SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

How much can an ACT score drop by? How likely is it your ACT score will decrease if you retake the test? Or are you wondering why your ACT score went down on a recent retake?

Find out how likely an ACT decrease is, how big that ACT score decrease could be, and how to make sure your score goes up, not down! Read on if you have a retake in store.

Do you have questions about applying to community college? I have answers!

For starters, most community colleges do not require ACT scores. In fact, the vast majority are open enrollment: as long as you meet a few basic requirements (the main one is generally having a high school diploma or GED), you’re in.

The exception to this rule is if you're interested in more selective programs in science or law enforcement or if you're planning to transfer to a four-year university. In these cases, you may need to take the SAT or ACT.

In this post, I’ll explain the application process for community colleges in more depth and what steps you’ll need to take to apply.

While you may end up deciding to apply to a mixture of public and private colleges, you should be aware that each type has its own general set of characteristics that may be more or less aligned with your preferences. Which type of school is cheaper? Which colleges are bigger, and what opportunities exist in private vs public universities?

In this article, I’ll discuss the differences between public and private colleges that you should consider in your search.

Since school counselors support students through all four years of high school, they can write some of the best, most personal letters of recommendations. At the same time, they have the added challenge of writing lots, often hundreds, of letters for all the college-bound students on their caseload. 

While almost all counselor references will comment positively on a student, there can still be bad ones that don't offer a whole lot to a student's college application. Let's look at examples that demonstrate the four most common reasons a recommendation letter is bad: it's impersonal and generic, it's repetitive, it gives no specific examples, or it expresses serious reservations about a student.

If you’ve signed up for the SAT, you’ve probably heard that you need an SAT admission ticket to get in on test day. The College Board makes a big deal about these tickets, and it can be stressful to figure out how to input all your information, get the right picture, and find a way to print the ticket.

Don’t worry! This guide will walk you through exactly what the admission ticket is, how to print it out, and what to do if you lose it.

In-state colleges can be great options if you live in a state with a strong university system. But what are the positives and negatives of these schools, and is an in-state school the right choice for you?

I’ll go through the pros and cons of attending an in-state college, give you some examples of schools that fit this mold, and help you figure out if you should go.

For many students, loans are vital to being able to afford an education. The cost of a college education in the US is cost-prohibitive for many families, and loans help to close the gap between what school costs and what families can actually afford. As of last year, over 40 million Americans are working to pay off student debt.

Learning how to get student loans sounds daunting and burdensome, but if you’re smart about how and where you get your loans, taking on debt can be a manageable option. Here, I’ll walk you through all the steps to getting student loans, including calculating your own need, finding loans, applying for loans, and managing repayment. 

First, though, I'll talk a little bit about how student loans work. 

When you take out a loan, the expectation is that you'll pay back all the money you've borrowed (plus interest, of course). It usually takes pretty catastrophic circumstances for a federal student loan to be canceled, like your school shutting down before you can get your degree.

The Perkins loan program is different, in a good way - it offers loan forgiveness/cancellation in a wide variety of other, happier circumstances. In an effort to encourage graduates to pursue certain public service careers, the loan program offers loan forgiveness, or cancellation, to borrowers in certain professions. If you have a Perkins loan and enter one of the fields I outline below, you could have up to 100% of your loan canceled. Read on to learn more about cancellation eligibility & the loan cancellation process!

Recommendation letters are given serious consideration by admissions officers. Considering college admissions get more and more competitive each year, recommendations can go a long way toward helping you get accepted (or, gulp, rejected).

Most admissions committees seek a holistic view of the student. They want to know who you are, beyond the grades and test scores. A great recommendation letter both raves about your awesome qualities and opens a window into your personality and character.

By knowing exactly why some recommendation letters are more powerful than others, you can figure out who you need to ask and what you need to do to get one. So what exactly makes some letters of rec more impressive than others? Let's take a closer look at the features of great recommendation letters and examples of each one.

One of the most important decisions you'll make in the college research process is where in the country to focus your search. Going to school out of state has its benefits, but is an out-of-state college the right choice for you? In this article, I’ll give you the general pros and cons of attending an out-of-state college and provide some guidance on whether you should apply.  

When you are planning your study approach for ACT English, it’s important to know where your time is best spent.

Which grammar rules are really the most important to learn? What can help you make the greatest improvement to your score?

When you are planning your study approach for SAT Writing, it’s important to know where your time is best spent.

Which grammar rules are really the most important to learn? What can help you make the greatest improvement to your score?

Read on to find out exactly how much each grammar rule matters and how you can use this information on the test.

You’ve decided to use a book to study for ACT English, but do you know which books out there will actually help you reach your goals?

In this article, I will give you an overview of the best ACT English prep books on the market today, and which ones you should choose depending on what score you're aiming for.

These books can be found at bookstores, the library, or online. Focus on using these books with high quality practice and review, and you'll be sure to improve your English score.

The SAT is a challenging test for all students, but especially for those whose native language isn't English. Even more so than its counterpart, the ACT, the SAT focuses on high level vocabulary words and reading comprehension.

Most four year colleges require the SAT or ACT from ESL students, often along with the TOEFL or IELTS. This guide is for ESL and bilingual students who have college in their plans and want to know how to prep for the SAT.

Before delving into your approach to test prep, let's discuss what exactly the SAT tests, and why it can be so demanding for non-native speakers of English.

Curious about which states require the SAT? Could requiring the SAT make it more popular than the ACT?

In this post, we'll discuss how state SAT testing could increase nationwide SAT rates, and what to do if you live in an SAT-required or SAT-optional state.