QMP Education

Improving your sleep will improve your SAT score.

One thing you can do to improve your sleep is to exercise.

Exercise will not only make you tired by the end of the day, but it also increases adenosine, the neurochemical that builds sleep pressure throughout the day.

Don’t take this to an extreme though. Too much exercise can increase cortisol levels and actually disrupt sleep. Exercising too close to bedtime can also disrupt sleep by overstimulating you when you should ideally be relaxed before bed.

Apart from helping you sleep, the increased blood flow also helps with thinking and learning!

This piece of advice is controversial, but for students studying for the SAT who need to improve their sleep, consider getting rid of your alarm clock.

Of course, if timing is important in the morning and you can’t be late to school or the bus, then by all means, continue using it.

Getting rid of it though and allowing your body to wake up naturally is best. This is because the final cycles of rapid eye movement and slow-wave sleep can be completed.

Alarm clocks often disrupt this cycle, jolting you out of deep sleep. This can often cause sleep inertia, or the feeling fogginess after getting awoken suddenly.

DO NOT waste your Blue Book practice tests! Don’t use them for practice, they should be used as realistic mock exams only so you can see how you would actually perform on test day.

That means simulate all breaks, testing conditions, timing, etc. as if you were actually taking the test!

You need to be able to accurately measure your progress, and see where you are at in relation to the kind of score you want. They aren’t a perfect measure of your ability, but they are closer to anything else you have access to.

We’re surprised every high schooler isn’t aware of this… But the Blue Book app by CollegeBoard is essential to your SAT prep.

First of all, the practice tests exactly mimic the actual SAT. The questions are realistic, the sections are adaptive, and it’s digital.

You only get 7 practice tests so spread them out over the duration of your study plan. DO NOT waste them on drills or to do casual studying.

Bedtime > wake time. We give this tip all the time to students who want to improve their sleep while studying for the SAT.

Treat bedtime like a non-negotiable appointment. First of all, it trains your brain to expect sleep on a predictable schedule and so primes itself at the same time.

Second of all, inconsistent sleep times create a mini jet lag. Jet lag is the mismatch between the biological, internal clock, and the external social clock.

Third, you can pick a wake time all you want but if you sleep too late, it will be harder to wake up. Therefore, they are heavily intertwined.

Aim to keep the same bedtime on the weekends as well.

What SAT math book do we recommend?

Out of all the books out there, the one we recommend to most students is the 1600.io Orange book PDF.

Not only is it affordable (only $12.99 per month) but it covers absolutely every single domain and sub domain the SAT covers and more (it’s probably overkill). In addition, it has practice problems for each section, and video explanations going over how to do each and every single problem.

Ask yourself these three questions when practicing for the SAT Math section.

Why did I miss this?
What do I need to do in the future for this kind of question?
What content do I need to learn?

Your mistake review for the math section doesn’t have to be as intense as it is for the reading section, but still devote time to it!

Many bedroom and ceiling fan lights are too bright and harsh on the brain before sleep. This is important to know for students studying the SAT that need to optimize their cognitive power.

These kinds of lights prohibit the pineal gland from releasing melatonin - the hormone needed to prime your body for sleep.

Try lava lamps, LED strips, or Christmas lights that can be dimmed similar to the level of a fancy restaurant, at least one hour before bed, preferably two. They’ll also add a nice ambiance and mood to your room!

In real life, you should focus on your strengths. This is best summarized in the quote by Einstein, “if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its life believing it is stupid”.

Unfortunately, that advice doesn’t apply on the SAT. You should improve your weaknesses because that is the only way you can improve your score. If you are already scoring perfect 800’s in reading, practicing more reading questions won’t get you above an 800.

But you should know EXACTLY which domain and sub domain you are struggling with. You can’t just say “I’m bad at the math section”. Nor can you say “I’m bad at geometry and trigonometry”. Is it right triangles? Is it circles? Is it area? What specific topic do struggle with? Once you find that out, you should drill practice problems pertaining to that topic.

School math and SAT math are different in one crucial aspect: the grading machine can’t see how you got the answers. In formal school-based math class, the teacher expects you to show your steps. This will kill you on Test Day.

Your priority must be speed, especially for students aiming for top marks. In addition, you should be using first principles techniques to answer questions before trying to use long, formal, draw out steps. Use shortcuts! They might be able to help you answer a question in seconds rather than minutes.

You aren’t “cheating” by doing this. You are being strategic since the SAT doesn’t give you all the time you want to answer those questions.

If you are studying for the SAT and want to improve your sleep, consider dropping the temperature.

Your core body temperature drops 1 to 2 degrees in the hours leading to your usual bedtime.

The ideal temperature ranges from 68 to 74 degrees fahrenheit.

Even a one-degree mismatch can prolong sleep onset by fifteen minutes.