SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

On average, you’ll need to use an SAT math formula once every four to five questions. This accounts for approximately 20-25% of the combined math sections, which means it is crucial that you understand how and when to employ your formulas on the SAT.

We’ve put together the list of your need-to-know SAT formulas (prioritized in the order from greatest to least that you’ll see them on the SAT) as well as how to best use them for test-day.

Taking an SAT practice test is one thing, and using the results to actually improve your scores in the future is another. If you’re spending five hours on a practice test, you should make sure that you’re getting the most out of it and not sweeping your mistakes under the rug. In this article, I’ll give you some different strategies for making your practice test sessions count.

 You can’t study effectively for the ACT if you don’t know what score to aim for, and you won’t know what score to aim for if you don’t know how the ACT is scored!

In this post, I’ll start off with some important background info on the ACT before getting to the good stuff — the ACT score range and what you should know about it. For example, what do these scores mean? What counts as a good ACT score? Read on to find out!

The first step in preparing for the SAT is learning basic info about the test. If you’ve decided to take the SAT, or even if you’re still choosing between the SAT and ACT, it’s important to understand how the test is scored.

I’ll give you a crash course in the SAT and its score ranges before talking in more detail about what these scores actually mean—what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s average.

When it comes to your college applications, you probably aren’t too worried about your ACT scores— unless, that is, you think your scores will be too low.

Don’t panic just yet! Like most things in life, ACT scores are all relative — there’s no such thing as a bad ACT score in a vacuum.  In this post, I’ll talk about what it means to have a “bad” score in relation to the entire US, your general peer group, your prospective colleges, and (maybe most importantly) yourself.

This article would be a pretty short one if there were a single answer to the question of what qualifies as an excellent ACT score. Like most things in life, however, what you might consider an excellent score depends on your perspective.

In this post, I’ll talk about different ways to understand what counts as excellent test performance. I’ll start off with excellent scores in relation to the general population before discussing more nuanced comparisons: what does it mean to have an excellent score when considering your peer group performance, your target schools, and your own strengths and weaknesses?

Sometimes the best way to learn about preparing your college application is to know how the process works on the other side. When admissions officers sit down to review hundreds, if not thousands of applications, what are they looking to learn about you? More specifically, what do they want to find out from your letters of recommendation?

This guide will explore how readers consider your recommendation letter for college admissions, along with how you can use that knowledge to your advantage. First, what are the requirements for letters of recommendation?

Coordinate geometry is one of the heavy-hitter topics on the SAT, and you'll need to be able to maneuver your way through its many facets in order to take on the variety of questions you'll see on the test. Luckily, though, coordinate geometry is not difficult to visualize or wrap your head around once you know the basics. And we are here to show you how.

There will usually be two questions on any given SAT that involve points alone, and another 2-3 questions that will involve lines and slopes and/or rotations, reflections, or translations. This makes up a significant portion of your SAT math section, so it is a good idea to understand the ins and outs of coordinate geometry before you tackle the test.

This will be your complete guide to points and the building blocks for coordinate geometry—how to find and manipulate points, distances, and midpoints, as well as strategies for solving these types of questions on test day.

You probably already know that the gold standard for studying for the SAT is to use the official practice tests released by the College Board. Unfortunately, the SAT is getting completely redesigned after January 2016 – and there aren’t that many official questions for the new test yet. But the great news is that there are many ways to use other resources to study effectively!

Questions from other standardized tests, materials from your high school education, magazines and other publications—there is no shortage of ways to practice the knowledge and skills you’ll need for the new SAT!

In this article, I’ll go through each section of the new SAT and talk about all the possible alternatives to regular practice questions. When it comes to the SAT redesign, the world really is your oyster.

There’s no doubt that a good SAT score will give you a leg up in college admissions, but is this advantage justified? It’s been argued, especially in recent years, that SAT scores are not reliable predictors of success in college academics, the job world, and beyond.

In this article, I’ll explore these claims and see just how relevant your scores are to your future.

ACT scores are a fixture of the college admissions process, but what do they really measure? Are they a useful way to judge your abilities and potential?

In this article, I’ll give you the details on what the ACT can and can’t measure and how to interpret your scores as a high school student.

I don’t know what the number one most stressful college application drama is, but a list of the top three has got to include missing SAT scores. You’ve invested time, energy, and maybe even a little of your sanity into reaching your SAT goal, so it’s totally reasonable to be rattled by this kind of curveball.

But before you panic, read this article to troubleshoot some of the most common reasons that SAT scores go missing. I will talk about what to do if you yourself can't find your scores, as well as what to do if the college you're applying to says your scores are missing.

Either way, most likely, you’re looking at a pretty simple problem with a pretty painless solution.

There’s nothing quite like the white-knuckle feeling you get when you realize your ACT scores might be missing. You studied, you stressed, you planned, so it makes perfect sense to be feeling a little crazed with frustration.

But before you lose yourself in missing-score panic, let me reassure you that in the vast majority of cases the problem is small and easily solved. In this article, I'll explain what to do whether you are having trouble finding your scores yourself, or whether it's your target college that seems to have lost the score report from your application.

I'll go through some probable – and improbable – reasons for your missing score, and describe how to fix each one.

Many students worry that a bad SAT score will be the kiss of death for their college applications. The SAT is an important part of the admissions process, so you obviously don’t want to submit a crummy score—but how do you know whether your score is all that bad to begin with?

If you're worried about low scores, understanding where your scores stand in relation to other students’ is the first step to improvement. In this post, I’ll talk about comparing your own scores to those of the general population, your peer group, your target schools, and even your own potential scores. I'll finish off with strategies to bring up scores no matter your goals or study timeline. With this information, you'll be well-prepared to make necessary steps in improving your SAT scores.

While the definition of a “Good SAT Score” is can seem subjective, in fact, there are valid and objective ways to quantify it.  In this article, I’ll go through four different methods you can use to decide what a good SAT score means for you. Having the wrong definition can be catastrophic to your college future, and having the right definition can be a strong motivator to achieve your SAT goals.