If you're gearing up for a high PSAT score your junior year, then you might choose to take the PSAT as a freshman for practice. Taking the PSAT in 9th grade will help you identify your current scoring level and figure out how you can improve for the future.

As a freshman, you can choose between two tests: the PSAT/NMSQT that 11th graders take or the PSAT 8/9, a version of the test specifically geared toward 8th and 9th graders.

These two tests have comparable but slightly different score ranges. This article will go over the scoring and percentiles of both so you can know what would make a good PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 8/9 score as a freshman.

You wouldn't go for your driver's license test before ever getting behind the wheel, right? In reality, you'd practice your three-point turns and parallel parking first so you're ready and know what to expect when the real test comes.

Just as you suspected, this scenario is an analogy for the PSAT. Rather than sitting for it junior year without a practice run, you can improve your performance if you've already taken it in 10th grade. Taking the PSAT as a sophomore is a great, low-pressure way to familiarize yourself with the test, gauge your level, and figure out where you need to improve.

With this in mind, we'll look at what PSAT scores are good for sophomores and how to improve them even more for junior year. But first, let's consider how the PSAT is scored.

Confused about the SAT score range? The 1600 point score range has been around since 2017 and consists of a combination of scores from two sections: Reading & Writing and Math. But what do these numbers mean for you? And how can you use SAT score ranges to determine the scores you need for college?

First, we'll discuss the current SAT score range for the exam as a whole and for each SAT section. After that, we'll take a close look at how SAT scores are distributed among test takers, explain why colleges maintain different SAT score ranges, and teach you how to set your own SAT goal score.

College is a costly investment. For the 2022-2023 academic year, the College Board reported that the average annual budget was $27,940 for an in-state public college and $57,570 for a private college. These are the averages, but just how much are the most expensive colleges in the US? Which ones have the most expensive college tuition?

Here, I'll give you a list of the 51 most expensive colleges in the US. I'll first explain why they're so pricey and then go over how you can attend one regardless of your financial situation.

Because wages seem to be remaining stagnant and college costs continue to soar, financial concerns are weighing more heavily on families when students make their college decisions. Additionally, student loan debt is increasing and young people are worried about being saddled with astronomical debt when they graduate. That's why so many students are interested in going to one of the cheapest colleges in America.

In this article, we provide you with a list of the 50 cheapest colleges in the United States. We also explain the costs of various colleges and how finances should influence your college selection process.

Anyone who’s applied to college remembers the fear of getting that dreaded rejection letter. (For the record, I got two—and they both stung. A lot.) But what if you could calculate your chances of college acceptance before you applied? 

The good news is that you can! Our college acceptance calculator uses your GPA and SAT/ACT score to estimate your likelihood of getting accepted to a particular school. But aside from GPA and test scores, what other critical factors affect your chance of admission? Read on to learn what schools look for during the admission process as well as how you can raise your chance of acceptance by submitting a strong application.

If you want to do well on the IB History exam, you'll need to have a solid set of notes to study from. This can be difficult though if you're missing notes or feel like some of your own notes don't cover certain topics in enough depth. Luckily, we're here to help! We've assembled the best FREE online IB History notes into this complete study guide.

One of the trickiest parts of the Common App is understanding how to make the most of the extracurricular activity section. You might have a ton of activities—or not very many—and be wondering how you should write about your activities to impress college admissions readers.

If you’ve felt stumped by what you’re supposed to do in this section and how to make the most of your very limited space, read on.

In this guide we'll talk about:  

• How many extracurricular activities you should list
• How to choose which activities to list
• How to write about your extracurriculars

But before we get into that, you may be wondering...

One of the reasons we talk about Ivy League colleges is because they belong to an exclusive club — but how many schools are in the Ivy League, actually? In fact, there are only eight universities belonging to the Ivy League. How those eight got there is a history lesson. But are those schools worth knowing, applying to, and attending? We’ll answer all those questions, so read on!

If you’ve heard the news that the SAT is transitioning to a totally digital format by 2024, you might be wondering how that will affect other exams, like the PSAT. Is the PSAT on paper or computer these days? Will the PSAT format change this year? 

In 2023, the PSAT format will change over from a paper exam to a fully digital test. To help you get a handle on what those changes mean for you, we’ll cover the following in this article: 

• How the PSAT format will change from paper to digital
• Five ways that the digital PSAT will be different from the paper exam
• Three tips for preparing for the new digital PSAT
  
  

Let’s get started!

The next Earth Science Regents exam will be held on Friday, June 16, 2023, at 9:15 AM. Will you be prepared?

In this guide, we explain everything you need to know about the Earth Science Regents exam, from what format the test will follow to which topics it'll cover. We also include official sample questions of every question type you'll see on this exam and break down exactly what your answers to each of them should include.

If you took the SAT in between 2016 and 2020, you might be wondering what percentile your score is in. Is a 700 on Math in 2016 the same as a 700 in Math in 2020? How much do percentile scores change from year to year?

In this article, I'll explain what new SAT percentile scores are and how they've changed over time. I'll also provide percentiles for SAT combined and section scores for 2016 through 2020.

You're in an IB Diploma Programme or a few IB classes, and you've tirelessly worked all year (or two years) studying for your SLs and HLs. You sat for the exams, where you probably developed carpal tunnel syndrome. And you can relate a little too well to this video, but you're hoping you did a bit better on your IB exams.

So when do you get your IB exam scores? How do you get your scores? What does your score mean? I will answer all these questions and more in this article.

CTY, or Center for Talented Youth, at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) offers an assortment of resources to gifted students. These resources include summer programs and courses, written resources, community awards/recognition, and college counseling.

The first step to many of the CTY programs is registering for the Talent Search. Even the programs that are open to everyone give priority to students who participated in the Talent Search. For your convenience, we've compiled everything you need to know about CTY into one magnificent blog entry guide. I recommend reading it all the way through, but if you only want to read one particular section, you can pick it out from the Table of Contents.

I'll start off by going in depth into the Talent Search and then mention other programs along with links if you want more information than I give in this article.

Are you a student at a public high school in New York State? Then you must pass a math Regents exam in order to graduate and get your diploma. One of these exams is Algebra 1 Regents, which tests your understanding of an array of algebra-related concepts and laws, from exponents and equations to functions and probability.

The next NYS Algebra regents exam will be held on Thursday, June 15, 2023 at 1:15 pm.

Read on to learn exactly what the Algebra 1 Regents exam entails, what kinds of questions you can expect, what topics you should know, and how you can ensure you pass it.