Below we have outlined the most commonly occurring scenarios following a student's SAT.

Congratulations on the score improvement! To ensure that your scores will make you competitive at the schools of your choice, log in to the CollegeBoard’s Quickfinder to check out the score ranges of particular schools:

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/csearch/index.html

If your scores put you in the 75% + score band, in the top quartile of students, then you have achieved a competitive score, and your scores will be an asset to your application. If your GPA is marginally weaker than the college’s average applicant, you may want to push the scores beyond the 75% threshold to compensate. But if your GPA is competitive and you are in the upper quartile with your SAT score, you have effectively checked off the box for SAT scores. You could take it again, if you feel so inclined, but your best course of action will likely be to concentrate your efforts on the other parts of your college applications—maintaining your grades, taking SAT Subject Tests (if necessary), writing your admissions essays. Of course ATS can help you in any of these other areas too!

Plan to take the SAT again.

You may have hit a particularly difficult section on a given test. Sometimes the test the College Board assembled for a given test date is particularly hard for you. For example, the Critical Reading section for one test date may have more abstract reading passages and more words outside of your vocabulary; the same section on the next test date may be a better fit for you, with passages that are more comfortable and vocabulary that is more familiar. As a result, section and test scores can fluctuate significantly from test date to test date. We’ve seen section score fluctuations of over 100 points between successive test dates. Because of the limitations of the “equating” process and the intrinsic variability of the tests, we recommend that most students take the SAT two or three times. The overwhelming majority of schools will super-score your SAT results and cherry pick the highest section scores from your various tests.

You can build on the areas that have improved and do targeted prep in the areas that are not yet satisfactory. The best refresher work is to practice on actual SAT tests. Take at least 2 more mock tests in conjunction with tutoring before the next test date.

Plan to take the SAT again.

You may have just had a bad day. Sometimes non-test factors play into the equation: stress, fatigue, health, unexpected distractions, sub-optimal testing environment. These can make a difference. Sometimes it was simply a harder than usual test, as referenced above. Other times, it may have been first time “jitters” during the first official test.

Our data indicate that most students will get a bump on the 2nd and 3rd iterations of the test. Generally the most significant increase will occur on the 2nd real test, followed by an additional bump on the 3rd real test. There is clearly a “testing” effect, in which familiarity and increased comfort with the test lead to enhanced performance. This is the logic behind the mock tests and also factors in when you take multiple iterations of the actual assessments.

To get ready for the next official test, you should prepare with targeted tutoring in your problem area(s) and refresher work in your strong area(s). The best refresher work is to practice on actual SAT tests. Take at least 2 more mock tests in conjunction with tutoring before the next test date.

Use your tutor and score reports to help you hone in on problem areas and practice, practice, practice. The more you invest in this process, the greater will be your return. In general, the students who see the largest gains are the ones who put in the most time and effort. Use your tutors wisely. They can help focus your studying and show you techniques to save time and help you avoid errors. Under their guidance every hour you spend working on your own will be more efficient in the service of your goals. Chances are good that you will see significant improvements on the next test.

Practice your strategies on actual practice tests. Brush up on your vocabulary skills. Depending on when your next test date is, this may mean memorizing root words or hitting your vocabulary flash cards, memorizing words. You can pick up additional words online with the Collegeboard’s daily question:

http://apps.collegeboard.com/qotd/question.do

For the Reading Comprehension questions remember to read actively and beware of making assumptions. Underline important information as you read the passages; this will help you stay on-track and focused. When it comes to eliminating answer choices, if it is not written in the passage it is not correct! Identify throw-aways, be wary of fancy-sounding answers, and find evidence for your answer choice in the passage. If you cannot link your chosen answer to a specific phrase from the passage, it is probably not correct. Go back to your old tests and look for patterns in your missed questions. What traps are you falling into? What rules are you forgetting? Review the Critical Reading Mantras in the Fabulous guide before you attempt any additional problem sets or practice tests.

Take more practice tests. If you scored significantly below your best practice test, there is a good chance that your low score is because of simple test variation. The curve gets steeper as your score gets higher, and in the highest score brackets, missing even a single question can knock 20 points off of your score.

Do timing drills. Timing drills will help you gain those extra minutes at the end of the test that can mean 30-50 points in your overall score.

If you are still forgetting the key concepts, drill your Math flash cards; review the math mantras in the Fabulous guide until they become second nature to you and can be recalled at will.

Look through the Fabulous guide and review the weaker areas, as indicated by your mock test reports. There will be problems that you have not yet reviewed in your SAT sessions; you can continue to work through your problem areas and drill the SAT problems that challenge you.

To get the greatest gains, review your problem areas with one of our trained professionals who will help you avoid repeating the same mistakes you have made in the past. They can help set you up for a plan of focused study and review.

Again, practice makes perfect. Review the Short List for Grammar in the Fabulous Guide and complete the grammar exercises for the concepts you struggle with on practice tests. Remember: Shorter is sweeter. More than 65% of the time, one of the two shortest answers is the correct answer. If you are stuck between two answer choices, choose the one that presents the information in the clearer, more concise manner.

For the essay, practice pre-writing drills where you will create thesis statements and outline your three examples. If you find it difficult to come up with three appropriate examples on the spot on test day, take some time and outline some examples to keep in your back pocket. Remember to include as many supporting details as possible—names, dates, actions, places—even if you have to fudge the truth a little to keep the essay flowing. What the graders are looking for is how you write, not what you write.

In the event that the first scores are nowhere near the numbers you need to make you competitive at the schools on your college list, consider the ACT. It’s a clear alternative to the SAT, and it has been the key for many of our students to achieve their college admission goals. Eighty percent of the content you covered for the SAT will transfer directly to the ACT: the math, the grammar rules, the reading skills all cross over. You will need to sharpen up on your timing skills and familiarize yourself with the structure of the ACT and the science section in particular. But the ACT is a close cousin of the SAT. Resulting from the 2005 changes to the SAT, these tests now have more in common than at any previous time in history. So don’t fail to take advantage of this popular and often effective alternative to the SAT.