The SAT and Sleep: Part 1

I just got a 1400 on the SAT!! 

Not bad, right?

Did I mention that I'm a full-time SAT and ACT coach?

So … that's not a very good score when parents are trusting me to help their kids improve their SAT score. However, let me reassure you that my average score is between 1580 and 1600.  

So why did I score almost 200 points lower than my average this time? 

a. Fluke
b. Memory Loss
c. Act of God
d. Sleep Deprivation

The correct answer is b. Memory Loss.

Just kidding. The correct answer is actually d. Sleep Deprivation.  

The National Institute of Health (NIH) recommends that adults get 7-9 hours of sleep per night and high schoolers 8-10 hours per night.  I'm an adult and average 7 hours of sleep per night. When I’m regularly getting my 7 hours, I’m scoring fine. 

However, I’ve never been able to break 1500 when I get less than 6 hours of sleep per night. There were a couple times when I didn’t even break the 1400 mark. That was when I was barely getting 5 hours of sleep per night. 

The funny thing is, while sleep-deprived, I always thought I was doing fine when taking those exams. The shock came when I received my score. The questions I got incorrect were all silly mistakes: mostly questions I had misread. Some were even questions I understood, but somehow bubbled in the wrong answer. SMH. 
​
What about the ACT? Did I experience a similar drop in my score due to lack of sleep? YES!

So take it from me: It doesn’t matter how much you know or how much you studied. The single worst thing you can do to sabotage your test score is not get enough sleep.

Stay tuned for the second part of the importance of sleep and the SAT!