Most SAT plans assume you have three months and unlimited weekends. Real students don't. They have school, sports, jobs, and a test date that's closer than they'd like. This is the four-week plan Brady runs with students inside Study Pilot — designed for one hour a day, six days a week, with a hard focus on the question types that actually move scores.
Average gain across students who completed the full plan in 2026: 120 points. Top quartile: 200+.
Before you start: the diagnostic
Do not start a study plan without a diagnostic. The whole point of personalization is knowing what to skip. Take a full, timed, official digital SAT practice test on the Bluebook app. No phone, no music, no breaks except the scheduled ones. Score it honestly.
Brady uses your diagnostic to do two things: project your current scoring range, and flag the question categories where you're losing the most points per minute. Those categories are where you'll spend 70% of your time.
Week 1 — Foundations and Honest Mapping
The first week is about turning the diagnostic into a study plan you'll actually follow. Six one-hour sessions:
- Day 1: Review every missed Reading & Writing question. Label each as content gap, careless error, or time pressure.
- Day 2: Same review for Math. Same three labels.
- Day 3: 30 minutes drilling your weakest Reading & Writing category. 30 minutes of grammar fundamentals.
- Day 4: 30 minutes drilling your weakest Math category. 30 minutes of arithmetic fluency (mental math, fractions, percent).
- Day 5: 45-minute timed Reading & Writing module. Review immediately.
- Day 6: 45-minute timed Math module. Review immediately.
Brady creates a private "miss list" for you in week 1 — every question you got wrong, tagged by skill. You'll come back to it every week.
Week 2 — Pattern Recognition
The digital SAT recycles question patterns far more than students realize. Once you can name the pattern, you can name the trap. Week 2 is dedicated pattern work:
- Reading: vocabulary in context, transitions, command of evidence. These three account for nearly half of R&W points.
- Writing: subject-verb agreement, modifier placement, comma rules, parallel structure.
- Math: linear equations, ratios and rates, systems of equations, percent change.
- Geometry & trig: right triangle ratios, circle equations, angle relationships.
Spend each session on a single pattern. Do 10-15 problems of that pattern in a row, then immediately mix it with two earlier patterns. Brady drills you on this mix every session and tracks which patterns are sticking.
Week 3 — Test Stamina and Pacing
Stamina is the most underrated SAT skill. Students who can solve every question in untimed practice still lose 80 points on test day because their brain fatigues by Module 2. Week 3 fixes that.
Pacing rules Brady drills
- Reading & Writing: 75 seconds per question average. Skip and flag if any question takes more than 90 seconds.
- Math: 95 seconds per question average. Free-response math problems get up to 2 minutes.
- Always finish the module with 1-2 minutes to revisit flagged questions.
- Never leave a question blank. The SAT has no wrong-answer penalty.
Two full-length practice tests this week, ideally on Saturday and Sunday morning. Same start time as your actual test day. Same snacks. Same room if possible. You're not just practicing the test — you're rehearsing the morning.
Week 4 — Sharpening and Tapering
Athletes taper before a race. Students should too. Week 4 cuts volume by 30% and focuses entirely on your highest-leverage gaps.
- Days 1-3: 45-minute sessions on your top 3 remaining weak categories.
- Day 4: One full-length timed practice test under real conditions.
- Day 5: Light review — your miss list only. No new content.
- Day 6: Rest. Movie, walk, friends. Brain consolidation matters.
The night before the test: no studying. Lay out your clothes, your admission ticket, your calculator, and your snacks. Sleep eight hours. Eat protein in the morning. Walk in confident.
What Brady does differently from a tutor
A human tutor sees you for one hour a week and guesses what to focus on. Brady sees every miss, every hesitation, and every time you re-read a passage. He builds your plan around the data, adjusts it after every session, and is available at 11 p.m. on a Tuesday when you finally have time to study.
He also remembers. If you struggled with parallel structure three weeks ago and nailed it on yesterday's drill, he knows. The next mixed quiz will include just enough to keep it sharp without wasting your time.
The honest bottom line
Four weeks is enough to move 100-150 points for most students who follow the plan. It's not enough to turn a 1100 into a 1500. If you want a major jump, start earlier. If you want a real, durable gain in the time you actually have, this is the plan.
Open Study Pilot, tap Brady, and ask him to start a four-week SAT plan. He'll run the diagnostic, build the schedule, and meet you tomorrow.