On June 6th, 2015, the College Board made a huge mistake. This mistake resulted in some sections of the test being canceled and forced the College Board to use an abnormal scoring method. To make amends for the mistake, the College Board offered a free retest for June 6th test-takers in October 2015. What’s the situation today? How did the retest go? What should you do if you took the June 6th test? I’ll address all of this and more in this news update.
On both the Reading and Writing sections of the SAT, there are questions that incorporate graphs, charts, and tables. On the Reading section, the Official SAT Study Guide refers to these questions as "interpreting data presented in informational graphics." On the Writing section, they're referred to as "drawing connections between words and data." Both question types contribute to your Command of Evidence subscore.
For the purposes of brevity and clarity, I'll call the Reading and Writing questions that use data and graphics quantitative questions. In this article, I'll explain the different types of quantitative questions on Reading and Writing. Furthermore, I'll give you example questions and strategies to help you correctly answer quantitative questions on the SAT.
Finally, a practice test from the ACT with a name that doesn't include a corny inspirational verb! That's right - the ACT is rolling out a new test called the PreACT this upcoming school year. It's similar to its SAT counterpart, the PSAT, although not exactly the same. In this article, I'll tell you what's on the PreACT, how its different from the PSAT, and what it means for you as a student.
The SAT Reading and Writing section will test you on your knowledge of punctuation. Understandably, many students are utterly confused by commas and semicolons and clueless when it comes to colons and dashes.
In this article, I'll eliminate your confusion and explain all of the punctuation rules you need to know to ace SAT Reading and Writing. Furthermore, I'll provide practice questions to test you on what you've learned.
Are you taking the ACT soon? This complete guide will go over exactly what to expect on test day, from when to arrive at your testing center to when it’s safe to turn your cell phone back on.
Beyond the logistics, we’ll discuss what you can do in the days and weeks leading up to the test to fully prepare and feel confident. Read on to learn what to expect on ACT test day when you arrive, take the test, and finish up, alongside the most useful tips for doing your best throughout the day.
Tuition is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) costs associated with attending college. Because of this, it’s important to know exactly how much of your money will be going towards this expense.
In this article, I’ll explain exactly what’s included in this “tuition” line item on your college bill. Then, I’ll get into some of the nitty-gritty details, like:
Read on to learn more!
Do you have a high GPA, perform well in school, but can’t seem to do well on the SAT / ACT? This is a common pattern, and there are certain strategies that work especially well for you. First, we'll figure out why this is happening to you, and, depending on the reason, suggest ways to improve your SAT / ACT score. Second, we’ll go over what a high GPA but low SAT / ACT score signals to colleges and how to counter that signal.
If you’re looking for a concise, effective list of the best ACT advice, you’ve found it. Sometimes too much information can do more harm than good - in this post, I’ll lay out the five most important things you should do in order to do well on the ACT.
Let's get to it!
Stephen King once wrote, "To write is human, to edit is divine." Anyone who has written papers for school knows that first, second, and even third drafts can be full of errors. Through editing and revising, you can polish a piece of writing into its best form.
The Writing and Language section of the SAT asks you to be that "divine" editor. It asks you to improve paragraphs that contain both little picture mistakes and big picture weaknesses.
Writing and Language will be combined with your Reading score, but it’s a unique section that requires its own specific approach to prep. This guide is your first stop for preparing for the Writing and Language section of the SAT; read on to learn everything you need to know!
SAT Reading questions are notoriously tricky. They'll ask you to analyze passages in unfamiliar ways that seem confusing if you're not used to the format. It's helpful to have a basic game-plan for approaching tough Reading questions to make the Reading and Writing section less overwhelming. This article lays out a step-by-step process for interpreting Reading questions and lists a few tricks you should look out for to avoid making careless mistakes.
When test day’s just around the corner, what final steps can you take to feel prepared? This guide will go over exactly what happens on the day you take the SAT so that you don’t have any surprises.
Read on to learn what will happen at your test center, along with an overview of the materials you need to bring. Finally, we’ll discuss some strategies you can use to deal with nerves and feel confident going into the SAT.
This article is fully updated for the digital SAT!
You may already know a lot about some of the big, popular, national scholarships - programs like the Gates Millennium Scholarship, the Coca-Cola Scholarship, McDonald’s Scholarships, and so on. If you’re interested in applying for scholarship money, it’s definitely easiest to start with awards that you already know about.
But if you only focus on these big awards, you could be missing out on a lot of cash. Local scholarship awards may be smaller than the most famous scholarship programs, but there are so many awards out there that it would be silly not to look into local options.
Here, I’ll talk a bit about how these local awards differ from the national ones and why it’s important that you consider these smaller scholarships. Then, I’ll talk about how you can find scholarships in your community. I’ll end with tips and strategies for submitting the best possible applications for local scholarship awards.
Keep reading if you want to win the most local scholarship money possible!
The SAT has had a complete makeover. Just a quick glance will show you that it barely resembles its previous self. Many students, luckily, will find its transformation quite attractive.
This guide will help you catch up on the changes with a comprehensive overview of the new SAT format. Read on to learn about the test’s new design and scoring, followed by some tips on what these changes mean for test-takers. To begin, let’s go over the overall structure of the SAT.
The new SAT challenges students to understand the reasoning behind each answer they pick. Command of Evidence questions are a manifestation of this mission. In order to answer them, you have to carefully evaluate your thought process and the evidence presented by the author of the passage.
This article will focus on the evidence questions on the Reading section of the SAT; we have a separate article on Writing questions. In this guide, I'll tell you exactly what these questions test, what kinds there are, and how you can learn to answer them correctly every time!
In writing, transitions are important because they help establish logical connections between ideas. On the SAT Reading and Writing section, questions about transitions are an important component of the test. In this article, I explain the types of transition questions on the SAT and provide detailed advice on how to correctly answer these questions.
Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!
Stay Informed
Get the latest articles and test prep tips!
Holly R.
"I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”
