September SAT Recap: Transitions, Vocab, and Big August Scores!
Hello MJTP families,
As usual, I sat for the SAT this morning, my fifth this year. The early reports are already rolling in. Here's what showed up, what it means for October, and some August score news that made my week.
What students saw today
One student summed up the Reading and Writing section this way: the first module leaned heavily on transitions, the passages were science and academic heavy with almost no narrative fiction (he recalls only one poem), and the vocab was manageable.
I want to highlight the transitions report. Our "phrasal" and "clause" transitions showed up today, the same way they did in May and June. If you've been practicing those on Gauntlet, you were ready. Here's an example from our set:
On the Math side, the same student flagged that Module 1 felt harder than past exams, with some questions that looked more like medium Module 2 items. He asked whether that's a trend. I'll be watching the reports closely over the next few days, but it's one more reason we train on harder questions than the test typically asks. When Module 1 tightens up, students who've been training above the test on our proprietary questions are ready for it.
August scores are still coming in!
Two August results I have to share.
First, a student came in at 1530 (770 Reading and Writing, 760 Math), which surprised him because he's always considered himself stronger in math:
Hello Mr. John,
I got a 1530 (770 English, 760 Math) on the last SAT. This score surprised me as I am generally far better at math than English.
On the SAT at the end of english part 2 I realised I had 6 minutes left to complete the last 10 questions. Somehow I did manage to complete all of them with just seconds to spare, and apparently I also didn't do that bad.
Second, a former verbal student (last test with me in June) reached out with news that couldn't have come at a better time. On the one-year anniversary of starting SAT prep, she officially hit a 350+ point increase.
Hey it’s been a bit and I wanted to tell you the good news. I just took the August SAT after working with Emma for a while and got my score back today. I got a 770 math!!! That is a 70 point score from last time. I am now a super scored 1520. Thank you for everything.
LD, you know who you are, and I'm incredibly proud of you!
This is what dedication, great strategies, and hard SAT content lead to.
Vocab: the predictions held up
I'll be updating the official SAT vocab list by tomorrow so students preparing for October can study the words that appeared today. I predicted words like idiosyncratic, anomalous, meta-analysis, and salient for this test, and based on student reports, they showed up. If you studied the Quizlets on Gauntlet or followed my vocab trends here on MJTP, you were ready.
Other words students reported today:
- torpor
- lethargic
- perturbation
- indifference
- obscuring
- seizing
- pragmatic
- onerous
- paradigmatic
- perforated
Watch for the full updated list tomorrow.
Notre Dame is going back to test-required
Some admissions news worth knowing: Notre Dame announced on September 9 that it will require SAT or ACT scores again, starting with students applying for Fall 2028 enrollment. That means this year's high school seniors are still under the test-optional policy, but current juniors will be the first class affected. The university said its own admissions data showed a strong link between test scores and classroom performance, and that students from first-generation and rural backgrounds were more likely to be overlooked without a score.
Source: WVPE, "Notre Dame to bring back testing requirement for applicants," September 9, 2026. https://www.wvpe.org/wvpe-news/2026-09-09/notre-dame-to-bring-back-testing-requirement-for-applicants
Notre Dame joins Brown, Columbia, and the rest of the Ivy League in walking back pandemic-era test-optional policies. If you're a sophomore or junior, a strong SAT score is becoming a requirement at more of the schools you'll be applying to, not just a bonus.
Three weeks to October
The October SAT is only three weeks away, and the PSAT is right behind it. Keep pushing and capitalize on the momentum. I've added a handful of new questions to Gauntlet this week, so there's fresh material waiting for you. It's turning out to be a great SAT season.
Mr. John
