SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

If you live in the U.S., you’ve probably heard about how important “STEM” education is. But what is STEM, exactly? And why is it so important? 

In this article, we’ll explain everything you need to know about STEM education, including:

• Explain what STEM stands for
• Overview the disciplines that STEM includes
• Answer the question, “What does STEM stand for in school?”
• Explain the importance of STEM
• Provide a five question quiz to help you decide if pursuing STEM is right for you

Ready? Let’s dive in! 

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, some colleges and universities are changing the application process for the upcoming Fall 2020 application cycle. These changes are meant to help applicants and may include application deadlines, required application materials, and financial aid applications and awards.

If you're planning to apply to college this fall, it's important you know about these changes and how they might affect you. In this article, we'll help you navigate changes to the Fall 2020 college application process due to the COVID-19 epidemic by describing four ways that these changes may affect college applicants. We'll also provide four tips for how to proceed if your college application is affected by COVID-19.

Take a deep breath: we're here to help you navigate the changes to the admissions process. Now, let's take a look at the Fall 2020 admissions process.

The ISEE, or Independent School Entrance Examination, is a test that many students have to take to gain admission into private middle and high schools in the United States. That means that if you want to attend a private school—or if you want your child to attend a private school—there's a good chance you'll have to register for the ISEE as part of your admissions application.

In this article, we're going to explain everything you need to know about ISEE registration, including:

• Which test level to register for
• How to choose ISEE test dates
• A step-by-step guide to ISEE test registration
• A quick look at what to expect from the ISEE exam

Keep in mind that ISEE test registration—which includes choosing ISEE test dates, locations, and paying for the exam—must be done by a legal adult.

Now, without further ado, let's talk about the ISEE exam!

While there’s nothing wrong with being undeclared, it does mean you have to ask yourself slightly different questions when you’re choosing a university. For instance, which schools are the best for an undecided student? What makes a good college for undecided majors? And should I go to a college with a lot of majors, or apply more broadly to different types of schools?

In this article, we’ll give you the lowdown on the best colleges for undecided majors. We’ll cover: 

• What it means to be undecided
• What characterizes good schools for undecided majors
• The six colleges that are excellent options for students who start college undecided

The only thing you don’t have to be undecided about is reading this article! (You know you love a Dad joke.) So let’s get started.

The University of Notre Dame is one of the most prestigious universities in the United States. It attracts the best and brightest students from around the country—in fact, 38% of the student body ranked in the top 1% of their high school graduating classes! Because most applicant have amazing grades and transcripts, your Notre Dame application essays will be one of the most important ways for you to stand out from the crowd!

This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about writing Notre Dame's application essays. First, we'll give you an overview of the Notre Dame supplement. Then we'll walk you through each essay individually and answer the following questions:

• What is the essay asking you to do?
• What makes for a good answer?
• What are some potential essay topics?
• Are there pitfalls you should avoid?

And finally, we'll give you four top tips for taking your Notre Dame essays to the next level. So let's get started!

One of the biggest—and most difficult—decisions college applicants must make is what they want to major in. As a result, many students struggle to pick a major when they’re filling out their college applications. That’s why many schools give you the option to select “undecided” or “undeclared” on your app. 

But will being undecided affect your ability to get into your dream school? If you’re wondering, “Is it bad to put undecided on a college application,” then this article is for you. We’ll explain the following:

• What an undeclared major is
• What putting “undeclared” on a college application means
• The implications of applying undeclared at different schools
• How selecting “undeclared” can affect your college application
• Whether you should put undeclared on your application

So let’s get started!

So you have your heart set on going to the University of Southern California. That's great—it's one of the best schools in the country! Unfortunately, that makes it tough to get into: only 13% of applicants are admitted each year.

But don't worry. This guide will teach you everything you need to know to write an outstanding USC Writing Supplement.

We'll answer all of your questions, including the following:

• What is the USC supplement?
• What are the questions, and how do I answer them?
• Are there tips and tricks for knocking your USC essays out of the park?
• What steps do I take to finish my USC application?

Let's get started!

When universities go through admissions applications, they take many factors into consideration, like your grades, your extracurriculars, and even your personality!

But many college applicants don't realize that some universities also consider you—and your family's—ability to pay tuition as well. The hard truth is that some universities use an applicant's ability to pay tuition without financial aid as a factor in the admissions process. Many universities consider how students can contribute to their institution financially when they make admissions decisions.

This sounds like scary news. But don't worry! Many schools are addressing the issue by transitioning to need-blind admissions policies, which remove economic status as an admissions criteria.

In this guide, we'll give you a complete list of need-blind colleges in the United States and answer all of your burning questions, including:

• What is need-blind admission?
• How do need-blind policies affect tuition costs?
• What should you look for in a need-blind school?

So let's get started!

For students who are really set on enrolling in a quality honors program, it's important to learn about some of the best honors colleges before making that big decision. That's especially true because your honors program will dictate how difficult your classes are...and the perks you get from doing well in them!

We're here to help you get all the information you need about the top honors programs in the country so you can pick the program that's right for you. In this article, we'll:

• Explain what an honors college is
• Provide our research-based ranking of the nine top honors colleges and programs at U.S. colleges and universities
• Give you five tips for applying to top college honors programs

Ready? Let's dive in!

So you've decided to apply to Michigan State University. You've made a great choice—not only is it one of the top public universities in the nation, 93% of undergraduates land jobs or go onto graduate school after graduation! Additionally, more than 25 of its undergraduate programs are ranked in the top 20 nationally, including the best supply chain management and logistics program in the country. And like most top schools, the MSU application requires you to submit an application essay.

This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about writing and submitting the Michigan State admissions essay, including:

• A discussion of the Michigan State admissions standards,
• Where to find the Michigan State application, and
• Five tips to write a Michigan State admissions essay that will get you in.

So let's get started!

Barron's ACT is one of many books available in Barron's lineup of test prep resources. Since there are so many to choose from, you want to make sure you choose the specific Barron's test prep guide that will mesh with your test prep needs.

In this article, we'll give you a full review of Barron's ACT to help you understand what unique features this Barron's ACT book offers. Our review will cover the following: 

• What Barron's ACT is
• What content is provided in this Barron's ACT book, chapter by chapter 
• Six pros and cons of the book
• How to decide if using this Barron's ACT book would be a good fit for you.

Now, let's dive in!

Mastering ACT vocabulary words is an essential part of studying for the Reading section of the ACT. But settling on the best ACT vocabulary study method can be tricky. Do you study thousands of vocab words, or do you tackle the toughest ones? And what’s the best way to study: an app, flashcards, or something else? 

We’re here to teach you the most effective ways to learn ACT vocabulary! We’ll cover:  

• The importance of vocabulary words and how they affect your overall ACT score
• A bad, better, and best method for studying ACT vocabulary
• How to interpret and answer a “Vocab in Context” ACT question
• Eight solid resources for studying ACT vocab 

Now, let’s get started!

Recently, several colleges have made headlines because they’ve revoked incoming students’ admission due to their racist social media posts. That’s left lots of high school students wondering about how their Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter posts will affect their college admissions chances. 

In this article, we’ll help you understand how social media can impact your admissions c chances. We’ll explain: 

• Why some students have had their admission revoked recently 
• What universities have said about their decisions 
• What you can do to make sure your social media helps, rather than hurts, your admissions chances
  
  

Let’s take a look. 

All applicants to Washington University in St. Louis have to submit a supplemental essay as part of their application packet. That means that in addition to the essays you write as part of your Common Application or the Coalition Application (WashU accepts either one), you'll have to submit a third essay that you write specifically for Washington University in St. Louis.

Because WashU's acceptance rate is highly competitive—only 16% of students are accepted every year!—you'll need to write a stellar WashU supplement to give yourself the best shot at getting in. But what does a good WashU supplemental essay look like?

This article is going to explain everything you need to know about the Washington University supplemental essay, including:

• Explaining what the WashU supplemental essay is and how to choose the correct essay prompt
• Separate walkthroughs of both the general supplemental essay prompt and the Beyond Boundaries supplemental essay prompt
• Tips and tricks for writing an excellent Washington University supplemental essay

So without further ado, let's dive in!

COVID-19 has led to the cancellations of SAT dates in March, May, and June 2020. Unfortunately, this has thrown a wrench in many high school students' plans, especially if they're applying for college in the near future!

As affected students work to reschedule their tests, the College Board expects there to be a much higher demand for fall testing opportunities. That's why the CollegeBoard has added a September SAT date in the fall 2020.

In this article, we'll tell you everything we know about the September 26, 2020 SAT date as of right now. Keep in mind that information about the exam is still being released, so be sure to check back for updates.