SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

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.

Every year thousands of applicants apply for freshman admission to CUNY, a renowned university system based in New York City. Which are the best CUNY schools, though? Is there one best CUNY college that towers above all the others?

In this guide, we present our picks for the best CUNY schools and offer tips for finding the best CUNY college for you based on what you're looking for in a school. But first, what is CUNY exactly?

Confused about the SAT score range? The 1600 point score range has been around since 2017 and consists of a combination of scores from two sections: Reading and Writing and Math. But what do these numbers mean for you? And how can you use SAT score ranges to determine the scores you need for college?

First, we'll discuss the current SAT score range for the exam as a whole and for each SAT section. After that, we'll take a close look at how SAT scores are distributed among test takers, explain why colleges maintain different SAT score ranges, and teach you how to set your own SAT goal score.

Anyone who’s applied to college remembers the fear of getting that dreaded rejection letter. (For the record, I got two—and they both stung. A lot.) But what if you could calculate your chances of college acceptance before you applied? 

The good news is that you can! Our college acceptance calculator uses your GPA and SAT/ACT score to estimate your likelihood of getting accepted to a particular school. But aside from GPA and test scores, what other critical factors affect your chance of admission? Read on to learn what schools look for during the admission process as well as how you can raise your chance of acceptance by submitting a strong application.

Are you a student at a public high school in New York State? Then you must pass a math Regents exam in order to graduate and get your diploma. One of these exams is Algebra 1 Regents, which tests your understanding of an array of algebra-related concepts and laws, from exponents and equations to functions and probability.

The next NYS Algebra regents exam will be held on Thursday, June 15, 2023 at 1:15 pm.

Read on to learn exactly what the Algebra 1 Regents exam entails, what kinds of questions you can expect, what topics you should know, and how you can ensure you pass it.

If you've applied or are currently applying to Ivy League schools, you've likely heard the phrase "Ivy Day." Ivy Day, or Ivy Admissions Day, is when all the Ivy League schools announce their admissions decisions for regular decision first-year applicants. This year, Ivy Day is March 26, 2025. 

Keep reading to learn more about what to expect on Ivy Day, how to predict future Ivy Day dates, and what to do with your admissions decision(s) once Ivy Day is over.

For-profit colleges have a pretty poor reputation in the academic world—and generally for good reason. But are there any good for-profit colleges out there that aren't as bad as the rest? Should you ever consider going to one?

In this guide, we introduce the top for-profit colleges, which we determined based on factors such as graduation rate, net cost of attendance, and student reviews. We also go over the biggest pros and cons of attending a for-profit college. But first, let's look a little more closely at what for-profit schools actually are and how they work.

If you want to major in science, technology, or a related field, then you've likely heard of Caltech and MIT, two of the most prestigious technological institutes in the US. But is Caltech or MIT the better university? More importantly, which school will be a better fit for you?

In this complete Caltech vs MIT guide, we go over the main differences between Caltech and MIT, and introduce the critical factors you must consider when deciding whether Caltech or MIT is the right choice for you. But first, let's look at what types of schools Caltech and MIT actually are.

What looks good on a college application? It's the question nearly every high school student will ask at some point while applying to college. But is there a clear answer?

Fortunately, the answer is yes! Read on to learn what colleges look for in applicants, what looks really good on a college application, and what kinds of myths there are about good things to put on a college application.

What are the best universities in the UK? If you're a US or other international student thinking of attending college in the UK, then it'll help you immensely in your search to have an idea of what the best universities in the UK are based on reputation, selectivity, and student satisfaction.

We'll go over the six biggest potential benefits for US students studying in the UK and then provide you with a list of the 13 best universities in the UK. After that, we'll look at a quick comparison of the best colleges in the UK and the best US schools before giving you some critical tips for finding the best UK institution for you.

Thinking of attending college in our friendly neighbor to the north? Whether you're a US or other international student, if you're considering heading to Canada to continue your education, you'll definitely want to know what the best universities in Canada are.

We'll explain the biggest benefits of attending a Canadian school before introducing our picks for the 12 best universities in Canada. We'll then go over how these top schools differ from the top schools in the US and explain the six factors you need to consider before you apply to a university in Canada.

You've sent out your applications and can't stop envisioning yourself at your top-choice school. But then the unthinkable happens: you get a college rejection letter. You start to wonder: what went wrong? What do I do now? Is it still possible to attend my top-choice school?

The truth is that I've been in this exact same situation. In 2008, I got rejected from my top-choice school, Stanford. The rejection letter hurt, but on the plus side, it taught me a lot about what I did wrong, both in my application and my overall high school career.

In this article, I use my own rejection experience as a guide to explain how likely a college rejection is for you, how to avoid getting rejected from college, and the steps to take in case your top-choice school just isn't that into you.

Most people have at least heard of the Ivy League, but not everyone knows which schools belong to the venerable group. Is Stanford Ivy League? Is Duke Ivy League? Is MIT Ivy League?

In this article, we'll answer these questions and more as we take a look at which schools comprise the world-renowned Ivy League and which schools are most often mistaken for Ivy League institutions. We'll also explore what being in the Ivy League means for schools and how Ivy League schools compare with those not in the Ivy League in terms of national rankings and selectivity.

The University of Pennsylvania vs Penn State University: you've likely heard of these schools (and maybe even thought they were the same thing!). But do you know the basic differences between them? In addition, many people are aware that one of these schools is part of the Ivy League, but which one is it? Is Penn State Ivy League? Or is Penn Ivy League?

We answer all these questions here in our complete UPenn vs Penn State guide. We'll then go over the pros and cons of attending each university and provide you with key tips for figuring out which school is a better match for you.

The University of Southern California (USC) is a highly-ranked private school located in Los Angeles, and, as a result, it draws thousands of qualified applicants each year. If you're applying here, you are probably wondering what the USC admissions requirements are and what you'll need to stand out as an applicant.

In this article, we explain how to get into USC, offering you specific tips for what you can improve in your application. But first, how hard is it to get into USC?