SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

If you've applied to colleges, received acceptances, and selected the college you want to attend, then congratulations! You've done considerable work and made it through the college application and selection process. With May 1, also known as College Decision Day, just around the corner, how do you notify the college you've selected that you'll be attending? How do you let the other colleges that admitted you know that you won't? Do you even have to let them know?

In this article, I'll explain how to accept an offer of admission and why it's important to notify the colleges you won't be attending of your decision.

You’ve probably felt the pressure to go on college tours, but just how important are they? Are they an essential part of the college planning process, or is it not a big deal if you opt out?

This guide will go over the most important reasons to visit a college, along with some circumstances when you might choose not to tour. We’ll also discuss how you can prepare to make the most out of your college visits.

First off, what are some reasons you should tour your prospective colleges?

In this guide, I'll be discussing the Boston University Summer Challenge, a summer program for high school students at Boston University. During the program, students take non-credit college-level courses, live on campus, and explore all that BU and Boston have to offer.

While you can read about this program on the BU Summer Challenge website, the information available is somewhat spotty and what is there can be difficult to dissect. For this reason, I spoke to the program coordinators and gathered everything you need to know about the program into this easy-to-read guide. I’ve created a Table of Contents so you can find the specific info you need, but I suggest reading the entire article in order:

If you took the ACT or are preparing for the ACT, you should understand score percentiles. Colleges use score percentiles as a way to compare students across the country and within each state. In this article, I’ll explain what an ACT Score Percentile is and how to use it in your ACT score planning. 

If you're reading this guide, you may have heard the term SAT Reading Comprehension. It's an older term to describe a specific type of SAT Critical Reading question. While the term is outdated, SAT Reading Comprehension is still very important today.

The questions from Reading Comprehension are used as a part of the new 2016 SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section. If you hadn’t heard about the new 2016 SAT, read all about the changes to the SAT here before continuing to read this article. Reading Comprehension is a big part of the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section. You need to understand what it is, what types of skills it tests, and how to practice it in order to succeed on the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section.

Have you considered doing some community service work during high school but can't find anything that fits your interests?

Do you want to have more ownership over what kind of service work you do? If so, then making your own community service project may be the right idea for you.

Read on for a step-by-step guide that will tell you everything you need to know to complete a successful community service project.

In this guide, I'll be discussing the Emory Pre-College Program, a summer program for high school students located at Emory University. The program allows students to take college-level classes (either for credit or non-credit) while living on campus at Emory or commuting. There are several subprograms under the Emory Pre-College Program (EPCP) umbrella, and while you can read all about it on the program website, some information can be difficult to track down.

For this reason, I’ve gathered all the necessary program information (details about the program, application information, cost, and more) and put it into this easy-to-read guide. I’ve created a Table of Contents so you can find each section if you’re only interested in a specific topic; however, I recommend reading the entire guide. Please note that this information is up to date for the Summer 2016 program, but program details may change for following years. 

One of the biggest decisions you’ll make in the process of choosing a college is where in the country you’d like to be. There are some ways that location can impact your college experience and other ways that it can be irrelevant. I’ll give you an overview of why or why not location might matter to you and how you can make an informed choice about where to go!

Most people have ideas about Greek life that are based on pop culture stereotypes of fraternities and sororities. However, Greek life isn’t supposed to be about wild parties, “bro culture,” and superficial judgments (although those things can come into play). Fraternities and sororities are often great communities where you’ll make lifelong friends. In this article, I’ll give you an overview of what Greek life is, its pluses and minuses, and whether you should go to a school with fraternities and sororities.

Are you interested in politics or international relations and looking for a club that lets you do you hands-on activities? Have you heard of Model UN but aren’t sure exactly what it is?

Read this guide to learn everything you need to know about what Model UN is, what participants in it do, and how to decide if it’s the right extracurricular for you to join.

Every year, there are college fairs across the country. These fairs can be valuable tools to help you as you try to figure out which colleges you want to apply to, and eventually, which college you want to attend.

In this article, I'll explain what a college fair is, how to find college fairs, and what you should do to get the most out of the experience.

If you’re reading this article, I assume you’re in search of a good high school. When you compare high schools, average SAT score is a useful tool. What does an average SAT score represent? Why should you care about a school’s average SAT score? How do you even find a school’s average SAT score? I’ll answer that and more in this guide.

Are you from the Midwest and want to stay close to home for college? Do you want to experience life in the heartland or in one of America's underrated flyover states? If you’re considering going to college in the Midwest, you should have an idea of which schools are the best in the region.

In this article, I’ll provide my rankings of the best colleges in the Midwest and explain how you should use my ranking list of the top Midwestern schools.

Are you interested in joining your high school newspaper? Many high schools have a school paper to give students an opportunity to hone their writing skills and keep students, staff, and teachers updated on school and community news.

Participating in your high school newspaper is a great way to improve your writing skills, learn more about journalism, and develop pieces you can include in your portfolio or resume. Read on to learn all you'll need to know about how to join your school newspaper, what work you’ll be doing, and how it will benefit you.

If you’ve found this article, I assume you’re a student or parent considering your options for your or your child’s high school education. When comparing high schools, average SAT score can be an extremely useful metric since it can give you a sense of the quality of the education and the caliber of students at that high school.

There are several methods for locating a school’s average SAT score, each of which I'll outline in this post. I'll also explain in more depth why you should care about average SAT score and what it can tell you about how high schools compare.