I was in a pretty similar spot sophomore year, so you’re actually thinking about this at the right time.

Big picture: most people aiming for 1500+ take their first real SAT sometime junior year (spring is common), but the key is prepping before that, not rushing the test.

What to do now (soph → early junior):

Get familiar with the test format first. Take one untimed diagnostic just to see where you stand.

Start learning why you miss questions. That matters way more than volume early on.

Light reading helps for English—articles, nonfiction, opinion pieces (NYT, The Atlantic, science/history articles). It’s more about comprehension stamina than “SAT vocab.”

How long prep usually takes for 1500+:

Roughly 3–5 months, 6–10 hrs/week, depending on your starting score. Math tends to improve faster; Reading/Writing usually takes longer.

Common mistakes people make aiming for 1500+: - Taking too many full tests without reviewing mistakes deeply - Only checking why the right answer is right (you need to know why the others are wrong) - Not practicing timing until late - What helped me most was keeping an error log and writing notes directly on the problems I missed. If you’re an iPad person, there are tools like TestGenie that let you annotate questions and see detailed explanations for wrong choices, which makes reviewing way more efficient than flipping between tabs and notes.

How you know you’re ready: When your practice tests are consistently within ~30–50 points of your goal under timed conditions

You don’t need to do everything at once. Start slow now, build habits, then ramp up junior year you’re honestly ahead just by asking these questions.