If you’re helping your student prepare for the SAT or ACT, it can be hard to know where to start. Courses, apps, practice tests, tutoring—which do they actually need? Each can help at a different point. This guide explains how to connect the steps, whether you’re building a plan yourself or getting help along the way.
Step 1: Understand the Test
Before you spend a dollar on prep, understand what these exams actually do. Colleges use the SAT and ACT as a common metric. That matters. “Test-optional” does not mean “test-irrelevant.” A strong score still separates applicants, strengthens an application, and can unlock real merit scholarship money.
Here is the breakdown:
- SAT: Reading & Writing plus Math. It is digital, adaptive, and runs about two hours.
- ACT: English, Math, and Reading, plus optional Science and Writing. It is linear and moves at a faster pace.
Registration is simple, but procrastination causes problems. Register for the SAT at satsuite.collegeboard.org and for the ACT at act.org. Register early. Seats fill up, and the last thing you want is a bad test-center option because you waited too long.
Step 2: Make a Plan
Do not guess your way through this. Start by having your student take one timed practice SAT and one timed practice ACT. Then compare percentiles, not raw scores. Also pay attention to which test felt more natural. That matters more than parents think. Once you choose, commit. Splitting focus across both exams is usually a mistake and wastes time.
The timing should be straightforward. Most students should take their first official exam in the winter or spring of junior year. If needed, they can retake in late spring or the fall of senior year. Prep should start at least two to three months before the first official test date. Earlier is better if the goal is a major score jump.
If you want a deeper comparison, read our SAT vs ACT guide. If you need help mapping the calendar, read When to Take the SAT.
Step 3: Use the right help at the right time
Courses, practice software, full-length tests, and tutoring can all help. They do different jobs, though. The next step should depend on what your student needs right now.
Learning an approach, practicing it, checking progress, and getting help should work together. You can organize that yourself using free resources, pay for help with part of it, or use a program that puts the pieces together.
First, learn what to work on—and how to approach it
Before spending hours on practice questions, learn how the test works and a few useful ways to approach it. Review a starting practice test to see where your student needs help. Give attention to skills that come up often and look within reach.
Free lessons, worked examples, and help from a teacher can give students a starting point. A course can help organize that learning if they’d benefit from someone explaining it step by step.
Then, practice with a purpose
Understanding an explanation is different from being able to use it. Work on a few specific skills, review mistakes, and try similar questions again. Keep a simple record of what’s improving and what still needs work.
A notebook or spreadsheet can help you keep track. Practice software can make this easier by choosing questions and organizing the work, but you can build a focused practice plan without buying it.
Use full-length tests to check progress
A full-length test helps your student check their score, pacing, and stamina. Leave time between tests to practice what the last one revealed. Another test is most useful when there’s something new to check—not simply because another week has passed.
Afterward, look beyond the total score. Which skills improved? Where did time run out? Which mistakes keep coming back? Use those answers to choose the next round of practice.
Get help when something isn’t clicking
If your student keeps getting stuck, a different explanation can help. Start with a teacher, a knowledgeable friend, or someone who can walk through the problem with them. A tutor is another option if more personal help would be useful and fits your budget.
Bring specific questions and recent work so the time goes toward the actual problem. You don’t have to wait until the end of prep to ask for help, and not every student will need paid tutoring.
Keep adjusting the plan
These steps repeat. Learn something, practice it, check whether it’s helping, and change the plan when needed. If a skill is improving, move forward. If the same mistake keeps happening, try another explanation or ask for help.
This is where you can save time and money: avoid paying for help your student doesn’t need yet, taking tests without learning from them, or repeating practice that isn’t helping.
You can build this plan yourself
You don’t need to buy a course, software, and tutoring to prepare well. If budget is tight, start with free resources. The important part is connecting the steps: learn an approach, practice it, check your progress, and get help where you’re stuck.
Doing this yourself means keeping track of what needs work, deciding what to practice first, and knowing when to change the plan. That takes time, but it’s a valid way to prepare.
Want help putting it together?
At Staffs Prep, we’ve already done much of that work. We’ve analyzed past tests, counted how often different skills appear, and combined those numbers with what we know about which skills are easier to improve. We call it Frequency + Ease.
You can use the structure in this guide to build your own plan. Or, if you’d like a starting point and tools to guide the next steps, we can help you put it into practice.