September SAT Last-Minute Tips (2026): 10 Ways to Pick Up More Points Before Test Day
By Laura Whitmore
There are only a few days between you and the September SAT, which means one thing: You are done learning new content.
That is not bad news. It is actually a good place to be. 😎
The final days before the SAT should not be spent attempting to learn six months of math while simultaneously memorizing every grammar rule ever written. At this point, your biggest opportunities come from changing how you approach the questions you already know how to solve.
And September is a particularly strange SAT date. You are barely back in school, homework has returned, fall sports are happening, and suddenly College Board would also like several hours of your Saturday morning.
Very thoughtful of them. 😊
These 10 last-minute SAT tips are about execution: timing, question order, guessing strategy, reading efficiency, scrap-paper management, and a few shortcuts that can help you pick up points without learning an entirely new topic.
Not up for reading? Watch my YouTube video instead!
🎯 Tip #1: When You’re Stuck, Let the Answer Choices Help You
If you are completely stuck on a multiple-choice Math question, do not immediately throw up your hands and choose randomly. Look at the answer choices first.
The “majority rules” strategy is a guessing strategy, not a replacement for solving the problem. The idea is to look for characteristics that several choices share and identify the oddballs.
Maybe:
three answers are positive and one is negative,
three contain the same denominator,
three have the same general algebraic structure,
or one answer looks completely different from the others.
If you can eliminate the obvious outlier, your odds improve before you have even solved anything.
Why this can work
SAT answer choices are designed around common mistakes. That means the choices themselves sometimes reveal what kind of quantity or structure the problem expects.
If three answers suggest the result should be around 20 and one says 2,000, that is useful information.
The important caveat
Do not use “majority rules” when you actually know how to solve the question.
This is your: “I have 40 seconds and absolutely no idea” strategy.
Not your: “I don't feel like doing algebra today” strategy.
This as a way to improve your odds when you're genuinely stuck.
📐 Tip #2: Save the Time-Hungry Geometry for Later
If you get a difficult Math Module 2, time becomes a resource you need to protect. Geometry questions are often some of the biggest time consumers because they can require you to:
redraw the figure,
add an auxiliary line,
identify hidden relationships,
calculate several intermediate values,
and then finally answer what the question actually asked.
That can be worth doing. It just may not be worth doing right now.
Think in terms of points per minute
Suppose one geometry problem will take you three minutes. During those same three minutes, you might be able to answer three shorter algebra questions. The geometry question is not worth more points because it is harder. So if you hit a complicated geometry problem and immediately know it is going to become a project:
✅ Flag it.
✅ Keep moving.
✅ Come back later.
Especially in Module 2
This strategy matters most when you receive the harder second Math module. You want to secure the faster points before one circle, pyramid, or bizarrely constructed triangle absorbs your remaining time.
August appeared relatively light on difficult geometry on one tutor's form, which is part of the reason why we are watching geometry closely for September. That does not mean September is guaranteed to be geometry-heavy. It means geometry is worth practicing—but on test day, you still need to manage it intelligently.
✍️ Tip #3: On a Comma Question, Fewer Commas Is Often Safer
This is a last-resort grammar heuristic, not an official grammar rule. If you are staring at several comma-placement choices, second-guessing yourself, and genuinely cannot decide, the choice with fewer commas is often worth considering.
Why?
Because students tend to over-punctuate. A sentence looks long, so they assume it needs a comma. Then another comma. Then perhaps one more comma for emotional support. But commas need grammatical reasons to exist.
Before using the shortcut, ask:
Does this comma:
separate introductory material?
separate items in a list?
surround nonessential information?
come before a coordinating conjunction joining complete sentences?
serve another clear grammatical purpose?
If you cannot explain why the comma belongs there, it may not belong there.
The real lesson
Do not punctuate based on how long the sentence feels.
Long sentence ≠ more commas.
The “fewest commas” rule should only be used when you have exhausted the actual grammar and still need to make a decision.
🔢 Tip #4: Too Many Letters? Give Them Nice Numbers
One of the best SAT Math tricks is also one of the simplest:
Replace abstract variables with numbers.
Suppose a problem talks about:
m square feet,
p gallons,
some rate involving r,
and answer choices that are all expressions involving those letters.
You may be able to solve the whole thing symbolically. Or you can choose easy numbers.
Why this works
Variables are placeholders. If the relationship is supposed to be true generally, you can often choose convenient values and see which answer choice behaves correctly. Pick numbers that make the arithmetic easy. For example:
m = 100
is usually much friendlier than:
m = 37
Good situations for nice numbers
This strategy is especially useful with:
proportional relationships,
rates,
percentages,
unit conversions,
abstract word problems,
and answer choices containing variables.
The example discussed in the video is the classic “paint covers a certain number of square feet” type of problem. Instead of wrestling with letters, assign a realistic amount and test the relationship.
One warning
Choose numbers that satisfy every condition in the problem. Do not choose zero if zero creates something impossible. And do not choose a value that makes two incorrect answer choices accidentally produce the same result.
Use nice numbers, not reckless numbers.
🏃 Tip #5: Redesign English Module 2 Instead of Doing It in Order
You do not have to answer SAT questions in the order College Board presents them. And on English Module 2, you probably should not blindly assume Question 1 → Question 27 is the best strategy for you.
The approach is to start at the end of Module 2 and work backward through the faster questions first. That means grabbing points from questions such as:
grammar,
transitions,
rhetorical synthesis,
and other shorter questions
before diving into the densest reading passages.
Think concrete before sand
It's similar to running. The shorter, rule-based questions are the concrete. The dense scientific reading passages are the sand.
Why start your race in the sand? Build momentum first.
Then tackle the reading strategically
Once you reach the reading block, you can continue optimizing. The video specifically identifies the reading questions around #11–15 as some of the tougher ones. Instead of starting with those, move to the next group of reading questions, then Words in Context, and return to the hardest passages later.
This is not about avoiding hard questions. It is about controlling when you spend your time on them.
🔍 Tip #6: On Many Reading Questions, Start With the Last Sentence
This strategy feels wrong the first few times you do it. You have a dense paragraph about some obscure biological process, nineteenth-century literary critic, or scientific experiment.
Surely you need to understand every word? Not always.
On many SAT Reading passages, the final sentence contains:
the author's claim,
the conclusion,
the result of the study,
the contrast,
or the exact idea the question asks about.
So if timing is a problem, try reading the last sentence first.
You are information-seeking
Your goal is not to become an expert on the topic. Your goal is to find the information required to answer one question. If the last sentence contains wording that closely matches an answer choice, you may already have what you need.
But stay flexible
This strategy does not mean: NEVER READ ANYTHING EXCEPT THE LAST SENTENCE.
If the final sentence refers to a scientific term you do not understand, go back and find where the passage defines it.
If the final sentence starts with: However, you probably need the sentence before it to understand the contrast. And certain question types—such as questions about the function of an underlined sentence or some logically-completes-the-text questions—may require more context. This is a flexible, information-seeking approach rather than reading every sentence with equal intensity.
Your goal
Read as much as the question requires. Not as much as College Board happened to put on the screen.
🧠 Tip #7: Read the Math Cheat Sheet on Friday
Friday is not the day for a six-hour study session. But it is a very good day for a light retrieval review. That is where a cheat sheet comes in.
Strategic Test Prep's SAT Math cheat sheet covers the major concepts and formulas students should have available mentally before walking into the exam. Read through it on Friday so those concepts are top of mind.
Think refresh, not relearn
You might see: vertex form
and remind yourself: “Oh right, the vertex is (h, k).”
You might see: circle equation
and remember: “The number on the right is r^2, not r.”
You might see: percent increase
and remember: “Multiply by 1 + r.”
That is exactly what you want the day before the test. You are activating information you already know. Not trying to create new neural pathways at 10:45 PM.
🗒️ Tip #8: Organize Your Scrap Paper Before the Test Starts
This may sound like an absurdly small detail. Until Math Module 2 is happening and your scrap paper looks like an archaeological site.
Before the test begins, fold your sheet of scrap paper to create sections or boxes. Then use one box per question. Write the question number in the corner. Now, when you flag Question 18 and return later, you can actually find the work you already did.
Why this matters
Without a system, students tend to:
start one problem in the top-left corner,
continue it mysteriously in the bottom-right corner,
write another calculation through the middle,
and then spend 30 seconds trying to figure out what any of it means.
Thirty seconds is a lot of time when the clock is running.
Plan ahead for extra paper
If you know you use a lot of scrap paper, ask for another sheet during Module 1, ideally when you have extra time. Do not wait until the hardest part of Module 2 to raise your hand and wait for a proctor. That small logistical decision can preserve valuable test time.
🎄 Tip #9: If Time Is Almost Gone, Christmas-Tree the Remaining Questions
First, terminology. To Christmas tree a test means choosing the same answer choice for a series of unanswered multiple-choice questions.
For example: D, D, D, D, D...
Is this your ideal test-taking strategy? Obviously not.
Is it better than leaving multiple-choice questions blank when the clock hits zero? Yes.
This is an emergency strategy
Imagine there are two minutes left and you still have several questions you will clearly not have enough time to solve.
At that point:
Make sure every question gets an answer.
Use a consistent guess if necessary.
Then spend whatever time remains trying to actually solve the questions you have the best chance on.
Enter those guesses deliberately rather than panic-clicking through the screen.
The larger principle is the important one: Do not let the module end with unanswered multiple-choice questions. You cannot get a point from an answer you never selected.
⏱️ Tip #10: Take One Final Full Timed Test on Thursday
❌ Not Friday.
✅ Thursday.
Your final full practice test should be a dress rehearsal, not another attempt to learn the SAT. Take it under realistic timing. Then evaluate your process.
Ask yourself:
Did I finish English Module 2?
Did I spend too long on difficult Math questions?
Did I skip quickly enough?
Did I use Desmos when I should have?
Did I save enough time for flagged questions?
Did I panic when I saw a hard module?
Make adjustments—not judgments
If the practice score is lower than you hoped, Thursday night is not the time to declare your entire preparation a failure. You are looking for actionable information.
Maybe: “I need to skip geometry earlier.”
or: “I need to start English Module 2 from the back.”
or: “I lost six minutes rereading one science passage.”
Those observations can actually change your Saturday performance. This final practice test serves as a dry run so you can adjust pacing and strategy before the real September SAT.
✨ Your September SAT Final-Week Plan ✨
If the test is Saturday, your last few days should look something like this:
👉 Thursday: Take one final timed Bluebook test. Focus especially on pacing and strategy.
👉 Friday: Review your biggest mistakes, skim your SAT Math cheat sheet, make sure Bluebook and your device are ready, and then stop.
👉 Saturday morning: Show up rested and execute.
Notice what is missing?
👉 Friday at 11:30 PM: Learn trigonometry from scratch.
That is intentional.
Please Do Not Cram Friday Night
This deserves its own section because every test date, someone decides the best preparation for a four-hour mental performance is apparently to arrive exhausted. Do not do that.
If you were running a marathon Saturday morning, would you run another marathon at 11 PM Friday night? Of course not.
Your brain needs recovery too. Friday night should be boring.
✔ Charge your device.
✔ Set your alarm.
✔ Put your ID somewhere obvious.
✔ Go to bed.
Sleep is part of SAT preparation.
The video closes the strategy section with the same message: stop studying late and give your brain the chance to perform well the next morning.
💡 Final Thoughts
A few days before the September SAT, your score is probably not going to jump because you suddenly learn 40 new concepts.
But it absolutely can change because you:
stop losing four minutes to one geometry question,
answer easier English questions before harder ones,
use nice numbers instead of drowning in variables,
find the important sentence faster,
organize your scratch work,
and manage the final minutes intelligently.
These are small changes. Small changes can add up to real points.
Strategic Test Prep also has the 270 newly released College Board Question Bank questions available for students who want additional final-week practice, as well as our SAT Math cheat sheet referenced in the video.
If you missed our 2-hour September SAT Advanced Review Crash Course, the recording and notes are still available for students who want one focused final review before test day.
Good luck on the September SAT—and happy prepping!
Laura Whitmore is the founder and CEO of Strategic Test Prep. She has 19 years of SAT tutoring experience and scores a 1590 on the Digital SAT.
Spent way too long on Poki last weekend — started with one puzzle game and ended up trying like five different ones. Everything loads right in the browser which is nice when you just want something quick without installing anything. The variety is honestly what keeps me coming back.