SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

Maybe you already know your top college choice. Now you want to know what SAT score you need to get into your dream school. Unfortunately, there’s no simple answer. Generally, there is no SAT score requirement that guarantees you admission, especially for the most selective colleges. Conversely, there usually isn’t an SAT score that will automatically disqualify you from admission because schools use holistic admissions. Your application will be evaluated on your GPA, extracurricular activities, recommendations, personal essay, and SAT score.

However, your SAT score will significantly increase or decrease your likelihood of admission, and you can use available statistics to determine the SAT score you need to improve your chances of being able to attend a certain college. Colleges generally say that they don't have SAT requirements, but if you get an 800 and want to go to Harvard, statistically, you have nearly a 0% chance of gaining admission.

In this article, I will discuss SAT score requirements and how your SAT score impacts the college admissions process.

If you’re a big fan of college sports, you may have seen a news conference on ESPN where a highly recruited high school athlete announces what college he is going to attend (usually in a dramatic way), and then he signs a piece of paper. That piece of paper is his National Letter of Intent; he is now legally bound to attend that college and the recruiting process is officially over.

I remember the day I signed my National Letter of Intent to attend Stanford. I don’t think my mom has ever been as proud, and it’s very likely I won’t ever make her that proud again. Receiving and signing a National Letter of Intent is your reward for years of hard work and signifies the culmination of your college search.

In this article, I will explain what the National Letter of Intent is, why it exists, and its terms.

Because the SAT is such a high stakes test, the College Board has implemented a series of rules to ensure that there is no cheating and that all students have as close to the same test-taking experience as possible. Before you take the SAT, you should familiarize yourself with these rules. It would be a shame to spend months preparing and be in the middle of acing your SAT, only to get kicked out of the test and have your score canceled because your phone was on, and you received a text during the last section. That’s an extreme example, but it's possible. Know the rules so you can protect yourself.

In this article, I will discuss SAT rules, the reasons behind the rules, and the possible consequences for violating SAT rules and regulations.

Attending home football games can be a huge part of the college experience. Camping out for tickets, tailgating for hours on game day, and cheering their teams on to victory in packed stadiums are cherished memories for countless college alumni. While you shouldn’t choose your college solely for its football team or stadium, if you think you would enjoy the atmosphere of big-time college sports, then it’s reasonable for the athletics environment at a school to play a role in your college decision.

In this article, I’ll provide you with a list of the 17 largest college football stadiums in the country. To give you some perspective on the size of these stadiums, the largest NFL stadium, Met Life Stadium, would only be number 16 on this list. These are not only the largest college football stadiums, but they're also the largest stadiums in the country.

The ACT English section can be intimidating. You have to know grammar rules that may seem obscure to you, and the ACT folks even expect you to know how to properly use commas. Not only do you have to know your grammar, but also you have to to know how to analyze ACT English passages, and you have to know how to organize them. You're tested on a wide range of skills and you don’t have much time to answer each question. If you’re wondering how to possibly go about studying for ACT English and improving your score, then this is the post for you.

In this article, I’ll give you my top 9 strategies to help you ace the ACT English section. These are meant to be study tips that will require time and diligence. The most important advice I can give you is to keep practicing. Focus your studying on areas that need improvement. However, that's advice that anyone can give. If you can successfully execute the following specific strategies, I guarantee your ACT English success:

Preparing for the ACT English section can feel overwhelming. This section covers a lot of material that is often not taught in school, and the format is probably different from that of any other test you’ve taken.

Even more confusing, there are a ton of different sources for ACT English prep. How do you decide which ones to use? How do you make the most efficient use of your study time? What should you do to prepare for ACT English to reach your target score?

I’ve spent the past decade teaching SAT prep classes and helping hundreds of students prepare for the SAT Writing section. After taking my class, many of my former students were able to improve their SAT Writing scores by more than 200 points. My experience has taught me that having a disciplined, focused approach to your SAT prep will allow you to maximize your score.

In this article, I have given you the best advice I have for preparing for SAT Writing. Using these methods will enable you to use your study time wisely and master the skills you need to be an SAT Writing superstar.

Having taught SAT Writing to hundreds of students, I understand that this section of the SAT can be confusing and complicated. You have to remember all the grammar rules you were able to avoid learning throughout your schooling. You have to identify subtle grammatical errors that are often committed by gifted writers.

Through my experience teaching, I have identified some general rules for the SAT Writing section that have helped students of all levels improve their scores. 

Brace yourself for some more ACT English fun. Add/Delete questions are a common type of rhetorical skills question on the ACT English section.

These questions ask whether you should add or delete a sentence or phrase within a passage. They test your reading comprehension and ability to analyze sentences within a passage.

Knowing when to use different verb tenses and forms will be extremely beneficial to you on the ACT English section because these concepts are tested repeatedly on the ACT. Get excited for a fun-filled journey into the vivid, action-filled world of verbs.

 In this post, I’ll do the following:

•  Define the verb tenses and forms that are tested on the ACT.
• Provide information about when to use different verb tenses.
• Detail how to construct verbs in different tenses.
• Explain and demonstrate how verbs are tested on the ACT.
• Provide practice questions to test you on what you’ve learned.

Macro logic questions on ACT English ask you to determine where to properly place sentences within a paragraph and where to properly place paragraphs within a passage. These rhetorical skills questions test your ability to analyze sentences and determine how to most logically organize a passage. Knowing how to recognize and using my top ACT English strategies to approach these questions will enable you to correctly answer them in an efficient manner.

Improving sentences is the biggest subsection in SAT Writing. There are 49 total multiple choice questions on the SAT Writing section, and 25 of those are improving sentences questions. Arming yourself with specific strategies to answer these questions will be extremely beneficial to you and your SAT Writing score.