I recently reviewed all the materials in each unit and completed the quizzes, unit tests, and full-length practice tests for SAT prep at Khan Academy.

I WISH Khan Academy SAT prep had been available when I was preparing for college back in the day (I might sound old, but... 😅).

It was not only fun, engaging, and useful to learn from each unit, but I could also see my real-time improvement as I solved more questions and progressed through more units.

In this article, I’ll explain why Khan Academy SAT Prep is the best and share my top tips for improving your SAT scores.

Table of Contents

• Reason #1. Proven Results

• Reason #2. Bite-Sized and Personalized

• Reason #3. High-quality Instructional Content

• Reason #4. Official Partnership w/ the College Board

• Reason #5. Accessibility and Cost

• 💁‍♂️ My Tips on Improving Your SAT R&W

  • Tip #1. Be Evidence-Based

  • Tip #2. Learn from Incorrect Answers

  • Tip #3. If the Passage is Long, Read the Question First

  • Tip #4. Don’t Procrastinate: Study Regularly With …

  • Tip #5. If Your Score Doesn’t Improve, Think Long-Term

• FREE SAT Prep Checklist to Achieve Your Best Score

• Conclusion

Reason #1. Proven Results

There are many recent success stories on the SAT subreddit where students primarily used Khan Academy SAT Prep to achieve great scores.

Moreover, educators also rely on Khan Academy’s SAT prep materials for teaching, making it a favorite among both students and teachers.

Some students have posted that they scored over 1550 on the SAT using only Khan Academy's prep materials (Source).

A study comparing two groups of students found that those who spent 20 hours on personalized lessons through Khan Academy showed an average increase of 115 points from their initial PSAT/NMSQT scores to their actual SAT scores (Source).

While other study guides, courses, and practice exams can be helpful, I believe Khan Academy should be your starting point when you begin preparing for the SAT.

Reason #2. Bite-Sized Personalized Learning Experience

• Initial Diagnostic Tests: When you first start, you'll take a diagnostic test or link your PSAT scores. This gives the system a baseline understanding of your current knowledge and skill level.

• Adaptive Question Selection: Based on your performance, the system selectively chooses questions that are most beneficial for your learning. If you do well in algebra but struggle with geometry, you'll see more geometry questions to help you improve.

• Skill-Based Learning: The program breaks down the SAT into specific units. It tracks your mastery of each unit, allowing you to focus on areas where you need the most work.

• Progress Tracking: The platform tracks your progress over time, showing which skills you've mastered and which need more work.

Reason #3. High-quality Instructional Content

• Video Lessons: Khan Academy offers extensive video lessons explaining concepts and problem-solving techniques in a clear and engaging manner. For students who prefer reading or need additional language support, transcripts, and subtitles are available.

• Step-by-step Guide For Each Unit: A detailed guide with practice questions helps students understand the reasoning behind correct answers.

• Varied Topics: The video library covers all aspects of the SAT, including:

  • Math: From basic arithmetic to advanced algebra and geometry

  • Reading: Strategies for comprehension, analysis, and interpretation

  • Writing: Grammar rules, essay structure, and rhetorical skills

  • Test-Taking Strategies: Time management, the process of elimination, and other crucial test-day skills

Reason #4. Official Partnership with the College Board And Extensive Practice Materials

• Authenticity: Khan Academy has partnered with the College Board, the organization that administers the SAT. This means the practice materials are directly aligned with the content and format of the actual test.

• Accurate Representation: The practice questions and tests reflect the real SAT in terms of difficulty and style.

• Practice Questions: Thousands of practice questions are available, covering every section of the SAT.

• Full-length Practice Tests: Eight full-length, official practice tests are provided, simulating the real test experience.

• Real-time Feedback: Immediate feedback on practice questions helps you understand mistakes and learn from them.

Reason #5. Accessibility and Cost

I have to admit that my parents spent thousands of dollars for me to learn from the best SAT teacher in Korea alongside my high school friends.

Despite this, I struggled to keep up with my peers and didn’t enjoy the preparation process, which hindered my ability to improve my score.

After investing a lot of money and several months of summer vacation, my scores barely improved.

With Khan Academy, you don’t need to worry about the cost, and you can learn at your own pace without the pressure of keeping up with others.

• Free of Charge: All SAT preparation resources at Khan Academy are completely free, making them accessible to students from all socioeconomic backgrounds.

• Available Anywhere, Anytime: The platform is online and mobile-friendly, allowing students to practice and study wherever they have internet access.

💁‍♂️ My Tips on Improving Your SAT Reading and Writing Score

Since many students, including myself, find the SAT Reading and Writing sections more challenging than the Math section, I’ll share my tips for improving your Reading and Writing scores.

Tip #1. Be Evidence-Based

I’d argue that all the questions in the Reading and Writing sections have clues for the answers within the passage.

If you base your answers on the evidence you find, you'll likely get them right. However, if you don't rely on the evidence, you'll probably get them wrong, especially on the more advanced questions.

Let’s see an example below:

The main idea of the passage is that shimmering is a specialized defense behavior against hornets, as highlighted in the passage above. Using this evidence, you can determine that the correct answer is (c).

Let’s look at a more difficult question:

This question is more challenging because you need to find the closest answer among four choices. Often, two or three choices may not be entirely wrong, but you must identify the best answer among them.

In the passage above, the biggest hints are "however" and "urbanism."

With these clues, you can determine that Prumers and his colleagues have different opinions from archaeologists, who believe that the Casarabe culture is sparse and widely distributed in the wilderness.

Therefore, choice (c), which states that the remote-sensing images show a dense central settlement surrounded by a system of canals and roadways, sharply contrasts with what archaeologists claim about the Casarabe culture. It also reflects the concept of "urbanism" as observed by Prumers and his colleagues.

Tip #2. Embrace Incorrect Answers and Learn from Them

As a competitive and somewhat perfectionist person, it is still challenging for me to accept my mistakes, review the correct answers, and learn from them.

However, learning from your mistakes is the fastest way to improve your SAT score.

You should spend much more time analyzing your incorrectly answered questions than solving new problems. Identify what led you to choose an incorrect answer, determine what you were missing, and find a way to prevent the same mistake from happening in the future.

If you don't spend enough time reviewing your incorrect answers, I can guarantee that you'll miss similar problems on the actual exam. This happened to me many times while studying, and it was incredibly frustrating!

Luckily, Khan Academy SAT prep helps you learn from your incorrect answers. For each incorrect answer you choose, it clearly explains why it is not correct, guiding you toward a better understanding (see the image below).

I know it’s hard to face your wrong answers, but I highly recommend taking the time to read the explanations for why your answer is incorrect and find a better answer. This process is essential for improving your understanding and performance.

Tip #3. If the Passage is Long, Read the Question First, Then the Passage

For the SAT Reading and Writing sections, you need to solve 54 questions in 64 minutes. After completing a practice test, I realized that I wouldn’t have time to review some questions if I didn't follow tip #3.

To solve problems more quickly, I read the question first for long passages. This way, I can read the passage with an idea of what the question is asking.

For example, after reading the question for this problem (highlighted in red in the image above), I understood that I needed to find the relationship between the data in the table and the underlined claim in the passage, “a divided Congress may be a... in government size to occur.”

Now, while reading the passage, I can focus on finding the relationship between congressional status and the change in total outlays (≈government size). This way, I can better address the question and find the correct answer more quickly.

One caveat when solving SAT questions, though, is not to rush and constantly check the time. The most important thing is to forget about the clock and focus on solving each problem with your full effort, without being distracted by how much time is left.

It's better to address as many problems as possible with 100% effort than to tackle all problems with 80% effort and achieve only 80% of your capacity.

Tip #4. Don’t Procrastinate: Study Regularly With Full Intensity

Even at my age (30s 😭), I spent a lot of brain power going through practice tests in time, so it’s gonna be a lot harder for you to procrastinate to prepare for the SAT.

Additionally, missing a few questions due to a lack of focus can significantly impact your score. It's crucial not to miss questions that you could have gotten right if you were fully focused.

That's why I believe getting enough sleep before each SAT prep session is more important than solving additional problems.

Sticking to a regular study schedule and giving your all when solving SAT problems will not only improve your score but also enhance your overall academic performance. This study habit is beneficial and should be applied to any subject.

Tip #5. If Your Score Doesn’t Improve After A Lot of Practice, Think Long-Term

When I was in high school, I remember solving hundreds of SAT practice questions, yet my score didn’t improve. If I recall correctly, I ended up scoring around 1400/1600 on today’s scale (600 in Reading/Writing and 800 in Math) despite all the practice and time spent. This was quite disappointing, as I desperately wanted to score above 1500/1600.

I realized that the issue wasn’t a lack of SAT practice, but rather a lack of English skills.

According to the College Board, the SAT is designed to measure literacy, numeracy, and writing skills. I simply didn’t have the necessary literacy and writing skills to score beyond 1500/1600.

If my experience resonates with you, I have a solution that worked perfectly for me, but it will take some time – read books and articles every day in your favorite area.

English was my second language, and I had only been learning it for about 3-4 years, so I didn’t enjoy reading in English back in high school. Therefore, I started with books and articles in my favorite area: business. Reading business articles and books served a dual purpose – it improved my English and taught me valuable business skills that I could use to make money.

After reading every day for a few months, I suddenly noticed that I could read faster with better comprehension, and my vocabulary had significantly improved.

When I finished the practice tests a few days ago, I only missed two questions on the SAT Reading/Writing sections. I was pleasantly surprised.

So for you, it’ll take some time, but I highly recommend starting to read something in your favorite area and making it a habit. There’s only so much you can improve from practicing SAT problems if your fundamental English skills don’t improve.

I know it’ll take a few months or even years, but I believe it’s the surest way to significantly improve your SAT scores.

FREE SAT Prep Checklist to Achieve Your Best Score

Our team has curated this checklist to help you thoroughly prepare for the SAT and achieve your highest possible score.

We highly recommend using this guide while studying for the SAT to ensure you don't miss anything on the checklist and perfect your preparation.

You can get the checklist here.

Conclusion

Khan Academy SAT Prep offers a comprehensive, accessible, and effective way to prepare for the SAT.

With its personalized learning plans, high-quality instructional content, and real-time feedback, it aligns closely with the actual SAT format and provides thousands of practice questions and full-length tests.

Its official partnership with the College Board ensures that the materials are accurate and relevant, making it a trusted resource for both students and educators.

The best part is that it's completely free, removing financial barriers and making high-quality test preparation accessible to everyone.

Additionally, in this post, I've shared my top strategies to help you achieve your highest possible SAT score:

Remember, if you prepare for your SAT with my little tips, you only need to give your 100% on the actual test day. You've already prepared thoroughly, so there's no need to be nervous.

Your practice and effort will naturally shine through, allowing you to perform your best. Just focus and give it your all during the exam.

You’ve got this! 💪