Step 1 - Start preparing for the TOEFL and the SAT

You should start your preparation immediately unless you speak English fluently. The TOEFL (Test Of English As Foreign Language) examination is one of your passes for entering U.S. university. TOEFL test-taking is usually offered by the advising center in your country. The test is offered in two formats: iBT (internet-based) and PBT (paper-based). IBT format is more convenient because it's offered 30-40 times a year and in 4,500 authorized test centers across the world. The cost of the test ranges from 150-200$.

To find out what is the closest location where you can take the test visit
 http://www.ets.org/bin/getprogram.cgi?test=toefl.
Test-taking is usually provided by higher education advising centers.

How to prepare for the TOEFL?

Again, advising center in your country should be providing materials for preparation and/or preparation courses.

I'm currently using LONGMAN Preparation Course for the TOEFL Test practice book which I bought at the center in Croatia, and it's very useful. It's a book of almost 700 pages covering all 4 sections of the test:  Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing. The book is also accompanied with the audio CDs, a handful of tests and answer key. Great book all in all. If you're interested in having one, I suggest ordering at amazon.com. It costs about 100 $. Nothing compared to what you get by using it. Of course, you can buy the book separately from the audio CDs, or even without them. Then it costs about 50$.

Here's the direct link to save your time.

http://www.amazon.com/Longman-Preparation-Course-TOEFL-Test/dp/0132056925/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280924665&sr=1-11

And for other TOEFL preparatory books visit

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=toefl&ih=2_2_0_0_0_1_0_0_0_1.172_97&fsc=2.

What about the SAT?

Concerning the test-taking, the procedure is the same, which means contact the advising center. However, it's important to consider that the SAT test-taking is offered more rarely, usually once a month. So start planning your test date right now. The pages of CollegeBoard(http://www.collegeboard.com/student/index.html?student), which administers the SAT, could be very useful to you. There you can find the test-taking dates, free preparation materials, such as the question of a day,

and The SAT practice booklet.

Free materials will probably not be enough for you, so for an extra practice try The Official SAT Study Guide 2nd edition which includes 10 SAT tests. Here's the direct link if you want to order it from the amazon.com for only 12.49$. Usual price at CollegeBoard webpage is 21.99$. So give it a try.

http://www.amazon.com/Official-SAT-Study-Guide-2nd/dp/0874478529/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280926184&sr=1-1.

Feel free to comment and ask any questions or concerns you have on the topic.
I will be pleased to answer.

Leo