Important insights for the November 2, 2024 SAT: The last chance for high school seniors on the regular decision schedule, and a great opportunity for juniors to take their first attempt before the busy spring semester.
The November 2, 2024 SAT is the second-last exam offering of the year and a last-minute strategic opportunity for high school seniors to boost their scores in time for regular decision college applications.
With many early decision deadlines already passed, this exam could play a pivotal role in helping seniors strengthen their applications. Additionally, it’s a great chance for juniors who have been performing well on practice tests to take their first attempt.
For seniors applying regular decision, the November SAT is likely the last strategic test date they can use to enhance their applications. Many early decision and early action deadlines will have already passed by the time scores come out, but almost all regular decision deadlines are will still be open.
While seniors do have the option to take the December SAT, we typically do not recommend doing so because it takes precious time away from finalizing college applications.
Given that many top-20 schools have regular decision deadlines right after New Year's, December is arguably the most stressful month of a student's entire high school career. We strongly recommend seniors use this month to finalize college essays and applications instead of taking the SAT again.
For juniors, the November SAT offers a unique opportunity to take an official SAT earlier than the busy spring semester. Many juniors tend to delay their first sitting until March; however, this can increase pressure on the spring semester, where AP exams fall in May, along with school finals.
Juniors who have been consistently scoring high on their practice tests should consider taking the November exam, especially if they want to spread out their testing timeline and avoid cramming everything into the spring. This will give them a head start, with the option to retake the SAT later in the year if needed.
As a general rule of thumb, we recommend juniors take the exam if the average of their official College Board Bluebook practice test scores is at least 50 points higher than their target score. We suggest overshooting the target score to account for the difference in difficulty between the practice test and real tests (real DSAT exams tend to be more difficult).
The October 5, 2024 SAT was more difficult than expected for both the Reading and Writing and Math sections. Based on this trend, students should prepare for a similarly challenging exam in November.
Just like in previous exams, Module 2 is likely to present harder questions, so it’s important to focus on difficult practice materials. Preparing for time management is also essential, as many students report running out of time on tougher sections. Be sure to practice under timed conditions and work on strategies for tackling challenging questions efficiently.
We also remind students to take the practice test scores from the Official College Board Bluebook app with caution. The actual SAT is usually slightly harder than the practice tests, especially the first 4 tests. This means your official exam score might be lower than what you’ve been getting on those tests, so prepare accordingly.
As this is the final major SAT exam of the year for seniors, and a key opportunity for juniors, test centers are expected to fill up quickly. If you haven’t already, it’s crucial to register as soon as possible to secure your spot.
If you can’t get a seat for the November exam, there will be more opportunities, but keep in mind that December may be too late for some seniors. Juniors, on the other hand, have the flexibility of additional sittings in the spring and early fall of 2025. Nonetheless, planning ahead and registering early is always the best approach.