The SAT/ACT in College Admissions: How Much Should You Study?

For many high school students, College Aptitude Tests are the bane of their existence.  Studying for exams that reportedly test “reasoning skills,” and “academic retention,” can be confusing and time-consuming, and must be heaped on top of rigorous high school coursework.  As a result, the average student only spends about 6 to 11 hours studying for the SAT, which amounts to one practice test and a couple of rounds of SAT Vocabulary Flash-cards.

When compared with time spent on the other pieces of the college admissions decision, 11 hours is incredibly low.   Students spend about 8,000 hrs working on their 4-year GPA and 2,000 hours working on their college application materials (Essay, Reccommendations, Extracurriculars), which are both 200+ times the amount of time spent preparing for the SAT/ACT.

Is this imbalance justified?  Are standardized tests really that unimportant?

According to admissions statistics, the answer is no.  A Peterson’s survey showed that 78% of schools consider standardized test scores to be very important in the college admissions decision, ranking just below GPA in importance.  A majority of the scores of students admitted to American universities fall within the posted range of average SAT scores for that school.  Based on admissions trends, it is estimated that standardized tests account for an average of 20-30% of an admissions decision, while GPA is worth 50+% and the application is worth the remaining 25%.  So, the SAT/ACT is worth half the weight of a four-year GPA, and EQUAL the weight of the rest of the application, but students spend thousands of hours less on these tests than on the other application components.

If standardized tests are so important, then why do students spend so little time studying for them?

Limited time, rigorous class schedules, and pressing commitments may all factor in to students’ lack of study time.  But perhaps the largest reasons are inertia, lack of motivation, and strategic confusion.  The best way to combat these barriers is to contract an SAT/ACT tutor to construct a  personalized study plan!

The SAT/ACT is important, so buckle down and STUDY!!!

Elite Private Tutors is a world-class tutoring service helping students in Math tutoring, English tutoring, History tutoring, Spanish tutoring, SAT tutoring, Science Tutoring, ACT tutoring, ISEE tutoring, and much more. We deliver concierge-level service and are a boutique agency located in Houston, Texas. To contact Elite Private Tutors for personalized SAT/ACT tutoring, click here.