How to Reschedule the SAT

It happens. You carefully plot and plan and spend hours or months in preparation for taking the intensive SAT standardized test, and then something comes up to delay your arrival or to cause you to miss the test on the scheduled date and time completely. If you are worried about arriving at the test late, or if you have missed taking the SAT after scheduling it, then you may be unnecessarily stressing yourself out.

Late Arrivals to the SAT

If you arrive late to the SAT, you won’t be allowed into the test area. You can reschedule your test date right then and there.

Be aware that a change fee will apply. This can vary depending on the test center. Even up to the test day, you can reschedule the SAT or postpone it. The change fee is much less than reregistering to take the test.

Some test centers may allow a student into the testing area when the second hour begins in order to take the SAT Subject Tests.

Absent on Test Day

If for some reason you can’t make it to the test center at all, or if you forgot about the test, you will have to reschedule. Any funds you spent to take the test won’t be returned. A change fee applies for this as well. You don’t have to call and give a reason for your absence. Simply reschedule.

Test Date Conflicts

After you have already scheduled a date and time to take the SAT but something crucial arises, you can reschedule before the test date. Unfortunately, this doesn’t negate the change fee.

Refunds for the SAT

It’s understandable that things come up or life plans change. However, if you decide that you don’t want to take the test at all because something significant has changed your plans, you can possibly receive a partial refund.

The rules for refunds from canceling include:

Refunds are processed a full six weeks after the test date.
Score reports that you may have ordered at registration are refundable only if you were absent from the SAT on your scheduled test day.
Rush score reports are not refundable.
Any additional score reports can be refunded if orders are canceled within 24 hours and have not yet been processed.
Registration funds cannot be returned later than five days before the actual test day.
If you try to use your canceled registration to reregister, then your scores will not be reported.

Retaking the SAT

If your score is below 800, you may want to consider preparing for retaking the SAT with free or paid resources rather than winging it on your own.

A score of 1200 puts you firmly in the top 25 percent of test takers. A high average is 1400. A score of 1500 or above puts you in the top 1 percent of test takers.

If you worry about a low SAT score, you can take online classes to transfer to the college of your choice and then retake the SAT later and pass with a higher score.

SAT Registration Information

All of the information you need for scores refunds and more can be found online at the College Board SAT website. Once you have registered, it’s a good idea to commit your SAT number to memory.

To get your SAT or Subject Test percentiles and scores as soon as possible, you should use your online account: