What’s Wrong With the September SAT??

We need to talk about the problem with the September SAT.

First of all, yes, you heard that right. There’s going to be a September SAT this year on September 13th, which, other than during the pandemic when the College Board was just throwing extra test dates left and right to get anything to stick, is going to be the first national SAT test date in September in generations.

Now, will this become a new fixture in the SAT schedule, and we will now have eight tests a year? We don’t know. Will it replace a different test that they’re phasing out, like adding the August SAT phased out the January test back in 2016? We don’t know.

But what we do expect is that it’s going to pose a problem for students in Northern states where we typically don’t go back to school from summer break until after Labor Day. It’s always been a challenge to find a seat for the August SAT because fewer schools are willing to serve as testing centers during summer break, and fewer teachers are willing to come in and serve as test proctors during their summer vacation.

But now that Northern schools will have the opportunity to just punt the SAT three weeks later into September, we’re going to see very few schools in our area offering that August test. And you’re only going to have a September opportunity for the most part.

And what that does is it makes the May 3rd and June 7th SAT national test dates so much more important for juniors because, as we always say, junior year is testing year. And if your plan is to wait until you know your scores to finalize your college search, write your application essays, and submit your applications, you want to get that done by the end of junior year so that you can spend the summer working on that next big project and not kicking it down the road to August or, now, likely September.

And if a school doesn’t want to do September because, “well, we just got here, it’s back to school, we’ll do October” now, you’re not going to be getting scores until after some of those earliest October 15th application deadlines.

So, junior year’s testing year—focus on it, do it this spring, and don’t let this new test be a reason why you lose an opportunity this summer.

Now, for sophomores, it’s a little different. Yes, junior year is testing year, and the summer can be a great time to get to work on SAT prep, and moving the SAT from August 23rd to September 13th is beneficial. When I say moving, they’re not literally moving it, but your local test center may be. You can still use your summer break. In fact, now you have the whole summer break and not cutting a couple of weeks short to continue prepping for the SAT.

And as soon as you get back to school, boom, take that first test of the year, and now you’re off on the right foot. You’re going to get your scores back in about 13 days, well ahead of the PSAT, which will take place during October. And you can plan out when to take a second and, if necessary, third SAT later in junior year.

So, look at the calendar, understand that time is linear and finite. Make a plan, and if you need help, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at 732-556-8220. We are here to help.