Skip the total. Read the breakdown.
Everyone looks at the big number first. Fair enough. But two students can both get a 1050 and need completely different plans, because one lost most of their points in Math while the other lost them in Reading and Writing. The total can't tell you that. The domain breakdown under it can.
So open your score report and find the two or three areas that came in lowest compared to the rest. That's your list. If it's Reading and Writing, check the central-idea questions first: they ask for the main point of a short passage, and students who read for details tend to miss them. If it's Math, look at whether your misses cluster in algebra, like writing an equation from a table or two points. Those show up constantly.
Your target comes from your colleges, not the PSAT
Your PSAT score doesn't say what SAT score to aim for. Your colleges do. Most schools publish a middle score range for the students they admitted last year, and that's the number that matters.
Look up two or three schools you actually care about, write down their ranges, and compare. Be honest here. Don't round up. The distance between where you are now and where those ranges sit is the only number worth planning around.
Small gap, big gap, different plan
If you're 50 or 60 points away, you don't need an overhaul. A few short sessions a week on your two weakest domains will usually do more than anything else. Spread them out. Three 40-minute sessions beat one exhausted Sunday afternoon.
A bigger gap needs more time, and that's where people get into trouble. They wait, then try to cram eight weeks of work into three, and end up doing general review instead of fixing the specific skills that cost them points. Ten focused questions on your worst skill do more than another full practice test. Full tests still matter, just not as the main thing: they're how you check whether the targeted practice is working.
When to take your first SAT
Work backward. If you have an application deadline, start there. If you don't yet, start from how much time your gap actually needs. A lot of students take their first SAT in the spring of junior year, since it leaves room for a fall retake and comes after most of the math the test covers.
Before you lock in a date, check the current test dates and registration deadlines on collegeboard.org. They move around. What you really want to know is simple: how many weeks do you have, and is that enough for the gap you found?
Practice the way the real test works
The PSAT already showed you the format. Same Bluebook app, same two modules per section, and the same routing: do well on the first module and you get a harder second one. Whatever you practice with between now and the SAT should work the same way. A test that isn't adaptive gives you a less honest read on where you are.
Once you've used up the official practice tests, StudyPebble's free full-length adaptive test at /sat/practice-test builds a fresh test every time, with no account needed. For the domains you flagged in step one, practice by skill instead. It's slower to feel good about, and it works.