I Took the November SAT. Here’s What I’d Do Before December
By Laura Whitmore
I took the November SAT, and a poem nearly wrecked my Reading and Writing timing. Meanwhile, I flagged three tricky geometry questions on Math and came back to them with 15 minutes left.
Same test. Two very different decisions about when to move on. If you’re taking the December SAT, that’s the part of my November experience I’d pay attention to.
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Reading and Writing Module 2 is where I lost time
On my test form, grammar and transitions felt pretty straightforward. Most of the notes questions were manageable, too. The questions that slowed me down were a graph paired with a dense passage and, of course, that poem.
I read the poem three or four times. I knew I should flag it and move on. Instead, I gave it another read, picked an answer I felt iffy about, and kept going. By the time I came back, I had about 40 seconds left. So much for giving myself time to see it with fresh eyes.
Here’s what I’d practice before December. When you catch yourself rereading the same lines and still can’t say what would make one answer better than the others, pick your best answer, flag it, and move on. Rehearse that move in a timed module so it feels familiar on test day.
Taking the December SAT and getting stuck on dense passages? Join me on November 21st for our 2-Hour SAT Reading Crash Course. I’ll teach you how I approach difficult Reading questions and decide when it’s time to move on.
Give yourself two timing checkpoints
I started both Reading and Writing modules with grammar and transitions because those are usually quick points for me. Then I worked through the notes questions and circled back to vocabulary and reading, saving a handful of longer passages for last.
I had two checkpoints. I wanted about 22 minutes left after my first group of questions and about 14 minutes left when I reached my final group of reading passages. In Module 2, I hit that second checkpoint with only 12½ minutes left. Seeing the gap told me to pick up the pace while I still had time to adjust.
Try this on your next timed Bluebook module. Choose two points in your question order to check the clock. Afterward, look at where you were ahead or behind and which questions ate up the extra minutes.
Math felt smoother once I flagged the time-consuming questions
On my Math Module 2, three geometry questions looked like they’d take extra work. I flagged them, finished the rest of the module, and came back with enough time to sketch the diagrams and work through each one.
I also caught a mistake in Module 1 by rereading the entire answer choice. I’d missed the last part of the sentence the first time through. If you have time to review, check what the question actually asks and read your selected answer all the way to the end. That can be just as valuable as redoing the calculation.
What I’d practice before the December SAT
Take one timed module and review the questions you missed, guessed on, or spent too long answering. Ask yourself what happened on each one. Did you need to review a concept? Did you miss a word in the question? Did you stay with a tough passage long after you’d stopped making progress?
Then make your next practice session about the pattern you see. If dense passages keep costing you time, try a short set where you practice finding the evidence for your answer and flagging a question when you stall. Use your next timed module to see if the strategy holds up.
December SAT 2-Hour Reading Crash Course
If you understand the passages during review but struggle to get through them under the clock, come spend two hours with me.
In this focused, lecture-style class, I’ll walk you through strategies for unpacking dense passages, evaluating close answer choices, and handling difficult Reading questions more efficiently.
Saturday, November 21, 2026 · 12–2 p.m. ET · Google Meet
Taught by Laura Whitmore for students taking the December 5, 2026 SAT
Happy prepping!
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