SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

Dr. Fred Zhang

Fred is co-founder of PrepScholar. He scored a perfect score on the SAT and is passionate about sharing information with aspiring students. Fred graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor's in Mathematics and a PhD in Economics.

Recent Posts

What Is a Good ACT Score? A Bad ACT Score? An Excellent ACT Score?

If you've taken the ACT and gotten your ACT test scores back, you probably want to know how you did. Or you might be planning for the ACT and want to know what ACT composite score to aim for. So what is a good ACT score?

In this article, we'll discuss what makes a good ACT composite score. We also give you a step-by-step guide to figuring out what a good ACT score is for you personally, depending on the colleges you plan to apply to. We'll also provide ACT score ranges for 38 popular schools and discuss what you can do if you fall short of your goal score.

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How to Get Into Stanford (by an Accepted Student)

Many students want to get into Stanford, one of the most prestigious undergraduate institutions in the United States. While getting into Stanford is very tough, there are definite rules to Stanford admissions. Using these rules to your advantage will greatly increase your chances of getting in.

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Future Years' SAT Test Dates, Schedules, and Deadlines

Future SAT test dates are only confirmed less than a year in advance, but we at PrepScholar have done the hard work of looking at past test date patterns to predict future SAT test dates and registration deadlines.

For 2023 and early 2024, the official timetable is set in stone. But even though they're more uncertain, we can predict future years like 2025, 2026, and 2027 with decent confidence. These predictions have been updated in September 2023 to reflect the latest possible data.

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SAT Test Dates: Full Guide to Choosing (2023, 2024)

The SAT is offered seven times a year, but which SAT test dates will work best for you and your schedule? What essential factors should you consider before creating an SAT schedule? What are the best SAT dates for juniors? For seniors?

In this comprehensive guide, we offer you the most current info on SAT test dates (domestic and international) for 2023-2024. We also give you our top tips for choosing the best SAT test dates for you as well as tons of resources to help you navigate the complicated web of SAT/ACT test dates.

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ACT Test Dates: Full Guide to Choosing (2023, 2024)

Looking for info on 2022-2023 ACT test dates? Knowing the correct ACT test dates is crucial for a solid test-taking plan. Though you might be tempted to go ahead and register for the next possible test date, what you should really be doing is finding a date that works well for you and your schedule.

In this guide, we offer an overview of upcoming ACT test dates, registration deadlines, and score release dates. We also give you tips on how to choose an ACT test date and go over which test dates work best for juniors, seniors, and more.

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What Is a Good SAT Score? A Bad SAT Score? An Excellent SAT Score?

What is a good SAT score? You took the SAT, got your scores back, and now want to know how you did. Or maybe you want to know what score to aim for next time.

In this guide, we discuss how to figure out how your SAT scores stack up against those of all the other test takers. We'll then help you determine what a good SAT score for you is based on the colleges you are interested in. Finally, we provide the SAT score ranges of more than 50 popular schools and discuss what to do if your score turns out to be lower than you expected.

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When Do PSAT Scores Come Out? The PSAT Results Release Schedule

The wait for PSAT results can be nerve-wracking. It's likely your first time taking an SAT-like test, and the PSAT can give you a sense of what range your final SAT score is likely to be. Plus, if you score high enough, there's a lot of potential scholarship money available.

So when is the wait over? When are PSAT scores released? In this guide, we explain when you'll get your PSAT results, walk you through the complete PSAT timeline, and offer some suggestions on what to do once you have your scores.

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What's a Good SAT/ACT Score for the Ivy League? What's the Lowest Score I Can Get in With?

Are you aiming to attend an Ivy League school? What ACT/SAT scores do Ivy League universities—Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Penn, and Yale—expect? Here, we look at what test scores these eight highly selective schools consider good, as well as what scores are considered borderline.

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SAT International Test Dates Guide (2022 and 2023)

Here we look at international SAT test dates for the the 2022-2023 year. The test months haven't changed since last year, but the dates have! We've recorded what we've learned in this article.

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ACT Score Percentiles and Ranks (High-Precision 2022)

Do you want to know your exact ACT score up to six digits of precision? Every digit can help when you want to know your exact performance. I've used real ACT data, newly-released in 2021, to calculate these ultra-high-precision percentiles.

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SAT II Biology E/M Study Guide: Best Books and Schedule

The SAT II Biology E/M Subject Test is a good choice for students looking at medicine or who want to show off their hard science skills. But what's the best way to study for the Biology E/M Subject Tests? What are good books and study schedules? Read this guide to find out!

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Train the SAT Essay with Real Examples

One of the best ways to learn the SAT essay is to look at example submissions by other real students.  By judging these example essays yourself, you'll understand much better what SAT graders are looking for.  You'll also learn from these examples what to do and not to do.

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What's the Deal with Improving Sentences and the Essay? SAT Writing Guide and Advice

feature_booksandwriting.jpgHave you ever wondered what the SAT is looking for when they ask questions that are confusing? Look no further! In this post, we reveal the goals of the SAT Essay and Identifying Sentence Errors question types.

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Get Into Engineering Schools Like MIT, Caltech, CMU, or RPI With the SAT

Engineering schools don't look for the same things on a college application that the average school does. I would know -- because I have an engineering background and spent substantial time studying the process of getting into Caltech and MIT, and then I did it. Here, I reveal how they're different.

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SAT Score Percentiles (High-Precision Version)

Are you looking for ultra high-precision SAT percentiles? Official SAT percentiles released by the College Board only go as far as the ones place—this means you'll see only whole numbers such as 2, 56, and 93, without any decimals. But this isn't accurate enough for some test takers.

For this article, I've calculated SAT percentiles to six digits of precision (and, yes, every digit can help, especially if you're scoring at the high end!).

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