SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

There's the PSAT, there's the SAT. There are even a few other assessments, as it turns out. There's a lot of jargon out there when it comes to the tests offered by the College Board, so it's important to know exactly what you're signing up for—and how each test is different.

The SAT suite of assessments is designed to work together. All tests are fundamentally similar, and you can use any one to prepare for any other. That being said, the PSAT vs SAT isn't a perfectly equal match-up. In reality, there are some differences—both major and minor—between them. We take a look at these below.

For a lot of smart students, the SAT is a struggle. If you have a high GPA, but a low SAT score, you're not alone!

If you feel like you're good in school but not great at test taking, here's our expert guide on how you can boost your chances of getting into a great college. You'll be able to show colleges your true academic potential.

Your ACT Composite Score is an important part of your college applications. In this guide, we show you how exactly to calculate your ACT Composite Score from each of your section scores. More importantly, we give you custom strategies on how to use your Composite Score to adapt your ACT prep. Read on...

Whichever way you choose to prepare for ACT Science — whether with a private tutor, class, online program or on your own — you need to make sure you are using high-quality practice ACT Science tests. Because ACT Science is unique, any old science study material won't cut it. To learn about how different ACT Science is from any other science test, read the big secret of ACT Science.     

In this guide, I'll tell you where to find all of the official ACT Science practice tests available: several are free! Also, I'll provide tips on how to use these ACT Science practice tests improve your score.

Additionally, I'll talk about some of the ACT Science practice materials you should avoid and why you shouldn't use them. I draw my conclusions from my years of experience tutoring students for ACT Science and from my own practice for the ACT Science test.

How many times can you take the SAT? Is there a limit if you're retaking it to achieve your ideal score? Why would you want to keep sitting through this high stakes test, anyway?

There are several compelling reasons to take the SAT more than once, but you also shouldn't go totally overboard. Let's go over when you should retake the SAT, and when it might be time to move on.

What is a pre-AP class? Has your school started to offer pre-AP classes or are you wondering if they should? Have you heard about the College Board's new official pre-AP classes and aren't sure what they are?

This guide is here to answer all your pre-AP questions. We'll explain what pre-AP is, how official pre-AP classes differ from unofficial pre-AP classes, important changes coming to pre-AP, and what subjects the official pre-AP classes will cover.

If you’re beginning to study for the ACT, you’re probably wondering how the ACT is scored. Understanding the ACT scoring system can give you a huge leg up as you set goals and make a study plan.

Read on to learn how the ACT is scored, section by section, with official ACT scoring charts. We also include our five top strategies related to ACT scoring so you can use this information to your advantage.

What exactly are vocab in context questions, and what are the best ways to approach answering them? In this article, I'll start by going over the basics of what vocab in context questions are, then segue into an in-depth discussion of each of the two types (complete with examples). Finally, I'll wrap it up by suggesting strategies to use when tackling these types of questions.

The SAT is a marathon that takes up your whole Saturday morning. But exactly how long is it? How long is the SAT with breaks? How long is it with the Essay section? Without it?

This article gives the answers to these questions and also offers a few key tips on how to use SAT breaks to your advantage on test day.

The SAT Reading and Writing section can be a real challenge, so it’s helpful to know exactly what you’re getting into before the test.

In this article, which has been fully updated for the digital SAT, I’ll go over the different categories of questions, show you how frequently they each appear, and tell you what this information means for your testing strategy.  

In planning your ACT prep, you probably want to know how long you need to study. Is it weeks or months? Is it dozens of hours or hundreds?

The answer to these questions depends on a variety of factors, including your target score and how comfortable you already are with the test material. There’s no reason to torture yourself with endless studying if your scores are already in the right range for your top choice schools. On the other hand, if you're still pretty far away from the scores you want, you may have to work harder than you think.

In this guide, I'll show you how to figure out how much you need to improve, how many hours you need to spend to get there, and how you should build a study schedule before your next real ACT.

You got your SAT/ACT score back, and it isn't what you'd hoped it'd be. Even though the SAT and ACT are each just a few hours long, the score you get often counts for a third or more of college admissions and can therefore have a big impact on your future.

The fact that you're looking for solutions is a good first step. It's important, now more than ever, not to freak out and to instead calmly plan the best steps forward. In this article, we go over our top four tips for what to do with a low SAT or ACT score.

You do great in school, but you just can’t get that score you want on the ACT. If you're a great student but not as great a standardized test taker, don't worry: you aren't alone.

In this post, I'll let you know what ACT scores qualify as low, what message those scores send to admissions officers, and what you can do to improve your chances of getting into a good school.

If you’re taking the SSAT, you’ll need to have a good vocabulary in order to do well on the test. It can be difficult to find good SSAT vocab resources, but we’re here to help! In this guide, we explain the three main ways vocab is tested on the SSAT (with sample questions), go over the top resources to help you find SSAT vocab words, and give you advice on the best way to study those vocab words.

The SSAT can be an important test for students hoping to attend a private school, but how do you register for it? In this guide, we walk you step-by-step through the SSAT registration process and include screenshots from the SSAT website to makes things as simple as possible.

At the end of the guide, we also include a chart with upcoming SSAT registration dates so you know exactly when you need to register for each exam date to avoid late fees.