SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

A college fair may not feature popcorn and carnival rides—sorry, folks!—but they are a great source of information for prospective college students. Coming prepared with a detailed plan, including a list of questions to ask at a college fair, will make sure you get the most out of your experience. This is often your first chance to meet with a school's representatives, so use that time wisely!

The hottest news in college admissions these days is the release of documents from the lawsuit filed against Harvard University for unfair admissions practices against Asian-Americans. For the first time in recent memory, an elite institution's opaque admissions practices have been laid bare. More than 90,000 pages of internal Harvard admissions documents have been made available for use in the lawsuit, with excerpts made publicly available in court filings.

In this article, I'll summarize what this lawsuit is about and what we learned about how top-tier schools like Harvard choose which students to accept. (Spoiler: most of it confirms what I wrote about in my How to Get Into Harvard guide. If you haven't read that, I suggest you open it in a tab right now, and read it after you finish this article).

Most importantly, we'll cover what this means for how YOU should be preparing for college admissions.

The 2018 PSAT is coming up in mid-to-late October, and scores should come out by mid-December.

When you get your score report, you'll see a bunch of different kinds of scores, including your total score (out of 1520), your section scores (out of 760), and your Selection Index (out of 228).

Sorting through all of this data to figure out what's a good PSAT score can be tricky, so we've written this guide to understanding your PSAT score report. We'll begin with a quick run-through of the different types of PSAT scores, then get into how you can figure out how your score compares to that of other students.

Answering questions on multiple passages is a little different from answering questions on just one passage. Some of the same advice is still applicable, but there are strategies specific to multipassage questions as well. I’ll go over the different topics you might see covered in paired passages on the SAT as well as giving strategies for paired passage questions.

Even if prepping for the SAT or ACT isn't the most enjoyable of activities, it's easy to see why it's important to do well on these tests. Depending on your point of view, SAT and ACT scores are either tools that colleges use to help figure out if you're a good match for them and if you'll succeed at their schools...or are admissions gatekeepers that you have to conquer if you want to attend most American colleges*.

By contrast, PSAT scores are never seen by colleges. Even if you get a perfect score on the PSAT, it's really only useful for helping you qualify for a National Merit Scholarship—something that only US citizens and permanent residents are eligible for.

So why prep for the PSAT, and what do you need to know about PSAT prep if you're interested in trying it out? Keep reading to find out more about the pros and cons of focused PSAT prep (rather than joint PSAT/SAT prep) and what our PSAT prep recommendations are.

Shortly after the conclusion of the August 2018 SAT, rumors started to circulate that there was a problem with the test that gave some students an unfair advantage.

The basic gist of the complaint is that the test given on August 25 in the United States was actually the same exact exam that had been given internationally in October 2017.

This accusation raised the concern that some students would have had a leg up on others, since they may have seen the questions before, either because they took the exam when it was offered internationally or because they used the previous exam’s questions to study for the August 2018 test.

Let’s take a look at what really happened with the August 2018 SAT and what that means for you as a test-taker.

Most colleges offer a communications major. In fact, you probably know at least a few people who plan to major or are currently majoring in the field. What exactly does a communications major entail in terms of coursework and skills? And what kinds of jobs and salaries can you expect with a communications degree?

Read on to learn what a communications major is, what the most popular jobs for communications majors are, and what the job outlook is for each major job option. We’ll also provide you with some tips on how to determine whether a communications major is the right path for you.

If you’re studying trig or calculus—or getting ready to—you’ll need to get familiar with the unit circle. The unit circle is an essential tool used to solve for the sine, cosine, and tangent of an angle. But how does it work? And what information do you need to know in order to use it?

In this article, we explain what the unit circle is and why you should know it. We also give you three tips to help you remember how to use the unit circle.

To figure out which year of high school academics is the most important, it helps to think of high school as a marathon.

In order to win a marathon, of course you have to run the whole time—if you stop running, then lots of other people will pass you. But because you're human, when you're running a marathon, you can't really run at the same speed the whole timed. Instead, you learn to pace yourself early on, and then really bust out your best sprint when it counts—at the finish line.

So which part of high school is that all-out sprinting finish line? Read on for our answer.

What’s the best possible SAT score and worst possible SAT score you could get? How do you understand SAT scores if you’re used to letter grades like A- or B+, or test scores like 93%? In this guide, we convert SAT scores into much more understandable class grades to help you interpret your SAT score.

Are you thinking about future careers and wondering what different jobs are like? There are many job shadowing opportunities for high school students, and they're a great way to observe different jobs and help you decide which careers would be best for you.

Read this guide to learn about job shadowing for high school students, how you can find great job shadowing opportunities, and tips for making the most of your job shadow experience.

What on earth is a CEEB code anyway? As you may know, it's really just an identification number, though there's a bit more to it than that. So the real question becomes: why do I care about CEEB codes? Well, CEEB codes are the identifiers that help get SAT (and other) data communicated to the correct high schools, colleges, test centers, etc. In fact, they're a crucial part of the SAT process.

Now, while CEEB codes are necessary to register for the SAT and to get your scores reported to the right schools and scholarship programs, most online forms have an automatic CEEB code lookup and fill-in feature that lets you skip that process yourself. There are still a few reasons you might need to look up your CEEB code, though. For instance, not all forms are online, and not all online forms have the auto-fill feature, so you may find yourself in need of that number as you communicate with the College Board or a college.

Are you hoping to increase your salary but aren't sure how to ask for a raise? Are you also wondering how much to ask for a raise or when to ask for a raise? Asking for a raise can be nerve-wracking, especially if you aren’t sure how to go about it, but we have all the answers you're looking for.

In this guide, we explain everything you need to know about asking for a raise, including the steps you need to have done beforehand, the best times to ask for a raise, how much you should ask for, and eight tips to keep in mind when you ask.

So your friend/sibling/classmate wants you to write her a peer recommendation. Being the awesome friend/sibling/classmate that you are, you've not only agreed to write the letter, but you plan to write the BEST recommendation letter of all time. 

Apart from good intentions (check!), what else do you need to write an outstanding peer recommendation? This guide will break down the content and structure of peer reference letters so you can help get your bestie into the college of her dreams (which is probably Dartmouth or Davidson, the only colleges I currently know of that require peer evaluations).

First, here is your mission, since you've chosen to accept it.

Wondering how to convert decimals to fractions? Or how to convert fractions to decimals? It’s easier than you think! Keep reading to see the steps for decimal to fraction conversions (including why you need to follow different steps if you have a repeating decimal), steps for fraction to decimal conversions, a handy chart with common decimal/fraction conversions, and tips for quickly estimating conversions.