Exam Pulse12-week study plan for the SAT® exam on March 6, 2027
Start on December 12, finish rested on test day. A week-by-week plan with practice time split by the published domain counts, the deadlines that fall inside it, and a free worked question.
The 12 weeks at a glance
The plan assumes about 6 hours a week: two or three skill sessions plus one timed set. Weeks run Saturday to Friday, so you can take each full test on a Saturday morning, like the real test.
| Week | Dates | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | December 12–December 18 | Diagnostic | Take one full-length Bluebook™ practice test under real timing. Sort every miss by domain and skill in an error log. |
| Week 2 | December 19–December 25 | Algebra + Boundaries | Algebra: linear equations, linear functions, systems. Reading and Writing: punctuation between clauses and around extra information. |
| Week 3 | December 26–January 1 | Advanced Math I + Form, Structure, and Sense | Equivalent expressions and quadratics: factor, vertex, discriminant. Grammar: subject-verb agreement, verb tense and form, pronouns, modifiers. |
| Week 4 | January 2–January 8 | Advanced Math II + Craft and Structure | Nonlinear functions, exponentials, and questions about a constant. Words in Context, Text Structure and Purpose, Cross-Text Connections. |
| Week 5 | January 9–January 15 | Geometry and Trigonometry + Information and Ideas | Circles, area and volume, right-triangle trig, angles. Central Ideas, Inferences, and Command of Evidence with graphs and tables. |
| Week 6 | January 16–January 22 | Bluebook™ test 2 | Second full-length Bluebook™ practice test. Rework every miss without a timer, then redo it timed two days later. |
| Week 7 | January 23–January 29 | Data Analysis + Expression of Ideas | Ratios, percentages, data and scatterplots (one short session on probability and study design). Rhetorical Synthesis and Transitions. |
| Week 8 | January 30–February 5 | Harder Module 2 week | Mixed sets of harder questions in both sections, timed at about 71 seconds per Reading and Writing question and 95 seconds per Math question. If you are borrowing a device from College Board, request it by February 4. |
| Week 9 | February 6–February 12 | Exam Pulse Practice Test A | Sit Module 1 and route to the harder or easier Module 2 using the routing rule, then review with the answer explanations. |
| Week 10 | February 13–February 19 | Exam Pulse Practice Test B | Sit the harder-path test that leans on the skills Test A uses less. Registration deadline: February 19. |
| Week 11 | February 20–February 26 | Bluebook™ test 3 | Final full-length Bluebook™ practice test on the device you will use. Late registration and changes close February 23. |
| Week 12 | February 27–March 5 | Taper | Light mixed review from your error log only. Check that Bluebook™ is installed and your device is ready, and print or save your admission ticket. Sleep. Test day: Saturday, March 6, 2027. |
Deadlines are 11:59 p.m. ET: registration closes February 19, 2027 and late registration on February 23, 2027. Check them on the official page: https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/sat/dates-deadlines
Where your practice time goes
Skill time follows the published question counts for each domain. Over the plan that adds up to 36 hours of skill practice, half for each section, on top of the full tests. The focus notes come from our count of skills across College Board's released practice tests 4–11 and its question bank. They describe practice material, not the live test.
Reading and Writing (54 questions)
| Domain | Questions per test | Share | Skill hours | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craft and Structure | 13–15 | 28% | 5 h | Words in Context every week (about 8 per test). Text Structure and Purpose. Cross-Text Connections usually appears once. |
| Information and Ideas | 12–14 | 26% | 4.7 h | Central Ideas and Details, Inferences, and Command of Evidence. Practice the graph and table questions until you can read the data quickly. |
| Standard English Conventions | 11–15 | 26% | 4.7 h | Boundaries (commas, semicolons, colons, dashes) and Form, Structure, and Sense (agreement, verb forms, modifiers). |
| Expression of Ideas | 8–12 | 20% | 3.6 h | Rhetorical Synthesis "notes" questions (about 6 per test in released forms) and Transitions. |
Math (44 questions)
| Domain | Questions per test | Share | Skill hours | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algebra | 13–15 | 35% | 6.3 h | Linear equations, functions, systems and inequalities. Fast, accurate, and often quickest in Desmos. |
| Advanced Math | 13–15 | 35% | 6.3 h | Quadratics (factoring, vertex, discriminant, completing the square), exponentials, and questions about a constant such as k. These are common on the harder Module 2. |
| Problem-Solving and Data Analysis | 5–7 | 15% | 2.7 h | Ratios, percentages, one- and two-variable data. Probability, margin of error and study design usually get only 0–1 question each. |
| Geometry and Trigonometry | 5–7 | 15% | 2.7 h | Circles (including circle equations), area and volume, right-triangle trig, and lines and angles. Circles show up often in College Board's question bank. |
About a quarter of Math questions are student-produced responses, where you type your answer instead of choosing it. Practice entering fractions and negative answers.
Free sample question, worked
This question is in the style of a harder Math Module 2 question. It is an original Exam Pulse question, not taken from any official test.
x² − kx + 2k − 3 = 0
In the given equation, k is a constant. The equation has exactly one real solution. What is the greatest possible value of k?
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: 6.
A quadratic equation ax² + bx + c = 0 has exactly one real solution when its discriminant, b² − 4ac, equals 0. Here a = 1, b = −k and c = 2k − 3, so the discriminant is k² − 4(2k − 3) = k² − 8k + 12.
Setting k² − 8k + 12 = 0 and factoring gives (k − 2)(k − 6) = 0, so k = 2 or k = 6. The greatest possible value is 6.
Check: when k = 6 the equation is x² − 6x + 9 = 0, which is (x − 3)² = 0, with the single solution x = 3.
Common mistakes: an answer of 2 is the other value of k, not the greatest. Forgetting the factor of 4 gives k² − 2k + 3, which has no real zeros. In Desmos you can graph y = x² − kx + 2k − 3 with a slider for k and look for the value where the vertex touches the x-axis, but the algebra is faster.
Free official practice first, then the pack
This plan uses three free full-length tests in the Bluebook™ app: https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/practice/practice-tests/bluebook. For lessons and skill practice, Khan Academy's free official course is here: https://www.khanacademy.org/digital-sat.
Weeks 9 and 10 use the Exam Pulse Predicted Practice Pack for the SAT® Exam – March 2027. It has two original full-length practice tests. Test A includes both adaptive Module 2 paths and a routing rule, and Test B is on the harder path. Both come with full answer explanations. It costs US$19, or US$12 for Test A only. Want the full calendar? See all test dates and deadlines.
Get the March 2027 pack · US$19No study plan or practice pack can promise a particular score. Exam Pulse questions are original practice material, not questions from the real test.