As a SAT tutor, you get a pretty solid idea of what’s circulating around in the world of test prep through your students. Specifically, I’ve heard a lot of myths and outright falsehoods that come up from various students I’ve worked with over the past couple of years. Some of these myths have been around since the dawn of standardized test prep while others have circulated on social media in recent years. Here are 8 of those myths, debunked:

1. The SAT is harder in some months compared to others.

This statement has a kernel of truth to it. The SAT is harder in certain months, but it’s not random. To make sure that the test consistently remains a challenge for future test-takers, College Board—usually with no warning—will adjust the test’s difficulty as the months and years go on.

Usually, students (and tutors) can get a hint if future administrations of the exam will be more difficult by paying close attention to the practice tests and Qbank questions that are made available on both College Board’s website and on Bluebook. Earlier this year, College Board removed several practice tests for the nebulous reason of providing students with the “most relevant practice resources.” In College Board-speak, this removal basically indicated that future exam administrations were going to get harder as the tests removed were relatively easier compared to the tests they were replaced with.

You can learn more about the SAT’s increasing difficulty here.

2. “Hacks” are the quickest way to see improvement on the test.

This myth has got to be one of the silliest that’s on this list. Unfortunately, it’s one that many students—and tutors—fall for, and I’ve seen way too many of my students (before they come and see me for help) waste time and money trying to “hack” the test. They see one TikTok that or have a tutor (usually one who is inexperienced or underqualified) who tells them to do something ridiculous that does nothing to improve the student’s score.

For example, I’ve had students tell me that other tutors have told them to just read the last sentence of a Reading passage, usually in the case where time is extraordinarily limited. This strategy, while well-intentioned, is terrible. True, some key information lies at the end of the passage (though it depends on the type of passage and the question being asked), but that information is useless if you don’t have the context to help with understanding it.

As a tutor and as someone who has taken the SAT before (like most other people have), I understand the desire to seek out and listen to sources that promote effortless “tips and tricks” to quickly see improvement. However, in my experience, the students who consistently improve their scores, regardless of their competence with the SAT’s subject material prior to tutoring, demonstrate a repeated willingness to learn new material, complete their assignments and practice tests, and ask tons of questions. In other words, there is no easy way to improve on the SAT—you must learn the concepts and develop a consistent but adaptable strategy if you want to do well on test day.

3. Luck is a major determinant of what your final score will be.

This myth comes from a place of resentment toward and frustration with College Board. Personally, I don’t like College Board (the organization is monopolistic in the college admissions process, charges high fees for its exams, and sells student data), so I understand the frustration. However, from what I’ve observed about their tests, there is almost always a solid reason why the right answer is correct and why the wrong answers are incorrect.

Yes, I believe there is a little bit of luck involved in getting a good score in the sense that you might be given a relatively easy test compared to other test-takers in other test administrations, but a lot of my students quickly realize that they can make their own luck by actually studying for the test (what a shocker!). Praying that College Board will be merciful on test day is not as effective at guaranteeing a good score as actually taking the time to prepare for the test.

Plus, test difficulty can only be evaluated through the eye of the beholder. Just because you hear one student who took the March SAT say it felt easy does not mean that the test felt easy for the person sitting next to them. Also, just because you feel like a question was easy does not mean that College Board rated it as such. So, the next time you hear someone talk about how the test is all luck because they felt their most recent SAT was unfair, take it with a grain of salt.

4. High grades in English and math translate to high SAT scores.

I used to believe this myth myself, and, as part of my onboarding process, I used to ask my students to provide their current English grade and what course they were currently taking. I assumed that students who had more advanced English courses under their belt (both AP and honors) along with high grades to show for it would do better on the SAT English section than those who didn’t.

I was wrong.

There was no identifiable correlation between students who were—on paper—better at English and high performance on the SAT English section. Specifically, I’ve seen plenty of my AP English students with nothing but As on their report cards bomb their diagnostic tests. To further add to this observation, I’ve even seen non-native English speakers do much better on the SAT English section than some of my native-speaking students.

The only identifiable trait that I could see among my high-performing students (700+ scores on the SAT English section), regardless of background, school of attendance, and prior tutoring, was that they understood what the test was asking them to do and showed a consistent mastery of the subject material.

5. I don’t need the SAT since the college(s) I’m applying to are test optional.

I don’t hear this myth often, which I would credit to the bubble that I live in as a tutor. Students who brush off college admissions tests aren’t going to be in my sessions, so I’m unsure of how widespread this belief is. However, if I could have a word with these students—literally—I would tell them one word: scholarships.

Even if a college does not require their applicants to submit a SAT score, that does not mean that it’s a wise decision to avoid taking the SAT. Colleges may still award scholarships based in part or in whole on a student’s SAT score, and it may be harder to earn a scholarship just based on GPA alone (more so if you have a low GPA).

6. If x number of answers is A/B/C/D, then the next one can’t be the same answer.

Imagine you’re playing roulette at a casino. You look up at the screen to see the history of numbers that the ball landed on. You notice a pattern: red, black, red, black, red, black with the most recent one being black. So, you assume that the next color the ball lands on must be red. After all, it’s a pattern, and surely the next color must be black, right?

You put all your chips on black. The dealer spins the wheel and drops the ball in. Despite the tension emanating from the other gamblers beside you, you remain confident in your choice. The ball slows down. Everyone goes quiet.

Red. All your money is gone.

What just happened is a classic example of the gambler’s fallacy. Essentially, it’s an assumption that the outcome of an inherently unpredictable event (such as roulette) must follow an observable pattern of previous, but uncorrelated, events. In other words, it’s wrongfully assuming that independent events are connected.

The gambler’s fallacy is, unfortunately, a phenomenon that I’ve seen several of my students engage in. For example, my students will grow very skeptical when they mark the same answer—let’s say C—for several consecutive questions. They then assume that the next question has to be something other than C.

This way of thinking is the worst way to go about taking the SAT. I have no idea how College Board selects which letter will contain the right answer, and anyone who claims they know is most likely lying. Personally, I think College Board randomly selects the answers, and if that’s the case, it would explain occasional cases where anywhere from 4-6 consecutive questions all have the same answer. However, this phenomenon should NOT be interpreted as an indication of how College Board will pick the answers for future tests because, as I said, it’s most likely a result of random number generation (RNG for short). Even RNG can produce patterns, just in the same way that a game as random as roulette can produce patterned or consecutive results.

At the end of the day, each set of answers should be considered independent of other questions. Yes, while it’s statistically more likely that the next answer has to be different from a string of consecutive answers, this strategy should not be prioritized over actual test-taking strategies that help you to get the right answer.

7. Focus on the objectivity of the answers—answers not right in real life won’t be right on the test.

The material that College Board sources for its SAT passages comes from actual, real-life sources. It would stand to reason that the answers should reflect objective truth. For example, a passage

However, this myth quickly shows itself as such if you look closely at the passages and the answers provided alongside them. All of the answers are self-contained within the context of the passage, meaning that you only need the passage to answer the question and nothing else. Additionally, evaluating the answers along what’s “correct in real life” isn’t a good strategy since most of the passages I’ve seen are argumentative or opinionated in nature. Consequently, I always advise my students to simply focus on what the passage says and not make any assumptions about anything.

8. Taking the SAT too many times looks bad to colleges.

The vast majority of test-takers take the SAT more than once. Unless you’re a senior who’s trying to make the early action/early decision deadline in the fall and you only have one more chance to take the test before that deadline, I always recommend that my students remain open to another exam sitting just in case they don’t get the score they want (which happens fairly often).

However, I do get some pushback from students who don’t want to look bad in front of college admissions officers by submitting multiple tests, fearing they’ll look stupid or incompetent. While I understand this anxiety, it’s fundamentally a myth. College Board allows unlimited retakes of the SAT, and as long as you’re showing improvement, it’s okay to submit multiple test scores to colleges. You also don’t have to submit your scores at the end of your test; colleges won’t see your score unless you send it to them. The only time I ever advise a student to submit their score in the exam room (of course, before they know their score) is when they’re a senior taking their last test. You have to submit that score to the colleges you’re applying to, so you might as well save on the fees that you would otherwise pay by submitting them when you get your score.

Additionally, aside from the obvious benefits of super-scoring, it’s a good idea to take the test more than once since it allows students to get a feel for the test in real testing conditions that are otherwise impossible to fully recreate outside of the test center.

9. Time management is everything—time should be equally allocated to every question on the test.

This myth is one that I personally hate. It’s rooted in complete ignorance of the test, and it’s a horrible strategy to use given the nuance of the test. Yes, time management is important, but a huge focus in my tutoring sessions is on developing a good strategy and learning the content that the SAT tests. Equally allocating time to every question ignores the nuances between the questions and is a complete recipe for disaster.

In my experience, the Writing questions (the second half of the English modules) are relatively easier compared to the Reading questions (the first half of the English modules). In simpler terms, it should take a student less time to complete the Writing questions—assuming they know the rules—compared to the Reading questions since the latter questions involve longer, tougher passages and more complex strategies. The advice I give is to allocate more time to the Reading section (being mindful that not too much time is spent on one individual question), which can be done by spending less time on the Writing questions.

10. Private tutoring can’t give me what I can find online for free.

Personally, I consider this one a myth, not because I’m biased as a tutor and business owner who makes money off students who need help preparing their college applications, but because I’ve seen plenty of students come to me for help after having already done various amounts of self-studying using free online resources.

For some students, there is a limit to how much they can raise their scores on their own without professional help. I don’t quite know how to explain what causes that limit, but I know that in such cases, the student is looking for me to help push them to and over their target score. While the student knows the test pretty well and may have already obtained free tutoring and advice elsewhere, they recognize that they’re hitting a ceiling that they can’t vault over their own without an expert to help them.

Think of it this way: you’re suing somebody in court, and you’re pretty confident that you know your case well. You ask ChatGPT for some advice on what to expect in court, and you consult various Internet forums on how the court system works. Other than being a quintessential case of the Dunning-Kruger effect (where inexperienced individuals in a specific area or field overestimate their knowledge in that area or field), that individual is going to be far less prepared when they show up to court alone than an individual who brings along an attorney.

What I’m trying to highlight in this analogy is that SAT tutors can bring their experience—years or even decades in some cases—to their tutoring sessions to help students see their mistakes and weaknesses in ways that can’t be addressed through rigorous Googling. In the age of the Internet, experts may seem superfluous, relics of the past who are greedily looking to take advantage of others. However—in danger of tooting my own horn too much—I would invite both students and parents to reflect on how much they really know about the test and then consider whether it would be a good idea to hire outside help to achieve their SAT goals. Remember: just because it’s free doesn’t mean that it’s good and true.

Note: this article was written without the use of artificial intelligence (AI).