The pressure is on. With the test scheduled for April 2, students prepare for one of the most pivotal exams of their academic careers – the SAT. For many, the path to a great score involves relentless practice, strategic preparation and overcoming the mental toll that comes with the process.
For sophomore Aayush Khadse, achieving a perfect SAT score is a matter of practice and strategy. Khadse is passionate about scoring well on the SAT, so he began to practice for it earlier than his average peers.
“Mainly, it’s just a lot of drilling questions, a lot of Khan Academy,” Khadse said. “Then, I go on the College Board website and do a lot of practice questions. You look at the analysis of what you’re messing up on, and then you do 100 questions on that exact topic.”
According to Khadse, however, most sophomores are not as worried about the SAT as juniors and seniors are.
“A lot of them don’t really understand how little time they truly have,” Khadse said. “They think, ‘Oh, the SAT is far away, I’m not even close to college yet.’ But realistically, you’re going to be taking the SAT in like five or six months.”
The SAT is less unknown to junior Rahul Nanjundan, who has taken the test twice already, but Nanjundan acknowledges the pressure and significant challenge it carries.
“It’s kind of scary, because in order to get into a good college, mostly everything relies on your one SAT score,” Nanjundan said. “You only have a certain timeframe to do it, so if you miss it, you’re kind of screwed.”

Nanjundan’s preparation strategy combines different test strategies like a TestMasters course and self-studying with the digital SAT on Bluebook and Khan Academy. However, for Nanjundan, the hardest part isn’t signing up for test preparation.
“The hardest challenge is just the constant revision of practice problems and practice tests,” Nanjundan said. “It gets really draining and time-consuming. The discipline needed to take time from your day to study and to sit there for hours just to study for the SAT is really hard to have.”
Junior Dimitri Teas shares a similar sentiment. While he feels reasonably prepared, he believes the school could do more to integrate SAT-style questions into classes.
“We could do with a bit more preparation in classes because we’ve never really seen anything specifically like it,” Teas said. “The actual SAT seems to be different from the PSAT, but overall, I’m pretty confident.”
Teas prepares by using official College Board practice tests and studying with friends who have already taken the SAT. He also believes that IB students tend to be more prepared compared to the average student, due to their course rigor.
“I think the average student is generally less prepared, as a lot of people don’t really think about [the SAT] until it comes up,” Teas said. “But IB students, like me, are generally pretty prepared. We’ve already done multiple SATs outside of the ones offered by the school.”
Teas said that he thinks the SAT is “very important” and knows just how essential it is to the future of students.
“If you go into a school inside of America, along with the ACT, it’s one of the most important benchmarks used by colleges to determine what level you are at,” Teas said.
Teas also shares advice to those younger than him, sharing a strategy to use when you have time on your side.
“If I was a sophomore, I would tell myself that the best preparation you can really do whilst keeping a good balance with school and having a life is [to] just pay attention in class,” Teas said. “Focus on cultivating your drive to learn and your interests, and don’t stress about it too much.”
However, although there are a lot of juniors and even sophomores already starting to prepare for the exam, not everyone is so stressed about the SAT. Junior Riley Hudlo is unfazed about the upcoming test date.
“It means a lot, but it’s a long time away and I have time to prepare,” Hudlo said. “I got a book I’m gonna use to prepare.”
Many students both inside Bellaire and across the US spend countless hours preparing for the SAT, but Hudlo said he is glad the SAT is not taking over his life.
Just like Hudlo, the majority of Bellaire students have not studied for the upcoming SAT. An Instagram poll that surveyed 91 students revealed that 84 percent are not studying for the April SAT.
As the SAT gets closer, everyone is preparing in their own ways. Whether they’re aiming for a perfect 1600 or just hoping to do their best, students prove that there’s no single path to success.
The in-school SAT will happen on April 2. SAT scores are expected to come out two to three weeks after the exam happens.