I’ve only been at this a few months, but if there’s one thing that site analytics have shown me reliably over that short time it’s that traffic booms in the days following an SAT score release. Consider this your official welcome, June SAT score recipients! I hope, sincerely, that you’re pleased as punch with your scores, and that you’ve only stopped by here on a sort of strange Internet victory lap. If that’s the case, congratulations!

For everyone else: this is not the time to sulk or let frustration overcome you. This is the time to redouble your efforts and start prepping efficiently, so that by the time the next SAT comes around in October, you’re a lean, mean, test-stomping machine. Take today to blow off some steam — go for a run, play video games, take a nap — but be ready to get to work tomorrow.

Your mission this summer should be to systematically seek out particular weak areas in your SAT skills, and then drill them until they become strengths. And by “weak areas” I don’t mean “I suck at math.” I mean real nitty-gritty specifics. I mean “I always screw up exponent problems,” or “I have a really hard time recognizing faulty comparisons.”

Once you know the kinds of questions that hurt you the most, you can start working those specific areas. Remember, big score improvements can come from relatively small skill improvements. One fewer mistake per section will lead to a roughly 100 point overall score improvement.

Looking for a way to identify some weak math areas quickly? Try this drill. Or this one. Want to dive right into the deep end? I got you, boss.

Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr with questions. Seriously.