So…I may have gotten a 1500+ on the SAT on my first sitting. And I didn’t have a private tutor: none of my study strategies cost a dime.

That’s not to say I breezed through the process. I’m the oldest sibling, the “guinea pig” in all this stuff, and honestly had a very trial-and-error experience with figuring out how to register and study for the SAT. But I somehow made it out. As a “guinea pig” that somehow survived the SAT’s blade, I want to try and help you guys–my fellow test takers, my fellow “guinea pigs”–to navigate this inevitable process without breaking the bank. Here’s 4 strategies on how to prepare for the SAT–without paying a single dime for your studying.

⋆˙ 1) Start Early ⋆˙

That old phrase “time is money” is so applicable here. Although taking the SAT in early senior year or the summer before senior year is feasible, it’s just really stressful: you might have more responsibilities over the summer, or maybe you’ll already be in the process of applying for college by then. That’s why planning and preparing to take the SAT earlier is really helpful: not only do you alleviate the stress, but the reduced stress also helps you maximize your score.

From my own personal experience: I think the absolute best time to take the SAT is in early junior year. That way, you can use the summer before junior year–a much less stressful and occupied summer–to prepare for the SAT. It won’t conflict with your schoolwork, and you’ll really have a lot of time to optimize your score. Taking it during middle or late junior year is a popular option too. Either way, good timing and planning is a really effective SAT strategy!

⋆˙ 2) Bluebook Practice Tests ⋆˙

“How should I study for the SAT? What should I do?”

Well, if there was a way to get your hands on the actual test in the exact format it’ll be on test day…you’d take it, right?

That’s what the Bluebook practice tests are. They are literally the SAT–exactly the way they’ll be on test day, available for you at literally no cost!

You can access them by signing in to your Bluebook app, then scrolling down to “Practice and Prepare” and selecting “Full Length Practice.”

There are currently 10 available full-length practice tests for the digital SAT. After you take one, you’ll be taken to a review screen, where Bluebook will calculate your score on the practice test. They’ll also reveal exactly which questions you got wrong along with explanations and an answer key for every single question.

Don’t worry, though–you don’t have to take the whole practice test in a single sitting. For practice tests, you can save the test and return to it later! However, you have to keep in mind that you can only take a practice test on a single device. If you try to take a test on multiple devices, you’ll have to start over! 🙁

⋆˙ 3) Khan Academy ⋆˙

Khan Academy is like every single high school student’s best friend. Honestly, if I had to give credit to a single entity that gave me the most help and preparation for the SAT…it’d be Khan Academy.

Khan Academy partnered with College Board, the administrator and creator of the SAT, to create a complete SAT course that students can use for free. I can’t recommend it enough. It teaches you every single skill you’ll need for the SAT, complete with videos, practice questions, and quizzes to guide you to mastery. And–it’s completely free. You just need a Khan Academy account to do it!

I think pairing Khan Academy lessons with Bluebook practice tests is a killer SAT prep strategy. First, take a Bluebook test to see where your strengths and weaknesses are. Once you see which questions you got wrong, go on Khan Academy and find the specific lessons that relate to that tricky question. Then, complete that lesson–and you’ll be sure to do better on a similar question next time.

⋆˙ 4) CollegeBoard Question Bank ⋆˙

Okay, for some reason, this one is really gatekept. I have no idea why. But it’s completely free, and so, so helpful–maybe even more helpful than the Bluebook practice tests or Khan Academy.

At https://satsuitequestionbank.collegeboard.org, you can find a question bank–a complete repository of questions from the official SAT (and also the PSAT!). First, select which test (SAT or PSAT) you’d like to find official questions from. Then, select whether you’d like questions from the Reading and Writing or Math section. Next, select which category, or “Domain Scores,” of questions you’d like to choose from. (You can learn more about each “Domain Score” of questions through the Khan Academy lessons!)

After you do all that, all the questions in the bank that pertain to the categories you chose will show up. You can continue narrowing your search by filtering for a specific skill or a specific question difficulty! Then, you can select up to ten different questions to export as a PDF. You can then print that PDF and practice those test questions!

This is a tool I only found pretty late in my SAT studying journey, but one that was immensely helpful. At the end of the day, doing a bunch of Bluebook practice tests isn’t an efficient study strategy: it just takes too long, and you’re not targeting the exact types of questions that cause you trouble. With the CollegeBoard question bank, you can target questions down to their very skill and difficulty, and study those exclusively. It’s time-efficient, super helpful, and, most importantly–completely free!

So–are you ready to crush the SAT without spending a ton of $$? Try out these 4 strategies for your next study session. Leave a comment down below on what you think!

⋆˙ eighteen rants ⋆˙