SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

If you’re currently preparing for the ACT, you might be wondering how many other students are in the same boat. As you may have expected, you’re not alone - there are a lot of students out there who are trying to prepare for the ACT.

In this post, I’ll go over exactly how many students take the ACT, before talking about the different methods of prep that these students use.

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:

• What isn’t included with tuition
• Average college tuition cost and the wide range of possible tuition prices
• Ways to pay less for college tuition

Read on to learn more!

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!

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!

There are so many different types of financial aid out there, with some serving you better than others. This guide will demystify everything you need to know about the types of aid available to students.

I’ll start with the various options available to you and include examples that you can check out for yourself. Then, I’ll tell you exactly where and how you can get your hands on this financial aid money. Finally, I’ll explain which types of aid you should take advantage of - and which types you should stay away from.

Let's get started! 

The night before the SAT can be stressful, to say the least. Maybe you’re not sure about the best way to prepare yourself during these final hours - all you know is that you want to do the best you can on the exam.

Well, we’ve made it easy (and stress-free) for you to do what you need to do the night before the test. Here, I’ll lay out everything you should and shouldn’t do before you head to bed in order to ensure your best possible score. Follow these tips - including everything from logistical concerns to exam prep strategies - to wake up confident, refreshed, and ready.

Let’s get started!

You probably already know that college costs can be pretty intimidating. If you’re on a budget when it comes to paying for your degree (and most people are), knowing how to save money in college can make a big difference.

Here, I’ll talk a little bit about what college expenses you should be prepared for so that you have a better idea of what to expect. Then, I’ll discuss strategies for saving money before you get there, in addition to strategies for saving as a college student. 

Let’s get started!

 If you’re like the average student, you’re probably bemoaning the ever-rising cost of college. School seems almost impossibly expensive, and yet every year sticker prices tend to go up.

You know that getting a degree is important for your future career prospects, and you understand that you can apply for financial aid, but you just don’t get how schools can set these sky-high prices. Did college tuition always cost so much? And if not, why has it risen to its current rate?

There are a lot of benefits to having a job while you’re a college student (besides just the extra cash, of course). Some of the most convenient jobs available are located right on campus.

In this article, I’ll do a deep dive into the benefits of having a job in college before talking about exactly what you should look for to find good jobs for college students. Then I’ll get to the good stuff: a list of the best jobs out there and how to get one for yourself. Read on to learn more!

The College Board had some issues with the new PSAT, including late score reports from their Fall 2015 test. Here, we’ll talk about whether these problems will affect you, and we’ll point you in the right direction if you still have issues getting your scores.

PSAT scores are especially important to high school juniors who are hoping to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship. If you're a high school junior, you’ll want to make sure you read our NMS score section - we’ll answer all your questions about National Merit Semifinalist cutoffs.

Finally, we’ll talk a bit about what this means for the College Board in general. This isn’t the first problem that they’ve had with their standardized tests in recent years - could this delay in score reports speak to more serious problems with the maker of the SAT? Read on to find out!

So you want to be proactive and save for college. Maybe you’re a high school student who wants to build up a college fund for yourself, or maybe you’re a parent or family member who wants to save for a young loved one. No matter your situation, you’re taking a proactive step in making college a little bit more affordable.

In this post, I’ll discuss the things you need to know in order to build, keep, and grow college savings. We'll discuss the five best ways to save for college to lower student debt on graduation and take a load off your mind.

First, though, I'll talk about the question you should be considering before you implement your savings plan: how much should you be putting away in the first place? Read on to find out!

You did all the work of getting into your dream schools—researching the colleges, visiting campuses, getting great test scores, putting together a polished application—and still have to deal with one major obstacle: paying for college. Few students can pay for a full year at college without some assistance, but almost 2 million students graduate with a bachelor’s degree each year in the US—they must be paying for school somehow, right?

Whether you’re a high school student or a current undergraduate, it’s never too early (or too late) to think about minimizing your college costs to make school more affordable. In this post, I’ll go through everything you need to know about how to pay for college.

I’ll start off by talking about what college actually costs before moving into application strategies, figuring out how much money you need, how much aid you can get, and how much you should actually be paying. We'll cover all the major ways to pay for college that families usually use. At the end, I’ll offer some more creative options for closing the gap between your financial need and your actual cost.

The question of how to pay for college is usually one with a complicated answer. Your own unique financial situation, interests, strengths, weaknesses, and preferences all come into play. Some of the most important factors that come up center around your ability and willingness to take out student loans.

In this guide, I'll thoroughly cover how to pay for college without loans. This can help you pay for college without going broke, or at least graduating without a load of student debt.

Maybe taking out loans for college isn’t a good financial option for you. Maybe your parents can’t or won’t co-sign on the necessary loans. Maybe you just hate the thought of having student debt. Whatever your reasons, choosing to pay for college without loans is a completely valid decision. I won’t sugarcoat this—it might make paying for college more difficult, especially if you don’t have many other financial aid options available. That isn’t to say, however, that there aren’t some viable options available for almost any student who wants to avoid taking on debt.

Before going through all these options, I’ll briefly talk about college expenses and the reasons why some people choose to take out loans. Then, I’ll give non-loan aid options for students based on whether they demonstrate high or low financial need. I’ll finish off with info on how much aid you can expect to receive without having to take on debt.

 You can’t study effectively for the ACT if you don’t know what score to aim for, and you won’t know what score to aim for if you don’t know how the ACT is scored!

In this post, I’ll start off with some important background info on the ACT before getting to the good stuff — the ACT score range and what you should know about it. For example, what do these scores mean? What counts as a good ACT score? Read on to find out!

The first step in preparing for the SAT is learning basic info about the test. If you’ve decided to take the SAT, or even if you’re still choosing between the SAT and ACT, it’s important to understand how the test is scored.

I’ll give you a crash course in the SAT and its score ranges before talking in more detail about what these scores actually mean—what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s average.