Here at PenningPapers, we receive this question every other month.

How many times should I take the SAT?

If you ask teachers, professors, test prep instructors, and college admissions advisors, they may all give you different answers. Some people tell you to limit yourself to 3 times. Others say to take it until you earn a 1500+ SAT score.

Although these answers are all valid, multiple factors that may affect how many times you should take the SAT.

How many times are you allowed to take the SAT? Can you afford the testing and commute costs? Is retaking the SAT until you earn a perfect 1600 score even worth it?

Here’s the gist: Although you are allowed to take the SAT as many times as you’d like, you should stop taking it once your score is 100 points over the average score of your dream school. So, if your dream school’s average SAT score is 1400, you have no reason to continue the SAT once you reach a 1500 SAT score.

Of course, there are other details and exceptions to this rule.

So, without further ado, let’s dive right into the nitty gritty.

Table of Contents

1. Should I Take the SAT More Than Once? Why Should I?
2. The #1 Reason Not to Overtake the SAT.
3. Speed + Preparation.
   • SAT Coaching for Faster Results.
   • Practice Tests Are Your Friend.
4. Making Your SAT Schedule Fit Your Academic Profile.

Should I Take the SAT More Than Once? Why Should I?

Yes. You can take the SAT more than once. In fact, you can take it an infinite number of times. Just note that College Board has 7 tests per year.

Now, the real question is why someone may want to take the SAT more than once.

Typically, students should take the SAT more than once since their scores often improve with experience. The more you take it, the more likely you’ll familiarize yourself with the test format and question patterns. So, it’s a wise choice to take it more than once.

Often, students will take SAT practice tests before they take the real test. With enough practice, they can get used to pacing the SAT test speed, catching the trick questions, and familiarizing themselves with the test enough to make the real deal much easier.

Practice tests are going to be your best friend. So: practice, practice, practice!

We’ll get to that more in the later sections.

Note that there are going to be moments you’ll score lower than your previous tests despite having more practice. Oftentimes, these are exceptions. Everyone has them! Any number of factors such as tiredness, moodiness, or sickness could have contributed to a lower score. But, the most common cause of a lower score is an unusually difficult reading passage. These often sink the average SAT score for everyone.

So, if you’re concerned about earning a lower SAT score despite having practice, don’t worry. Chances are, everyone else had a lower score too!

The #1 Reason Not to Overtake the SAT.

Since you can take the SAT an infinite amount of times, you may be inclined to take the SAT a million times. “Can’t I take the SAT over and over until I get a perfect 1600 score?” After all, what’s the harm… right?

But, slow down there! There’s a good reason you want to avoid overtaking the SAT.

The main reason you shouldn’t overtake the SAT is that test prep can take valuable time away from other crucial college admissions elements such as increasing your GPA, volunteering, starting clubs, working on impressive projects, and writing a strong college essay.

Also, some schools require you to send all of your scores. The University of California is one of them. If you want to see whether your desired school requires you to send all test scores, you can check it out through the pdf here.

Of course, there are other personal reasons you may want to consider as well.

For one, no one likes sitting in a room for hours over mind-meltingly boring tests. In addition, the test costs can get expensive for some families. Let’s not forget the test anxiety for some students as well.

So, there you have it!

The SATs can be taken as many times as you’d like. However, it can take precious time away from other responsibilities, some schools may require you to send all test scores, and no one likes to torture themselves with multiple SAT tests.

If you’re applying to schools with a “send all scores” policy we recommend you take as many SAT practice tests as you can whilst taking a maximum of 3 official SAT tests. This is, on average, the best management of your time. You can focus enough on the SAT whilst dedicating to other elements like clubs and grades.

Speed + Preparation.

Now, let’s say you’re in a bit of a time crunch.

You can’t really take the SAT an unlimited number of times because you are managing multiple clubs, you have to study for a lot of AP classes, and you’re the captain of multiple sports teams.

Ouch!

This is when you’ll need to get high SAT scores fast. Of course, this is a bit of an oxymoron. The SAT is a patience test too. Results don’t happen in a day. Fortunately, we live in a time when resources are available to truly boost your SAT score much more quickly than most others would. You can earn a 1500+ SAT score faster than most others would.

SAT Coaching for Faster Results.

From my experience working at a prep center in SoCal for many years, I noticed something interesting:

One of the best resources for students is having a specialized coaching service for SAT prep.

There are two reasons for this: first, it gives you more time; second, it helps you learn better.

Let’s cover the time aspect.

In the world of college admissions, time is everything. There’s not enough time to increase your GPA, not enough get a solid SAT or ACT score, not enough time to start meaningful school clubs, not enough time to write great college essays, and not enough time to spend with friends.

Time is an asset. It’s your gold. It’s your silver.

Don’t disregard the value of your time.

The SAT is going to take a lot of your time. That’s right. A lot. Taking the test themselves takes time. Practicing for the SAT takes time. Even planning for it is going to take time. But, a professional SAT coach can help with all of that.

Having SAT coaching services doesn’t just help you increase your score. It helps you earn a high score faster so you can spend more time on other things that matter. Improving grades, conditioning for a school game, or even just having fun with friends are all valid.

Again, your time is an asset.

Now, let’s talk about how coaching can help you learn the SAT better.

SAT coaching is often better than SAT tutoring since coaches work with students on an individual level. They learn the way a student learns and accommodate their personal style. This is especially useful since most test prep tutoring centers aren’t as efficient as they advertise.

If you invest in an SAT coaching service for even a few hours, you can dramatically increase your SAT test score. In addition, faster results give you more time for other responsibilities like grades, clubs, and college essays.

Back in the day, we used to have chain tutoring centers. These were test prep centers that were spread over a large number of areas that didn’t really cater to one individual. They were a bit like factories and taught like factories.

Nowadays, there are more individualized SAT coaching services; this is especially true with the advent of remote learning. It makes getting the extra help you need infinitely easier.

What I would recommend is having students work on their SAT with a professional SAT coach who can mentor them throughout the process. It is another additional cost to the SAT process. But, I do believe it’s very much worth it and something every student looking to maximize their chances for college acceptance should consider.

Practice Tests Are Your Friend.

Practice. Practice. Practice.

It feels like it’s been said a million times. And, you probably have heard it from just about everyone. At this point, you most likely already know you need to take many practice tests if you want to earn a high score on the SAT.

So, we’re going to give a bit of different advice.

Here’s the thing.

You should take a lot of practice tests; but, you should also space out the time in between practice tests.

This means you’re not taking SAT practice tests every day. Instead, you take them about once every Tuesday and Thursday. Or, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. You want to have some space in between tests to practice the SAT concepts and subject material.

So, let’s say you take a practice test and earn a bad Reading Section score. Before you continue taking another test, you should practice some more of your reading comprehension skills. You should also look over your incorrect answers to see where you tripped up.

By doing this, you don’t just take practice tests for no reason. If you only practice by taking the practice tests and not honing the fundamental skills they’re even testing you on, you’ll see much slower results.

Again, this is where a personalized coaching service is going to be unbelievably useful.

By having a test prep coach work with you on your SAT test, you can correct many of your blind spots and improve your score much faster. This carves out a lot more time for other responsibilities like clubs and college essay writing. And, in the world of college admissions, extra time is worth more than gold.

Making Your SAT Schedule Fit Your Academic Profile.

Everyone has a different academic experience.

Some people start multiple computer science and programming clubs in the hopes of one day making it into a FAANG company. Others want the perfect grades and test scores that will land them in any HYPSM school to one day funnel themselves into a career in finance or IB. Some wish to attend a decent school with good flexibility because they really don’t know what they want.

Regardless, depending on your background, interests, and needs, you’re going to have a specific schedule that makes some days more busy than others.

You may spend a lot of time trying to boost your grades because maintaining academic stability could be a challenge.

Or, you could be spending more time on the weekends building a startup project that would impress admissions officers.

Some schedules will vary; and, it’s this variance that means you’ll need to find a balance when putting SAT prep in your schedule.

As a general rule, we like to give a 50/30/20 rule for SAT studying. 50 percent of your work should be dedicated to academic work, 30 percent should be dedicated to the SATs, and 20 percent should be dedicated to clubs and other extracurricular activities.

So long as you maintain consistency and change your schedule whenever necessary, you should see an exponential improvement in your test scores.

Here’s an SAT study schedule and testing plan that I recommended a lot of my students follow for maximum efficiency.

1. Sophomore year: Take an SAT practice test and start studying in small increments. Apps like the SAT Question of the Day and sample questions are a good start. Make sure you’re starting small and not burning yourself out. It’s about consistency, not immediate results.
2. Beginning of Junior year: Take your first real SAT test.
3. Summer Between Junior and Senior Year: Start grinding out practice tests, studying on your own, and preferably studying with an SAT coach.
4. Senior Year: Take an SAT test ASAP.

Remember: everyone’s background is different. Some people can start studying for the SATs during their Freshman year. Others may be more inclined to start studying in their junior year because they have responsibilities that require their attention.

Ultimately, everyone has their own approach. This schedule we provide seems to have the best long-term results. But, it’s up to you to know what fits best.

If you’re still unsure about how to approach the SATs, want to earn a 1600 SAT score, or still feel lost during the SAT process, don’t worry. Our professional test prep and SAT coaches are available to help. Consider scheduling a free consultation with us. We’ll get back to you within 24 hours, and our SAT coaches can set up a personalized study program that helps you boost your SAT score for maximum results with minimal effort.