Get a good night’s sleep and eat a nutritious breakfast. Those are just a few of the instructions sent in an e-mail from the College Board to all SAT test takers in the days before the test.

That e-mail also instructs test takers to “arrive no later than 7:30 a.m. the day of the test.”

However, many teens cannot successfully follow these instructions.

Studies by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) show that teenagers need 9.5 hours of sleep to perform at their best.

If testers woke up at 6:30 a.m. to be at the test center by 7:30, they would have to be asleep by 9 p.m. on a Friday night.

There are two problems with this idea.

First, teenage body clocks aren’t made to fall asleep at 9 p.m. Even if teens wanted to go to bed at 9 (and, granted, they shouldn’t be going out the night before the SAT), studies by the American Pediatric Association (APA) indicate that teenage body clocks don’t allow them to fall asleep that early.

Some students at Country Day have had their parents impose 10 p.m. bedtimes. They say that they lie in bed for 30 minutes to several hours until they can fall asleep.

In light of this information, is the College Board allowing enough time to get the optimal amount of sleep before arriving at the SAT at 7:30 a.m.? The answer is no; it’s nearly impossible to get 9.5 hours of sleep.

Second, the College Board wants us to eat a nutritious breakfast before taking the test. In order to cook a healthful meal, teens or their parents would have to wake up even earlier. In fact, I’ve seen test takers ordering and eating McDonald’s or Jack in the Box for their “nutritious” breakfasts.

The SAT’s 7:30 start time poses another problem: teenage brains don’t function at that time.

Optimal brain function in teens occurs after 9 a.m., according to studies released by NSF and APA. Taking the test during this optimal study time would benefit all involved: the colleges would receive a more accurate result, the SAT proctors could sleep in, and the test-takers would have time to sleep and eat a healthful meal before the test.

If starting later, say at 8:30 a.m., will help students feel more rested, prepared, calm, and attentive, why wouldn’t the SAT immediately implement that change?

“Students would feel somewhat more comfortable and positive about testing [if we started later]. On the other hand, it would also result in them leaving the test center later in the day, which might create problems or conflicts for activities planned for Saturday afternoon,” Nancy Viggiano, director of communications for the College Board, told me.

I understand that some people may have plans for their Saturdays, but Viggiano’s concern is not for test takers, but for “building availability.”

Viggiano said test centers, which are paid for use of their buildings, might need to use the buildings for other, non-SAT related activities.

Actually, they already do. El Camino High School, on a recent SAT testing day, was cutting trees, painting, and performing other maintenance work during the testing. They also use some weekends to mow the lawns and wash the windows.

And I’ve seen Hiram Johnson High School buildings used on SAT days for maintenance and sports.

Test centers are paid so I can take the test in an intellectual, academic environment; the basketball practice or the window washing can wait for another hour, right?

St. Francis High School actively takes measures to ensure that students get a proper testing area. Kay Gaines, test center coordinator there, says that they make sure to choose rooms that are away from other campus activities so “the testers wouldn’t be affected.”

It’s only a one-hour shift. It won’t dramatically impact the lives of the SAT administrators or the test center workers, but it could significantly improve the performance of the students on this test. Even if it didn’t, students would feel more comfortable and positive about the test, knowing that they were as prepared as possible.

We pay over $40 to take the test in a fair and equitable environment that will allow us to show how we perform academically. Give us a time frame that will allow us to do just that.