Table of Contents

1. Write down why you want a 1400+ on the SAT

2. Take an accurate SAT practice test with an analytical score report

3. Adopt an SAT 1400+ mindset

4. Become an SAT expert

5. Be rested for test day

All 5 tips are based on the successes of thousands of

students working with expert tutors over the past 40 years.
1. Write down why you want a 1400+ on the SAT

Motivation is key to success on the SAT. There are more options for going to
college without test scores than ever before. In the context of “test optional” college
admissions, there are great reasons to take the SAT, but the first step to achieving a
top score is knowing why you are taking this test.

Also, if you choose to take the SAT, the rest of your life will continue to be busy. You
will need to prepare for and take the SAT in addition to studying, participating in
extracurricular activities, and working. Taking the SAT because it seems to be a way
to cover your bases for college or because people around you still think of it as a
normal part of applying to college are legitimate reasons for taking the test, but
these reasons are unlikely to keep you going when it’s difficult to fit in the
preparation you need to achieve a top score.

And in terms of goals, it can be reasonable to want to do as well as possible on the

idea that higher scores must means more options for college. While this approach is
reasonable, it is not going to give you the kind of clear goal that will motivate you to
focus on building the skills you need to achieve a top score.

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 Write down why you want a 1400+. Is there a specific school where you believe you
will fit in ways that will advance your educational and life goals? Does that school
encourage test scores? Is that school highly selective such that a 1400+ score is a
likely expectation of a successful applicant?

Awareness of how your SAT prep and your future 1400+ score will feed into your
larger college and life plans is where you will find the motivation to get a 1400+.
Once you’ve written down why you want a 1400+ on the SAT, come back to that
every time you are learning about the SAT and practicing. Visualize that specific
goal and you will be ready to work toward a 1400+ on the SAT.

2. Take an accurate SAT practice test with an

analytical score report

Tests almost always come at the end of a term

or a year or a course or a unit. It’s natural to
think that you will first learn some stuff and then
you’ll take a test on it. One of the keys to getting
a 1400+ on the SAT is not to treat it as if it’s
another part of school but to follow a plan that
is tailored to the SAT.

You should start with a practice test because

preparing for the SAT is about getting to know
the SAT and how you interact with it.

Once you know why you want a 1400+ on the

SAT and have the necessary motivation, taking a
practice test is the single best way to know
what you’re up against.

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 It will also give you a baseline score so that you know where you are now relative to
your 1400+ goal.

Of course, the practice test must be an accurate one! The College Board provides
sample tests. Many students hesitate to take these tests before they’re ready. There
aren’t many of these official sample tests and it can seem like a waste to take a test
before you have prepared. One solution to this is to take a practice test that has
been rigorously developed to be an accurate simulation of the actual test.

The Princeton Review offers a free SAT practice test that you can use to get
started. An important additional benefit of The Princeton Review’s accurate free
SAT practice test is the analytical score report. Most sample tests will offer a way
for you to calculate your SAT scores, but you need more than the scores. An
analytical score report gives you more detailed insights into how you performed on
all of the specific types of questions on the test. These detailed insights are the
beginnings of a plan that will get you from your baseline score to a 1400+ on the
SAT.

3. Adopt an SAT 1400+ mindset

You will find it difficult to get a 1400+ on the SAT by practicing more or studying
harder. It can’t be stressed enough that this test is a specific kind of experience
requiring its own specific kind of prep. But before you can prep effectively, you
must have the right mindset—an SAT 1400+ mindset.

Most tests you take are designed to be opportunities to demonstrate what you have
learned. They are graded and the grades are meant to measure your achievement,
which can be stressful.

You may have taken tests that were graded by a teacher who considers other
factors, and who may adjust the grading if it seems that all the students in a class
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found the test too difficult. Finally, it is rare for a grade to be based on one test.
Even in a course with a heavily weighted final exam, there are likely other tests,
quizzes, and assignments, as well as other ways to demonstrate achievement such
as participation in class.

Although it can be frustrating to realize that mistakes on tests could have been
avoided in hindsight, there are often numerous opportunities in school to make up
for such errors.

Each question on the SAT is “all or nothing”, and your score is simply a calculation
based on how many questions you got right. This is not something to be concerned
about. It is a reality of how the test functions that is fundamental to the SAT 1400+
mindset you must adopt.

You can’t approach the SAT with the idea that mistakes on tests are understandable.
To achieve a 1400+ on the SAT, you must have the mindset that you never miss
questions that you are capable of completing correctly.

The SAT is not just another school test, but more like a dance routine, a musical
piece, or a game. To avoid making any "wrong steps," "wrong notes," or "wrong
moves," you need to shift your approach and become an SAT expert.

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4. Become an SAT expert

In school, it's not necessarily expected that you become as much of an expert on a
subject as your teacher or professor. Typically, the goal of each specific class isn't to
reach an expert level, and it takes several classes over multiple years to truly
become an expert.

To get a 1400+ on the SAT, you must

become an SAT expert. Part of an SAT
1400+ mindset is pushing to be just as
much of an SAT expert as anyone else,
including any teacher or tutor with whom
you may work. A great tutor wants you to
be able to perform on the SAT as they
are able to, in a way that is more like the
work of a great dance instructor or
athletic trainer than it is like the work of a
classroom teacher.

For example, the SAT is a standardized test that has a specific set of question types.
Each of these types may have variations and not all types may appear on each test.
Any given example of an SAT test may seem different than another and may seem
subjectively more difficult or easier to any given test taker. But the reality is that
there is a knowable set of questions, including possible variations, for which to
prepare. And for each of those questions, there are ways to organize your work to
get the “all or nothing” questions correct, when correct is all that counts.

Often these methods are different than the ones you may learn in school for doing
questions that seem to test the same knowledge or skills. The methods are different
because the test is different.

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The main reason why students who believe that they are capable of scoring 1400+
on the SAT and who have academic achievements that support this belief fail to
achieve their score goals is that they never truly become SAT experts.

They have been exposed to all of the question types, but they don’t actually
remember them precisely or recognize them quickly and consistently. They feel like
they understand methods but have not internalized them sufficiently to execute
them efficiently.

Their inability to execute the best ways to complete questions is often linked to their
belief that they should be able to use methods they’ve learned in school such that
they never actually try something new. They feel like they have friends who didn’t
need any special methods to achieve a 1400+ on the SAT.

Becoming an SAT expert means knowing the test inside and out, knowing exactly
what is coming and how to handle each and every situation that will come up.
Becoming an SAT expert doesn’t mean discarding everything one has learned in
school, but it does mean learning a new set of methods so that one has the best
possible toolkit.

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 Finally, becoming an SAT expert with an SAT 1400+ mindset means knowing how
you are going to score on the actual test within a very narrow range. A trained
sprinter does not go into a race thinking that they may run 100-meters in 10 seconds
or in 20 seconds. A trained sprinter knows that they will run in 10 seconds or less.
They know they will achieve their goal, and the only question is by what factor they
may exceed it. If you become an SAT expert, you will know that you are going to
score 1400+.

5. Be rested for test day

You cannot cram for the SAT. You cannot make-up for practice time you didn’t put
in. Of course, some students may find themselves in a position where some kind of
last-minute effort seems better than nothing.

In terms of how to get a 1400+ on the SAT, last-minute efforts should not be part of
your plan. You started with knowing why you want a 1400+ to motivate yourself
through your preparation and make the whole experience not about a potentially
stressful test date or a specific score, but about where you are hoping to go in your
education and in your life.

You carved out the time to take an accurate practice test with an analytic score
report to get a baseline score and map out what you will need to work on to reach
your goal of a 1400+ score. By adopting an SAT 1400+ mindset, you have not only
embraced an approach and standard of performance that aligns with your test-
taking goal, but you have also dedicated yourself to becoming an SAT expert.

You put in the time to know exactly what’s on the test and exactly how to
approach all aspects of the test. You practiced mindfully and know that you are
ready for everything you will see on the SAT and that you will score 1400+. The last
hurdle you will face is performing on test day. You are motivated and ready, but you
must also be rested.
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Ideally, you maintain a balanced schedule on a consistent basis. Since that is often
challenging, you should be conscious of starting to get rest the week before your
test, not the night before. It is difficult to adjust at that point. Trust your mindset
and your expertise, do not cram, be rested. On test day, when the test begins, take
a second to connect one more time with why you want a SAT 1400+ and then
execute your plan.

Thank you for reading. Please visit our website for more information.

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