SAT Test Dates and Deadlines for 2017-2018

Odds are that if you’re a high school student planning to apply to college, you will need to schedule some standardized tests. You usually begin taking these during your junior year and are able to wrap them up before application deadlines during the first semester of your senior year. If you’re in the process of planning your standardized test approach, you should know that the calendars are available far in advance, with tentative dates set up to 3 years ahead of time.

For 2017, the standardized test season is well underway and official SAT dates have been released for the first half of 2018, too. In addition, College Board has released anticipated dates into 2021. If you’re a high school student planning your SATs, don’t miss our comprehensive schedule of test dates, deadlines, and score release dates!

Confirmed SAT Test Dates 2017-2018

Anticipated SAT Test Dates for 2018-2019:

These test dates and deadlines are applicable to any students testing in the United States or in U.S. territories. Keep in mind that registration materials that are submitted by mail must be postmarked by the mailing deadline and that all phone and online deadlines expire at 11:59 PM EST. If you register late or need to make changes to your registration, you will have to pay additional fees.

If you miss a late registration deadline, it may be possible to get on a waitlist. To learn more about doing so, visit the SAT Waitlist.   

You should also know that SAT Subject Tests are generally available on every test date with the exception of March test administrations. To learn more about which SAT Subject Tests are offered on each date, see the College Board’s Subject Test Dates.

How Do You Decide When to Take the SAT?

After you’ve seen all of these test dates, you might be thinking: how do I decide when to take the SAT? Here are a few strategies to decide which test date to register for:

Make sure you have enough time to prepare.

It’s usually not a good idea to take the SAT before you’ve had time to study, so consider how much time you’ll have to prepare before you register for a testing date. It’s even better to compose a full study plan before registering for an exam, so you can be absolutely positive that you’re doing all of the prep you need before the date.

For instance, you might map out that you want to take a full practice test every two weeks, and you want to take 5 full practice tests before the real SAT. That means that you’ll want to register for a test date at least 10 weeks from now, so you have time to fit that study plan in.

Consider the time of year and your schedule.

Before you register for any particular test date, consider your schedule in the weeks before the test. Will you be studying for final exams or AP tests? Is your sister’s wedding the weekend before? Will you be going on summer vacation? Consider all of the things that might keep you busy and take you away from SAT prep, and try not to register for test dates when you’ll be stretched too thin to prepare.

You might want to consider taking the SAT right after summer vacation or winter break, when you might have more free time than usual to squeeze in more practice problems.

Map out your complete testing plan to finish before applications are due.

Most students begin testing in their junior year with the goal of taking their final SAT in senior fall at the latest (before college applications are due). In addition, CollegeVine recommends taking the SAT three times at most (after three times, your score usually won’t improve much). Finally, you want to leave several months in between test dates to study your weak areas from the last exam, as noted above.

So with all of these guidelines put together, you can compose a complete testing plan. For example, let’s say you plan to take the SAT three times, with three months in between each test. That means that testing will take nine months, and if you want to be done in August of your senior year, you should probably test for the first time in December of junior year.

More Resources

If you’re just starting to plan and prepare for your SATs, you might feel a little overwhelmed by all the options out there. There are plenty of CollegeVine resources to help. 

To learn more about what the SAT is, how it’s organized, and what your score actually means, check out our posts that introduce the SAT and some of its nuances. Here we summarize the SAT format, describe how it’s scored, and help to interpret what these scores mean. For all your general SAT questions, check out these posts:

• So What is the SAT Anyway? A Newbie’s Guide to the College Board SAT

• A Guide to the New SAT

• How to Register For Your SATs

• Which Section of the SAT and ACT is Most Important?

• A Guide to Disability Accommodations for Standardized Testing

• 2017 Welcomes New Testing Policies for Accommodations on the SAT

• The CollegeVine Guide to SAT Scores: All Your Questions Answered

• How the New SAT is Scored

• What is a Good SAT Score?

• How Does the Curve Work for the SAT?

• Do I Have to Self-Report My Test Scores?

If you’re interested in learning more about a specific section on the SAT, you’ll find our section-specific guides a big help. With an Ultimate Guide for each section along with section-specific strategies and study tips, you won’t want to miss the insightful tips shared here:

• The Ultimate Guide to the New SAT Reading Test

• The Ultimate Guide to the New SAT Writing and Language Test

• Five Tips to Boost Your Score on the Reading SAT

• The Ultimate Guide to the New SAT Math Test

• Five Tips to Boost Your Math SAT Score

• The Ultimate Guide to the New SAT Essay

Finally, if you’re getting ready to take the SAT and want to brush up on your general content knowledge or strategy, check out the awesome tips in our SAT prep guides. There are many commercial SAT study guides, but few are based on the same insider knowledge we have at CollegeVine. For a glimpse into our favorite SAT prep tips, check out these posts:

• Tips to Prepare Yourself for Your SAT Test Day

• How to Pace Yourself on Every Section of the SAT

• Five SAT Strategies You Should Know

• 10 Tips to Prepare for the SAT

• How Many SAT or ACT Practice Tests Should You Take?

• Should You Retake Your Standardized Tests?

• 10 Tips to Improve Your SAT Score