Here are some tools for success that I highly recommend investing in:

The Collegeboard’s The Official SAT Study Guide

This book, affectionately known as the "Blue Book," is written by the test makers. It will have the best representation of questions you will actually see on test day. If you were to buy only one book to study for the SAT, this would be it. Yes, it is a best-seller - I wonder why.

An Electronic Dictionary

No, this is not a necessity, but it's very useful. The internet (dictionary.com or Google's define: word function) are equally useful, but sometimes you might want to study vocab when your American History teacher is droning on about the Harrison presidency. A laptop may be too obvoius and so an electronic dictionary is a good option. But stay away from the antiquated paper dictionary. If a full-length practice SAT had 60 words you found difficult, and it took you 30 seconds to look up each word in a paper dictionary, you've just spent half an hour flipping pages. This is what many of my students tell me discourage them from learning vocab.

Highlighters or colored pens

My high school genetics teacher told me that studies have shown that using multiple colors while studying stimulates learning. I thought he was full of it. I actually still think he may be full of it, but nonetheless you want to practice with at least one highlighter. At the very least, you should be highlighting the vocabulary you don't know (and then looking it up later). I find that I can focus better on reading comprehension when I have a pen in my hand and I'm underlining and annotating. Just some thoughts.

Snacks

I'm a huge proponent of snacking. Snacks maintain your blood sugar, keeping you awake and vigilant, and precluding brain farts. By snacks I don't mean ice cream and soda and candy. Snacks = fruits, pretzels, yogurt, etc. Stay away from sticky, stay away from sugary, stay away from smelly. Snacks shouldn't be a distraction or the cause of an energy crash. Stuff like soda and candy will give you a "sugar high" for roughly 90 minutes before you slump. Supposedly, studying with citrus also involves another sense (the sense of smell) to your studying. And when you bust out those oranges on test day your memory can be triggered by your olfaction. Bottom line: snacks are good.

The formula for SAT success doesn't require SAT "armamentarium" - I admit, I use the word only because I think it sounds cool. Fancy tools like an electronic dictionary or a library of test prep books are useless if you do not use them. I give this list because I found these things helpful - I do not give this list so students can make excuses. I absolutely abhor when a student tells me he didn't study because his mom hasn't bought him an electronic dictionary yet or she performed poorly because her pantry is empty. That's bull****. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: The only thing which will get you the score you want is to work for it. Yes, there are more efficient ways of studying and yes, there are tools which may make the process easier. But putting your nose to the grindstone is always a necessity.

Get a head start on SAT Vocab