not know what Standard Deviation is, think of it as a measure of variability in data. If a stock price changes by a tiny bit here and there then it has a small standard deviation, but if a stock price changes frequently and has wild ups and downs then it has a large standard deviation. Alternatively, you could think of standard deviation as a way of measuring how thrilling a roller coaster is; a kiddie coaster has a small standard deviation while a full size roller coaster has a large standard deviation.

As always, a student’s success is determined by their long-term understanding of math and the work they have put in during their entire education, so we recommend studying hard every day in school and then doing dedicated test prep of 10-15 minutes per day (don’t miss any days!!) over an 8-10 week span to do your best on the SAT. With 10 free practice tests, that is enough to keep you practicing for about 45 days!

Our New Storefront for 2019!

Posted on by Kennon McCaa
Transformative Tutoring in Osprey, FL

We had a wonderful 2018-2019 school year and we are excited to make a difference in the community again this year. We had so many success stories and helped transform so many students last year! We know 2019-2020 will be even more amazing for our families! We recognize that the success of our students not only changed their lives, but changed the dynamics of their families. We received many reports of improved relationships and reduced stress and we are hoping to build on that success in the years to come. If your family is having math problems, come see us and experience the transformation.

Top 10 Questions To Do Together

Posted on by Kennon McCaa

In my years of teaching and tutoring, I have helped hundreds of students. Some had small problems they needed help with while others were basically starting from scratch. At Transformative Tutoring, we believe that every parent should spend a little time doing math with their child. Sure, your child gets a grade at the end of each year and perhaps has to pass an EOC exam, but what does that all mean?

Understanding Grades and SAT or ACT Scores

The best way to understand what that letter grade or SAT/ACT score means is to spend a little time actually having your child do some math with you. You might be surprised to find out that your teenager, who got just a B in Algebra 2, Precalculus or Calculus, is still adding and subtracting by counting on their fingers. (I would estimate that over 20% of high school students that have completed Algebra 2 still count on their fingers when not allowed to use a calculator.)

Students Are Growing Up in a Cashless, Digital World

Today’s children, in fact all of us, live in a digital age. Most middle class children rarely use coins and bills the way we did when we grew up. We had to know that four quarters made a dollar, but today’s children cannot buy anything with a quarter, so they don’t really care about quarters. Today’s children might have digital currency such as gift cards, debit cards, prepaid cards or iTunes credits, but they rarely handle cash. As a result, they use math for about 45 minutes a day about 180 days a year, exclusively in math class.

Compounding the problem for this digital generation is that calculators can do all their dirty work. In fact, you don’t even have to have a calculator anymore, just ask your smartphone something like, “Hey Siri, what’s 315 divided by 3.875?” As soon as most children find these error-free paths of least resistance they (ab)use them and shut their brains off entirely to the world of math. Before you know it, math doesn’t make any sense to them and they become incapable of thinking mathematically.

Beware of the Tools for Avoiding Math Homework

When a struggling math student hits high school there is often no easy way out and their struggles worsen. Did you know that every answer to every math textbook problem is available online? Most high school kids do! Now, they can breeze through their homework using sites like Slader, which has used crowd-sourcing to categorize every problem and answer, often with full solutions so students can “show their work.” Textbook publishers have tried to stay one step ahead by creating online homework assignments where the problems insert randomized numbers so that no two students get exactly the same question. However, in the great arms race to avoid doing math homework, once again there was a counter-attack in the form of an app called PhotoMath. Simply take a picture of any math problem and it will solve it for you, no thinking required! I have even heard reports of students using this app in their classroom to cheat on tests!

The SAT has a No Calculator Section

Eventually, the day of reckoning for all college bound students arrives, and that is the day of the SAT or ACT. These tests require students to know what they are doing and to actually understand and apply the math skills, formulas, strategies and concepts that they have, or haven’t, been using all of these years. Sadly, the arrival of that first SAT or ACT score is often the first day that a parent actually becomes aware of the magnitude of their child’s struggles with math. Now, they have a big problem on their hands, not much time to fix it and a jam packed schedule. Yes, there were B’s (many teachers require a student to be completely incompetent AND disrespectful to get a C grade these days, so a B should be considered a serious warning sign, especially if your child is well liked by their teachers) along the way that tried to serve as warning signs. Yes, there were some below average PSAT, PSAT 8/9, or EOC scores that tried to be the harbinger of the peril ahead, but these signs often were not obvious enough to raise enough concern to cause someone to take action.

Spend 5 Minutes Doing Math Together

So, today, and for the next few days, I beg you to sit down and spend a few minutes doing these problems with your child and without a calculator (20 of the 58 SAT math questions do not allow a calculator, while all 60 of the ACT math questions do allow a calculator) and see with your own eyes if your child needs help with arithmetic, Algebra 1, Geometry or Algebra 2.

ACT Score Percentiles

Posted on by Kennon McCaa
ACT Scores as Percentiles
ACT Score Percentiles

This table shows how your ACT score will rank you against your peers. It makes sense that a 36 would put you at the top with 100%, but it is interesting to see that a math score of 34 or 35 scores you at 99% and a score of 30 puts you in the top 95%! So, if you have scored 30 or above you have probably already scored well enough to impress most colleges.

While scores of 30-36 are nearly all the same percentile, it is a huge jump to change your score from a 20 to a 28! Making such a large improvement is equivalent to moving from the 55th percentile to the 91st percentile! So, set reasonable expectations. Do you really expect to move from the middle of the pack at 55% to the top 10% by studying just a couple hours? It will take LOTS of practice and probably lots of tutoring to make a large improvement like that, so set aggressive, yet realistic goals and work harder (LOTS of practice) and smarter (get some tutoring) to achieve them.

Raw Score to ACT Score Conversion

Posted on by Kennon McCaa
ACT Raw Score to Scaled Score Conversion
Raw Score to ACT Score Conversion Table

This table shows the number of correct answers required to earn a specific ACT score. For example, to get a score of 30 on the math test you must get 50 or 51 of the 60 questions correct.

It is hard to improve from a 19 to a 26 because you have to improve your raw score from 27/60 to 40/60. So, a 7 point ACT score improvement can require 13 more correct answers, which would be approximately a 50% improvement on the previous score! Because it is so hard to improve your score, make sure you do LOTS of practice and get some tutoring.

ACT Math Question Distribution

Posted on by Kennon McCaa
ACT Question Frequency
ACT Question Distribution by Subject based on Six Sample Tests

The ACT is 25% geometry, 6% trigonometry and 5% analytic geometry, so you better review your geometry! What makes the test challenging is how many subjects are included on the test, so to get a high score you have to invest time in rarely used facts about absolute value, logarithms, matrices and sequences & series. So, get LOTS of practice by doing several free practice tests and get some tutoring to help kick start your studying.

Bright Futures SAT and ACT Score Requirements

Posted on by Kennon McCaa

The Bright Futures Scholarship is funded by the FL Lottery. It pays for tuition and educational fees, but it does NOT pay for room and board, so it does NOT cover all costs. In fact, room and board are more expensive than tuition for FL residents, so please understand Bright Futures does NOT make college free, it just covers tuition and some fees. To get a truly full ride, students must become National Merit Scholars by scoring exceptionally high on their 11th grade PSAT, and then they are awarded the Benacquisto Scholarship. My son’s Benacquisto Scholarship, along with a scholarship from USF, will pay about $125,000 over four year. So, becoming a National Merit Scholar can be very rewarding if you stay in Florida.

Bright Futures Requirements – 2026 and 2027 Graduation Years

In order to earn the 75% tuition Bright Futures Scholarship, students now need a score of 1190 (81st percentile) and 1330 (93rd percentile) for a full tuition scholarship. ACT composite score requirements are 24 (78th percentile) and 29 (90th percentile). Super scoring is permitted.

Bright Futures Requirements – 2025 Graduation Year

In order to earn the 75% tuition Bright Futures Scholarship, students now need a score of 1210 (81st percentile) and 1340 (93rd percentile) for a full tuition scholarship. ACT composite score requirements are 25 (78th percentile) and 29 (90th percentile). Super scoring is permitted.

Need to boost your SAT or ACT math score to qualify for Bright Futures? Schedule a tutoring session today. We have helped many students qualify, perhaps we can help you too!

Thank you so much Kennon! I could not have done it [earned the Bright Futures Scholarship] without your help and support!

O. D.

Other Requirements for Bright Futures Scholarships

There are other requirements for the scholarship as well, such as GPA (3.0 and 3.5) and volunteer hours (75 or 100) or paid work hours (100). This FL government website has all of the most recent eligibility details. Once in college, students must continue to meet GPA requirements each year as well.

Earning a Bright Futures Scholarship is Not Easy

Please read the information on our SAT Frequently Asked Questions page regarding how difficult it can be to earn a Bright Futures Scholarship.

[My daughter]’s SAT math score went up 100 points! Thank you so much!

L. B., September 2019