The August SAT: What You Should Know

For the first time, the College Board is offering a summer SAT this coming August. For many students who will be 12th graders in the fall, this is a real advantage, as they will be able to take the SAT before the school year kicks into full swing. I remember needing to take the SAT for a second time in October of my senior year. It wasn’t an ideal time: I was taking four AP classes and was in the middle of my varsity soccer season. Consequently, there wasn’t much time left over to practice for the SAT in the weeks leading up to the October test date. The new August test date means that seniors who otherwise would have been crunched for time––as I was––will now be able to avoid a considerable amount of stress.

Unfortunately, in some parts of the country (including the Northeast, where I live), there will be a limited number of available seats for students who try to register for the August SAT: many schools are not open during the summer, and thus won’t be offering the test. Of course, the issue of test centers filling up is nothing new. For example, there have been ACT test dates on which all of the ACT test centers on Long Island have filled up, forcing families to drive to New Jersey or Connecticut to take the ACT. However, I anticipate that for the SAT this August, the problem will affect a larger number of students.

Fortunately, there is a simple solution for students who may want to take the SAT this August: sign up now. I just learned yesterday that registration is live; students can register for the August SAT today, when there are still plenty of seats open. I always advise students to sign up for any SAT or ACT they plan to take as early as possible so they get their first choices of location, but especially for the August SAT, signing up as soon as possible may help you avoid a long drive on test day.