Being conducted by The College Board of US, the SAT exam is held across more than 24000 centers thus giving equal opportunity to students globally to have their best shot at the Ivy League colleges in the US. Administration of the test is done by ETS across the various centers which are dedicated to the SAT exam all across the nations.
The SAT test centers have all the facilities which are required by the test takers for the smooth conduction of the test. In case of disability, you will be given the required aid as and when required.

Two major sections present in the exam include:

ERBW Section: Based on the comprehension and verbal ability Mathematics: Tests the analytical and calculative skills

Most of the major schools in the US look forward to the student who also appears for another section: The Essay section.
The questions are based on the high school level of subjects, testing the fundamentals of the above-mentioned subjects along with the skills of analysis and comprehension.
Both the sections are graded in the range of 200 – 800, thus the entire exam is out of 1600. For the students looking forward to taking the SAT Essay, you need to write a short descriptive essay based on the analysis of the given passage of about 700 words within 50 minutes. An argument or an opinion about the passage is the most expected output from the student, which reflects the thinking ability and originality of thoughts.
Twist in the tale: Be ready to be surprised (not anymore though!) with the experimental section in the SAT exam which has been introduced to test out the updated materials of the SAT exam paper. There will be a separate section of 20 minutes of the unscored experimental section with questions of a different pattern from the rest ones! So what is the twist?
For students taking the test under the standard testing conditions, it is merely impossible to distinguish the experimental section from the regular section questions!

Technically, there is no upper limit on the number of times you can appear for the SAT exam. The SAT exam doesn’t bar students based on the number of attempts. Yet, there is a perfect time for applying and attending the SAT exam which is addressed in the next section

Creating a timeline often ensures a perfect preparation for the SAT exam, which ensures that you ace the SAT at a brisk pace.
The following table acts as the guide for selecting the preparation phase:

• To make things simpler for the students, if you have aced the SAT in your sophomore, the only bigger hurdle which remains for you is to clear your boards, after which you can start applying for the colleges.


• The validity of the SAT score is for 5 years.

Well, the ideal answer is, understanding the concept behind the SAT exam. Unlike the entrance exams like IIT JEE or AIPMT, the SAT exam is a qualifying exam, which is just one of the qualifying criteria to apply for the universities in the US. Qualifying in SAT in no way guarantees admission to your dream college.
What is the validity of the SAT scores? This is one of the primary reasons as to why you should leverage the number of attempts provided in the SAT exam pattern. It is recommended to take the SAT exam more than once for the following reasons:

• It helps you to adapt to the pattern of the exam.


• Improvement in the score of the exam increases the chances of entering your dream college.


• More than 2 million students appeared for the SAT exam as of 2019, which has risen by more than 4% year-on-year. To improve your percentile ranks, re-appearing the exam more than once is often suggested.

According to the experts, your attempts should not go beyond 3 to land your dream college. Yet, to remain on the complacent side, we could accommodate an extra attempt. But, why not more than 4 attempts? Though there can be a number of reasons, we would like to point out the top three reasons why the SAT exam should not be taken more than 4 times?

• More than 18K bucks are what you spend just as the registration fees for the SAT exam for four attempts. An extra attempt would make you spend almost a quarter of a lakh for the SAT exams! Beyond four attempts, it is a clear sign that you are cut out for something else and there is no point in bearing the sunk cost as well as the extra effort attempt after attempt.


• Failure to get through your dream college can even irk the eyebrows of some examiners and can become questionable regarding your dedication for the exam.


• You might lose out on some good opportunities at your way back home, by trying to chase the American Dream. Let us not forget, both the CEOs of Microsoft and Google have studied from Indian universities.