Student here.
If you do a little digging, you can find many past administered SAT tests from 2017-2022, and even some from 2023, which can last almost the entire two months at a pace of one math/english section a day as described by the post above.

One math or English section a day. Score against the answer sheet. Any that the kid gets wrong, have them not only read the explanation but re-work the problem again from the beginning. Recheck those ones and repeat until all answers are right.

Should take around an hour or so. Uworld has an excellent question bank. Khan Academy is free but the questions seem slightly easier than the actual test.

My oldest did about 30 min for two months in the summer a few times a week. He took two practice tests at a tutoring center and went over results with them. Did an hour of tutoring with them for about 6 weeks (6 hours). This was ACT--but he scored perfect in 3 sections on first try Fall of Senior year.

More than 45-60 min in one sitting is ridiculous.

Anonymous wrote:zero

+1000

The SAT is supposed to be a test of a student’s cumulative knowledge gained through the previous 3 years of high school.

It is NOT supposed to be a test of who crammed the most or who has the most obsessive parents / paid the most for a prep course.

Don’t let your kids study for this test.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Zero. My kid applied test optional.

This is where we are at. I told mine to try it once junior year to see the score for possible merit aid. He doesn’t want to take them at all, there definitely won’t be studying.

My son applied to 10 schools test optional and got merit at all of them. Many of them were great awards over $20k.

My son originally went from 1150 to 1360 using a private one on one test prep. It was about 4hrs a week for 8 weeks (2hrs instruction 2hrs practice alone). He then had a ton of skills they taught him. He then crammed via khan academy for a week leading up to the test in the 28th and on his 2 practice tests for a 680eng and 760 math. Hoping he can hit that 1440. He did come back and say the math was insanely easy and thinks he got an 800, but who knows. An easy test means a bad curve.

Anonymous wrote:Zero. My kid applied test optional.

This is where we are at. I told mine to try it once junior year to see the score for possible merit aid. He doesn’t want to take them at all, there definitely won’t be studying.

To answer your question, it depends on what your child’s score is and what his/her target score is. Most experts recommend taking up to ten of the official SAT practice tests and reviewing carefully mistakes made on each one. Assuming a student just took the 10 practice tests, that would be 30 hours alone. Reviewing mistakes and mastering content may take many more hours depending on baseline level.

Lots of bragging here.

OP, nobody can answer for you. There are so many factors at play including her baseline and target score, motivation, whether she tends to be a quick learner, good/bad test taker, learning issues, etc.

I have 3 very different kids. Oldest had zero interest in prep. I convinced her to take an inexpensive group class (wanted her to study but didn’t want to invest given the lack of motivation). She sat through all the classes but didn’t want to do anything independently. Her score didn’t budge after the class so I’m glad I went the cheap route. It was all a waste. Middle child was super motivated and asked for private. He had a target score about 100 above his Khan Academy practice test. We paid for 8-10 very expensive one hour sessions over a summer. He did a few minutes of homework a day. He achieved his target score. Youngest hasn’t taken it yet. He is a hard worker and easily stressed. He also happens to be a horrible test taker. I would like for him to apply test optional but he insists he wants to try. Given his motivation we are going to give it a try. To minimize stress, I would like to start way early and do a slow approach to prep over a year. A few private sessions to get him started and then taking a practice test section weekly. We will see how that works out.

It's really not rocket science--they've dumbed it down A LOT since we were kids. It used to be far more vocabulary based (analogies, etc). Now the verbal is mostly reading comprehension and some basic grammar. Math covers the very basics of high school math courses up to Algebra 2.

That said, my kids (twins) are getting perfect math scores on all practice tests. Their reading scores are not as good but they had super crappy ELA classes in DCPS.

People actually spend time studying for the SAT? More than just looking at old tests to understand the question format?

Zero. My kid applied test optional.

my son got a 1560 on SATs...did one practice test and didnt study at all. He also got 1480 on PSAT.....

We used www.prepare2achieve.com. They offer group sessions and one-on-one for a reasonable price. DS did 2 hrs a week for 6 weeks.