SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

The ACT is upon us, and it seems fair to assume (since you're reading this article) that you're under-prepared. If you've got less than three weeks before the exam and haven't really studied yet, you're officially cramming for the ACT.

Now, if you're willing and able to put in some 60 hours of preparation before the test, take a moment to read our cram plan for those very circumstances. If that doesn't sound realistic for your circumstances, though, read on to discover the most useful strategies you can employ to get up to speed on the test in a pinch. We'll cover tips specific to each part of the test, as well as some global advice on topics like guessing and keeping a level head on test day.

We've all experienced nerves before an important evaluation, but for many of us the anxiety is much, much worse than a few simple jitters. 

By all accounts, a significant percentage of students experience some level of test anxiety, ranging from significant but livable symptoms to the most severely debilitating manifestations.

Dealing with any level of test anxiety during the SAT or ACT is, at its best, the opposite of fun. This guide will explain what test anxiety is, why it happens, and what you can do to manage it. 

If you’re using practice tests for your ACT prep, great job! That’s the best way to prepare for the ACT, but how do you make sure you’re learning from each ACT practice exam you take? How do you make sure you’re really prepared for the actual ACT? You must sit for each ACT practice exam with realistic testing conditions. What might you be doing (maybe on accident) that’s destroying your realistic testing conditions? 

Looking through pages and pages of SAT advice, tips, and strategies can get a bit overwhelming. If you’re looking for the information on the most important things to know about taking the SAT, you’ve come to the right place.

Here, I’ll lay out my best SAT advice: five tips to help you excel when you take the test. Read on to get the short and sweet version of everything you need to know.

If you’re currently preparing for the ACT, you might be wondering how many other students are in the same boat. As you may have expected, you’re not alone - there are a lot of students out there who are trying to prepare for the ACT.

In this post, I’ll go over exactly how many students take the ACT, before talking about the different methods of prep that these students use.

If you’re a current high school student, then you’re caught in a big transition between the old SAT and the new SAT. You may have thought you were all set with a high SAT score, but now you’re wondering, “Should I take the new SAT?”

Not to worry, help is here! You can easily resolve this concern by asking yourself two key questions. First, find out whether your colleges require the new SAT. If they don’t, feel free to scroll down to the next important question: is your score on the old SAT really high enough to achieve your goals?

Read on to consider one or both of these questions, and determine once and for all whether or not you need to take the redesigned SAT.

The format of the SAT Writing section is very unique, and you may not have taken a test with a similar format. To reach your target score, you're going to need a specific approach to tackle the passage-based questions.

In this article, I will explain the various approaches you can take when reading the SAT Writing passages, and I'll guide you on how to identify the strategy that will work best for you.

Searching for the perfect high school or school district for you or your child? You've come to the right place. When looking at different high schools or different school districts, average ACT score can be a helpful comparison tool.

Average ACT score can help estimate the quality of education and quality of students at a particular high school or school district. There are a few different ways to find average ACT scores by high school or district. I’ll explain the different methods and why you should care about average high school ACT scores. 

Are you preparing for the SAT by taking practice tests? Awesome! You’re on the right track! How can you ensure that you’re getting the most out of each practice test you take? You need to make sure you’re taking each practice test under realistic testing conditions. What’re you doing (maybe subconsciously) that’s ruining your realistic testing conditions?

On June 6th, 2015, the College Board made a huge mistake. This mistake resulted in some sections of the test being canceled and forced the College Board to use an abnormal scoring method. To make amends for the mistake, the College Board offered a free retest for June 6th test-takers in October 2015. What’s the situation today? How did the retest go? What should you do if you took the June 6th test? I’ll address all of this and more in this news update. 

On both the Reading and Writing sections of the SAT, there are questions that incorporate graphs, charts, and tables. On the Reading section, the Official SAT Study Guide refers to these questions as "interpreting data presented in informational graphics." On the Writing section, they're referred to as "drawing connections between words and data." Both question types contribute to your Command of Evidence subscore.

For the purposes of brevity and clarity, I'll call the Reading and Writing questions that use data and graphics quantitative questions. In this article, I'll explain the different types of quantitative questions on Reading and Writing. Furthermore, I'll give you example questions and strategies to help you correctly answer quantitative questions on the SAT.

Finally, a practice test from the ACT with a name that doesn't include a corny inspirational verb! That's right - the ACT is rolling out a new test called the PreACT this upcoming school year. It's similar to its SAT counterpart, the PSAT, although not exactly the same. In this article, I'll tell you what's on the PreACT, how its different from the PSAT, and what it means for you as a student. 

The SAT Reading and Writing section will test you on your knowledge of punctuation. Understandably, many students are utterly confused by commas and semicolons and clueless when it comes to colons and dashes.

In this article, I'll eliminate your confusion and explain all of the punctuation rules you need to know to ace SAT Reading and Writing. Furthermore, I'll provide practice questions to test you on what you've learned.

Are you taking the ACT soon? This complete guide will go over exactly what to expect on test day, from when to arrive at your testing center to when it’s safe to turn your cell phone back on.

Beyond the logistics, we’ll discuss what you can do in the days and weeks leading up to the test to fully prepare and feel confident. Read on to learn what to expect on ACT test day when you arrive, take the test, and finish up, alongside the most useful tips for doing your best throughout the day.

Tuition is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) costs associated with attending college. Because of this, it’s important to know exactly how much of your money will be going towards this expense.

In this article, I’ll explain exactly what’s included in this “tuition” line item on your college bill. Then, I’ll get into some of the nitty-gritty details, like:

• What isn’t included with tuition
• Average college tuition cost and the wide range of possible tuition prices
• Ways to pay less for college tuition

Read on to learn more!