SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

You know that friend of yours who loves to gossip yet always downplays any drama they get into themselves? Jordan Baker in The Great Gatsby is like that friend. A close friend of Daisy Buchanan's, Jordan dates Nick Carraway during the novel and plays a crucial role in reuniting Daisy with the titular Jay Gatsby.

A couple of years younger than Daisy, Jordan is single and a professional golfer, which sets her apart from her married friend. In fact, Jordan is Daisy's opposite in many ways, as we will explore in this guide! Read in for a complete guide to Jordan's appearance, plot points, major quotes, and character analysis!

Tom Buchanan—hulking, hyper-masculine, aggressive, and super-rich—is The Great Gatsby's chief representative of old money, and (in a book with many unlikeable people) one of the book's least sympathetic characters. He is Gatsby's rival for Daisy's love, but he is also caught up in an affair with Myrtle Wilson that proves fatal for many involved.

So what's important to understand about Tom? What are his motivations? Is there anything sympathetic about him at all? Find out here!

In The Great Gatsby, Daisy Fay Buchanan is the object of Jay Gatsby's singular obsession, which means in many ways she is the center of the novel. But despite this, there is quite a bit we don't know about Daisy Buchanan as a character—her inner thoughts, her desires, and even her motivations can be hard to read.

So what do we know about Daisy, and what would a typical analysis of her look like? Learn all about Daisy, The Great Gatsby's most alluring, controversial character, through her description, actions, famous quotes, and a detailed character analysis.

The man, the myth, the legend: Jay Gatsby is the titular hero of The Great Gatsby.

Nick first comes to know him as an incredibly wealthy, mysterious man who throws lavish parties, but we eventually learn his background: a boy from humble origins who is desperate to win back the love of a rich woman, Daisy, and loses everything in his last attempt to win her over.

So where did Gatsby get his money? Does he actually love Daisy? And what's so "great" about him anyway? This guide explains Gatsby's rags-to-riches story, what he does in the novel, his most famous lines, and common essay topics. Read on for an in-depth guide to all things Jay Gatsby.

Need to write about a theme for a Great Gatsby assignment or just curious about what exactly a theme is? Not sure where to start? Learn here what a theme is, what the main themes in The Great Gatsby are, and what the best tips for writing about themes for your English/Language Arts class essays are.

One question that often comes up as you begin studying for the SAT is this: how on earth is this thing scored? 

This article breaks down how the SAT is scored, section by section. You will learn how your raw score becomes a scaled score, what adaptive scoring is, and how you can use that information to your advantage. 

This article is fully updated for the digital SAT!

On the ACT, students with disabilities or other conditions might need accommodations, such as extra time or frequent breaks. But how do you get accommodations like extra time on the ACT?

This in-depth guide will teach you about the process of applying for accommodations and which accommodations are most common. You want to do your best on the ACT—disability or other condition aside—so read on to learn about how to get the ACT accommodations you need.

Are you embarrassed of your SAT score, or think it’s pretty low? Chances are it isn’t even close to the lowest possible SAT score.

In this post, we’ll reveal how rare the lowest possible SAT score is, the lowest scores we have seen, and how to improve on the test, regardless of what your current score is.

Have you heard about the Common Core? Are you asking, "what is the Common Core, exactly?" Don't worry. This post will explain what the Common Core is, why it was adopted, and how it could affect you as a student.

Why should you care? The Common Core has driven some pretty major changes to big-name standardized tests like the SAT and ACT, as well as curriculum changes within schools. So read on to discover what you’re being tested on and why! 

What exactly makes The Great Gatsby so “great?” Why did your English teacher choose this book in particular, when there are dozens of other great American novels from the twentieth century? Has it always been this popular?

This article explains how The Great Gatsby novel went from an unpopular flop during its time to a great American classic today, and how that history could affect your approach to the book. Read on to learn the story of The Great Gatsby’s unlikely path to fame, and why you should care.

Do you go to school in California? Chances are you’ve heard of the CAHSEE – the exam all Californians need to take to graduate high school.

You might be wondering how to pass the CAHSEE. In this post, we will explain what the CAHSEE tests, what you need to do to pass, and how to study for it.

So you've recently taken the ACT. Congratulations! But now you are probably wondering when and how you will be able to see your ACT scores. Where can you see your ACT scores? Read on to learn when ACT scores become available and how to check your ACT scores online.

NOTE: Looking for ACT scores from before Spring 2008 or forgotten your ACT ID? Then you should check out our article on how to get old ACT scores first!

If you took an AP test back in 2015, you might be wondering when exactly you took that exam. Or perhaps you just want to know how AP test dates change each year. Check out our table below to get the AP test dates for 2015, and read on for our exclusive tips and advice for prepping for AP tests—no matter what year you take the tests.

Many high school students are curious about what it means to be a college legacy. Exactly who counts as a legacy? How much does it help you when it comes to admissions? And what if you’re not a legacy? In this article, we discuss what a college legacy is, which top schools favor legacies, and what you should do—regardless of whether or not you’re a legacy!

Think you did horribly on the ACT? Need to cancel your scores? Or are you just wondering what you would do if you ran into an emergency on test day?

In this guide, we'll cover three actions you can take to deal with a bad ACT score: canceling scores, stopping college score reports, and deleting existing scores. Likely you would only need to use one or two of these methods if you run into trouble, but we will cover all three to make sure you know all of your options.