SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

Have you ever heard of the summer slide? Sadly, it has nothing to do with a water park or any park, for that matter. Instead, it has to do with the learning loss students experience during the summer months.

If you’ve ever realized in July that you can’t remember any of the facts you memorized for a final exam, you’ve experienced summer slide. If you’ve started a new school year needing a review because you've forgotten the material you learned at the end of the last year, that’s summer learning loss.

So what is summer slide? It is summer learning loss of the knowledge and progress you made during the school year. And yes, it’s very real and affects most kids from elementary school all the way through high school.

Summer learning loss statistics tell us that each summer, kids lose 2-3 months of knowledge they had gained during the school year, which is a lot! Math loss seems to be the greatest, and high school students tend to lose the most knowledge. You might have noticed that since COVID, you feel more behind than ever, so summer slide can really hurt you academically.

In spring 2024, the new digital SAT will replace the traditional paper and pencil SAT we’ve known for years. You might be wondering how the digital SAT will be scored and how this will affect you. Is the scoring more difficult, easier, or the same? And how is the digital SAT score calculated?

The City University of New York system is the lesser-known member of New York State's public university system. Unlike New York's SUNY colleges and universities, however, all the CUNY schools are located in NYC.

In this article, we'll go over a list of CUNY schools in NYC and CUNY locations along with what to consider when choosing which CUNYs to apply to.

If you want to get accepted to any college in the U.S., you need to know its admissions requirements. That includes whether you’ll have to submit SAT or ACT scores! Many colleges have adopted test optional admissions policies over the past several years…but what about top schools? Is Harvard test optional? Are Ivy League schools test optional?

We know all the changes can be confusing, but we’re here to help. In this article, we’ll walk you through Harvard’s current testing policies and the testing policies at top 25 universities. We’ll also explain whether test scores still matter at test optional schools and how to make decisions about standardized testing. 

There’s a lot to cover, so let’s dive in. 

Business is a great college major, especially for those who are creative, innovative, and see themselves as leaders. A business major is the best of both worlds because a student will leave school with a degree that is both broad and practical. Like any other major, the school you attend will give you an advantage as you set out on your career one day.

Attending a school with a strong business undergraduate program will give you a leg up in your experience, potential job offers and even your starting salary, so it's important to choose wisely. Your future is a marathon, not a sprint, so take your time to research and visit schools if you're set on majoring in business and attending one of the top undergraduate business schools.

Don't you wish you could find out how you scored on the SAT right after you finish taking the test? Or maybe you'd like to forget all about it and pretend it never happened (better luck next time)!

Either way, your wait time for your SAT scores will be the same: roughly 13 days. This article fills you in on all the details of SAT score reporting and offers some advice for what to do once you get your scores.

Note: For international students and those planning to take the digital SAT next, how long it takes to get your scores back will differ. Get the most up to date info here.

The ACT is an important college admissions test that has traditionally been administered on paper. But according to a press release by ACT, Inc., more and more students will soon be able to take the ACT in an online, computer-based format. So can you take the ACT online, or not?

Below, we go over who can (and will soon be able to!) take the ACT test online, what this computer ACT looks like, and the pros and cons of both the computer and paper versions of the ACT.

If you're politically active, you may want to go to a college where the students, faculty, and administration share your values. You'll be more likely to find student groups that are aligned with your interests and beliefs, and you'll probably have a more enjoyable college experience.

In this article, we'll give you a list of over 70 of the most liberal colleges in the United States. Furthermore, we'll detail the traits of liberal colleges, explain possible advantages and disadvantages of attending liberal colleges, and advise you how to find liberal colleges that could be a good fit for you.

Big changes are coming to the SAT! In addition to some important changes being made to the test format and content, there’ll also be changes to when and how you get your SAT scores back. We know, we know…this is probably a little stressful for you if you’re getting ready to take the SAT or if you’ve already taken it and you’re waiting on your scores. Hang in there—we’re here to help!

One of the most important questions you’re probably wondering is: when do Digital SAT scores come out?

In this guide, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the switch to the Digital SAT and answer this and all the great questions you have about it, including:

• When will the SAT go digital?
• How are Digital SAT scores different from paper-and-pencil SAT scores?
• When will Digital SAT scores be released?
• What to do if you haven’t gotten your Digital SAT scores back
• What to do after you receive your Digital SAT scores

Let’s dig in. 

If you're from a Southern state, or you just love sweet tea, hush puppies, delicious BBQ, and saying "y'all," you may want to attend college in the South. If you're considering going to college in the South, you should have an idea of which schools are the best in the region.

In this article, I'll rank the best colleges in the South and offer tips on finding the best Southern colleges for you.

Thinking about attending a SUNY or CUNY school but aren't sure where to start or even what the differences between the two are? We're here to help! Read this guide to get an overview of both CUNY and SUNY schools, see how they compare across different areas such as academics, cost, and student life, and learn the four steps to follow to decide which school is best for you.

College is expensive, so it's prudent to consider how much you're going to have to pay before you decide to attend a particular school—especially if you live in California. While cost shouldn't be the sole determining factor in your college decision, it's definitely an important one.

In this article, I'll give you a list of the cheapest colleges in California. Furthermore, I'll provide you with the prices of the top public and private colleges in California, explain college costs, and go over how finances should influence your college decision.

If you hold strong political beliefs, you may want to go to a college where the students, faculty, and administration share your values. You'll be more likely to find student groups that are aligned with your interests and beliefs. Additionally, it's more likely that the values of the college will coincide with your own, which means you'll probably have a more enjoyable college experience.

In this article, I'll give you the names of over 70 of the most conservative colleges in the United States. Furthermore, I'll detail the traits of conservative colleges, explain the possible advantages and disadvantages of attending a conservative college, and advise you on how to find a conservative college that's a good fit for you.

Getting waitlisted at a college certainly isn't a bad thing—your application was good enough to not get rejected!—but it's definitely an uncomfortable place to be. After all, when you're on the college waitlist, you don't know whether you'll be admitted or not, and that alone is anxiety-inducing.

Luckily, there are many things you can do to increase your odds of getting off a waitlist. In this article, we explain how the college waitlist works, what steps to take if you've been waitlisted, and how to raise your college waitlist chances so you can attend your dream school.

ChatGPT has become a popular topic of conversation since its official launch in November 2022. The artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot can be used for all sorts of things, like having conversations, answering questions, and even crafting complete pieces of writing.

If you’re applying for college, you might be wondering about ChatGPT college admissions’ potential.  Should you use a ChatGPT college essay in your application? 

By the time you finish reading this article, you’ll know much more about ChatGPT, including how students can use it responsibly and if it’s a good idea to use ChatGPT on college essays. We’ll answer all your questions, like:

• What is ChatGPT and why are schools talking about it?
• What are the good and bad aspects of ChatGPT?
• Should you use ChatGPT for college essays and applications?
• Can colleges detect ChatGPT?
• Are there other tools and strategies that students can use, instead?
  
  

We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s get started!