What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools

Your chance of acceptance
Duke University
Duke University
UCLA
UCLA
Your chancing factors
Unweighted GPA: 3.7
1.0
4.0
SAT: 720 math
200
800
| 800 verbal
200
800

Extracurriculars

Low accuracy (4 of 18 factors)
Add more factors ›
Thamira Skandakumar 9 11th Grade,12th Grade,SAT Info and Tips

5 Best SAT Prep Apps to Boost Your Score

Is your SAT score enough to get you into your dream school?

Our free chancing engine takes into consideration your SAT score, in addition to other profile factors, such as GPA and extracurriculars. Create a free account to discover your chances at hundreds of different schools.

Get Your Chances

What’s Covered:

 

Ever wanted to study for the SAT on the go, but don’t want to carry your heavy SAT prep books around? Well, there are numerous SAT prep apps available that allow you to study straight from your phone or tablet! 

 

In this article, we’ll run through the 5 best SAT prep apps and cover how you can use them to study for the SAT!

 

What You Need to Know About SAT Prep Apps

 

Like we mentioned earlier, SAT prep apps help you study on the go! You can easily find SAT prep apps off your phone or tablet’s app store, simply by searching SAT (but check below for a list of our top SAT prep app picks). 

 

It’s important to note that most SAT prep apps won’t help you practice in good test taking conditions. This means that most times, you will not be able to practice taking an exam for three hours straight with a book and pencil nor will it allow you to build upon your test taking strategies. Instead, these apps provide you with ways to study for portions of the SAT exam. For example, you may be able to build up on your vocabulary of commonly tested words on the SAT.

 

A good SAT prep app is one that is able to help you through different portions of the exam while still providing you with content that is applicable. These apps should give lessons on topics that are actually covered and provide questions with the same level of difficulty as ones you would find on the SAT exam. You also want to make sure that the apps are challenging you; you don’t want to be reviewing questions or learning lessons that you already know because that’s not going to help you increase your SAT score.

 

How to Use SAT Prep Apps

 

Use SAT Prep Apps in Conjunction With Prep Books

 

SAT prep apps are enticing because after all, they are free and easy to use. However, it is important to remember that SAT prep apps are designed to be used in conjunction with other study material. Most SAT prep apps will not be able to provide you with an in-depth understanding of concepts the way a SAT prep book would. Moreover, while some apps do have full length practice exams, SAT prep apps don’t allow you to take a practice exam in one sitting under actual test taking conditions. 

 

With that said, SAT prep apps are a helpful supplemental studying tool. Try using your SAT prep apps for 30 minutes a day to break up your study routine.

 

Know Your Study Habits

 

Some people are visual learners while others are auditory or tactile learners. If you are a visual learner, you might prefer reading about different concepts to get familiar with them. If you are an auditory learner, you might enjoy watching videos of people explaining concepts to you or walking through a practice problem. If you are a tactile learner, you learn best by repetitively practicing problems.

 

The great thing about SAT prep apps is that each type of learner can benefit from using them in a different way. Some apps allow visual learners to read through guides about how to work through a problem. Other apps help auditory learners by providing videos where tutors work through concepts or practice problems. There are even apps that appeal to tactile learners, allowing them to practice SAT vocabulary using flashcards or work through daily questions.

 

Use SAT Prep Apps On The Go

 

SAT Prep apps are great because they can be used on the go! You can learn or review for the SAT during your lunch break, or even while waiting for your turn at the dentist’s office. SAT Prep books are difficult to lug around, but if you have time while you are away from your room or desk, you can easily take practice questions from your phone. Just don’t become too comfortable with this method of test taking since, after all, your actual exam will be on paper!

 

Use Flashcards for 10 Minutes a Day

 

A lot of SAT Prep Apps allow you to build your own flashcards to study for the reading, writing and math portions of the exam. They’ll allow you to remember math equations you need to know or enhance your vocabulary to prepare for the reading portion of the exam. Make it a routine to use the flashcard feature of the app for just 10 minutes a day

 

5 Best SAT Prep Apps

 

While you can easily find SAT prep apps off the app store, a simple search won’t give you an idea of whether or not the app will actually be useful for studying. Check below for our ranking of SAT prep apps followed by a pros and cons list for each application.

 

1. Khan Academy

 

The Khan Academy app ranks #1 because of its unlimited guides to help you review concepts and learn how to work through problems.

 

Pros:

 

  • Learn concepts easily: Both auditory and visual learners benefit from this app because not only can you read helpful articles, but you can also watch videos that teach and review important concepts and theories. Videos and articles cover all portions of the SAT and both walk through common concepts as well as explain how to tackle various SAT problems. 

 

  • Learn useful SAT tips and strategies: A whole section of the Khan Academy SAT app is dedicated to learning useful SAT tips and strategies. You can watch videos or read up on how the SAT works, how to practice good time management, and how to approach specific parts of the exam.

 

  • Practice SAT tests: The Khan Academy SAT app comes with one full-length SAT exam to take on paper, which can come in handy. Just remember that this practice exam does not mimic test taking conditions, however, it can be useful to get some additional practice!

 

Cons: 

 

  • Lacks practice problems to do yourself: Unlike other SAT prep apps, the Khan Academy app does not come with practice problems that you can easily tackle on your own. This proves to be difficult for tactile learners, however, if you are looking to ensure you are knowledgeable about all the concepts tested on the SAT, the Khan Academy app is perfect!

 

2. Magoosh SAT Exam Prep and Practice

 

The Official Magoosh SAT Prep app somewhat mimics the Khan Academy app in terms of providing videos that give users a way to learn concepts tested on the exam. However, it also provides users a way to review these concepts using practice questions. 

 

Pros: 

 

  • Tons of videos to learn from: The Magoosh app provides videos that offer helpful test-day strategies, such as ways to reduce stress and the elimination method. It also provides a total of 205 videos that cover topics on the reading, writing and math portions of the exam.

 

  • Practice questions: In addition to the numerous videos provided on the app, there are over 300 practice questions that can be used to review the concepts taught in the videos.

 

  • Helps you plan for the SAT: This app also allows users to create a SAT study plan using their test-day as a deadline. Creating a schedule will help you determine how much you need to study per day to truly ace the SAT.

 

  • Magoosh offers tons more help: In addition to this app, Magoosh offers numerous other apps to help you study for the SAT. This app provides links to additional apps you can download such as SAT flashcards (check out app #5), grammar flashcards, mental math flashcards, etc. 

 

Cons: 

 

  • Subpar graphic user interface: The downside of the app is the graphic user interface. In comparison to other apps on the list, this app is sort of bland. However, the app makes up for its shortcomings because it makes it very easy to answer practice questions. Unlike other apps, the reading passages are given on the same page as the question being asked, which allows you to reflect back on the passage easily.

 

Discover how your SAT score affects your chances

As part of our free guidance platform, our Admissions Assessment tells you what schools you need to improve your SAT score for and by how much. Sign up to get started today.

Understand My Chances

3. SAT®: Practice, Prep, Flashcards 

 

This app is extremely user friendly and, as you will see below, offers a variety of ways to study for the SAT!

 

Pros: 

 

  • Learn by concept: This app allows you to learn concepts not by reading or watching other people solve questions, but by working through problems followed by an explanation. For example, you can learn how to simplify a fraction by solving a practice question and walking through a step by step guide.

 

  • Diagnostic and practice tests: Another major pro of this app is that you can take diagnostic and practice tests on the app to see how much you’ve improved by using the app. The app offers over 50 diagnostic tests that range from 30 minutes to 3 hours to ensure you are ready for the exam. 

 

  • Question of the Day: If you don’t see yourself using SAT prep apps for lengthy periods of time, you can use the Question of the Day feature on this app. The question of the day feature allows you to choose from one of the three subjects (critical reading, math or writing) and answer a practice question to get you ready for the exam.

 

Cons: 

 

  • Lacks videos to teach concepts: If you are an auditory learner, this app probably isn’t for you. While this app doesn’t provide videos to help you learn concepts, it’s a great tool to get hands-on experience by working through problems!

 

4. ELSA: An SAT® Test Prep App

 

The ELSA SAT Prep App is unlike any other app featured on this list. Here’s why!

 

Pros: 

 

  • Fun user interface: This app’s fun interface makes you want to use it! The app is designed so that users can navigate their way through a series of levels by completing different checkpoints and questions. The app also features a question of the day and allows you to play time challenges to test your time management. 

 

  • Practice questions mimic the exam: This app uses an interface that allows you to answer questions the way you would see them on the practice exam. This means that math questions give you the opportunity to practice both multiple choice and grid-in questions!

 

  • Can revisit questions you missed: If you answered a question incorrectly, you will be able to revisit the question anytime in the future to ensure that you have learned exactly why you missed the question. Whether you misread the question or didn’t understand the concept, you can always revisit the questions you got wrong. You can also save other practice questions you want to revisit in the future.

 

Cons:

 

  • Can’t learn concepts: Unlike other apps previously featured, this app does not run through concepts you will need to know to ace the SAT exam. Instead, this app works solely by providing sample questions to help you practice your test taking strategies. 

 

  • Not an easy interface to practice reading questions: Reading questions are hard to get through with this app because it requires you to open a separate tab to read the passage. This doesn’t mimic test taking conditions and makes it hard to look back at the passage when answering a question.

 

5. Magoosh Test Your Vocabulary

 

The Magoosh Test Your Vocabulary app is great for practicing and enhancing your vocabulary to ensure you are ready to conquer the reading and writing portions of the SAT!

 

Pros: 

 

  • Great way to build your vocabulary: This app provides three different sections and three to five levels in each section to enhance your vocabulary. The flashcard feature allows you to categorize words based on whether you know the word, need to practice it more, or don’t know it at all. As you flip through the flashcards, words you’ve seen before will reappear to help you review. Also, the app will make you relearn a word three times if you didn’t know it to begin with. 

 

  • Great for on the go: This app is great for when you are away from your study books. Whether you’re on the bus, at the doctor’s office, grabbing food, or going for a walk, you can easily develop your vocabulary using this app. Try using this app to incorporate 10 minutes of SAT vocabulary practice into your morning or night routine. This is the easiest way to enhance your vocabulary quickly. If you practice for 10 minutes everyday, you will see so much growth in your vocabulary in just one week!

 

Cons: 

 

  • Can’t learn concepts: Just like the ELSA SAT Prep app, this app doesn’t run through concepts you will need to know to ace the SAT exam. Instead, the app works solely as a question app to give you the practice you need to improve on your test taking strategies. 

 

How Will the SAT Impact My College Chances?

 

As a result of COVID, many schools have made SAT and ACT scores optional. However, when schools do take into consideration your scores, they often do so as a predictor of the applicant’s potential to succeed in college. 

 

An A at one school may translate to a B at another school; for this reason, standardized test scores are used as a universal guide to compare applicants. Sometimes selective schools use test score and GPA cutoffs as an automatic application filter, meaning applications with test scores or GPAs lower than these thresholds may not be reviewed. 

 

To ease some stress, CollegeVine’s free chancing engine will help you assess your likelihood of getting into your dream school. Our algorithm takes into account your standardized test scores, GPA, background and extracurriculars to determine your chances of acceptance at hundreds of schools across the country. It’ll also explain how you compare to other applicants and make suggestions to help you boost your profile! 

 

Thamira Skandakumar
Short Bio
My name is Thamira Skandakumar and I am from Vancouver, Washington. I am a current fourth year at UCLA studying Bioengineering with a minor in Electrical Engineering. In the summer, I will be moving out to San Diego to work at Medtronic in their Ventilator division.
Other articles by Thamira
5 Best SAT Prep Apps to Boost Your Score
11th Grade,12th Grade,SAT Info and Tips
10 Scholarships in Kansas To Save You Thousands on College
11th Grade,12th Grade,Scholarships
How to Become a Nuclear Engineer: Steps from High School
11th Grade,12th Grade,Career Path Breakdowns
View all

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts