SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

Deciding which guidebooks will be most useful to you in the college research process can be pretty tricky. The Fiske Guide to Colleges is a commonly used resource for prospective college students, and it does contain a lot of useful information. However, it also has some major drawbacks and may not be very helpful in making a final decision on where to apply.

In this review, I'll tell you all about the exclusive content of the guide, its overall pros and cons, and whether you should actually buy it and use it in your college search. 

Not on our watch.

To do well on the SAT/ACT, you need to commit to a certain amount of study hours. The higher the score you want, or the more points you need to improve, the more hours you need to put in. (Read more about how long exactly you need to study for the SAT or ACT here.)

If total hours is your main goal for studying, then procrastination is what you need to defeat to be successful. So we’ll talk a bit about why procrastination happens, and then give actionable advice for fighting it.

Read in to conquer procrastination once and for all!

So you’re thinking about majoring in creative writing! Completing an undergraduate creative writing program can be a great way to explore your love of fiction or poetry and hone your craft.

As edifying as a creative writing major can be, it may not be what you expect. Dedicated creative writing majors are also quite uncommon, so if you're committed to getting your degree in that subject, you'll have a narrower pool of possible colleges. This post will help you decide whether a creative writing major is right for you.

Maybe you already know your top college choice. Now you want to know what SAT score you need to get into your dream school. Unfortunately, there’s no simple answer. Generally, there is no SAT score requirement that guarantees you admission, especially for the most selective colleges. Conversely, there usually isn’t an SAT score that will automatically disqualify you from admission because schools use holistic admissions. Your application will be evaluated on your GPA, extracurricular activities, recommendations, personal essay, and SAT score.

However, your SAT score will significantly increase or decrease your likelihood of admission, and you can use available statistics to determine the SAT score you need to improve your chances of being able to attend a certain college. Colleges generally say that they don't have SAT requirements, but if you get an 800 and want to go to Harvard, statistically, you have nearly a 0% chance of gaining admission.

In this article, I will discuss SAT score requirements and how your SAT score impacts the college admissions process.

You’ve struggled all your life with scissors. You felt distinctly discriminated against during handwriting classes in grade school. And shaking hands feels downright unnatural.

In short, you’ve suffered. And everyone knows that for every challenge out there, there’s a college scholarship to reward those who have struggled through it.

Read on to hear about scholarships for you long-suffering lefties.

If you’re a big fan of college sports, you may have seen a news conference on ESPN where a highly recruited high school athlete announces what college he is going to attend (usually in a dramatic way), and then he signs a piece of paper. That piece of paper is his National Letter of Intent; he is now legally bound to attend that college and the recruiting process is officially over.

I remember the day I signed my National Letter of Intent to attend Stanford. I don’t think my mom has ever been as proud, and it’s very likely I won’t ever make her that proud again. Receiving and signing a National Letter of Intent is your reward for years of hard work and signifies the culmination of your college search.

In this article, I will explain what the National Letter of Intent is, why it exists, and its terms.

Because the SAT is such a high stakes test, the College Board has implemented a series of rules to ensure that there is no cheating and that all students have as close to the same test-taking experience as possible. Before you take the SAT, you should familiarize yourself with these rules. It would be a shame to spend months preparing and be in the middle of acing your SAT, only to get kicked out of the test and have your score canceled because your phone was on, and you received a text during the last section. That’s an extreme example, but it's possible. Know the rules so you can protect yourself.

In this article, I will discuss SAT rules, the reasons behind the rules, and the possible consequences for violating SAT rules and regulations.

Attending home football games can be a huge part of the college experience. Camping out for tickets, tailgating for hours on game day, and cheering their teams on to victory in packed stadiums are cherished memories for countless college alumni. While you shouldn’t choose your college solely for its football team or stadium, if you think you would enjoy the atmosphere of big-time college sports, then it’s reasonable for the athletics environment at a school to play a role in your college decision.

In this article, I’ll provide you with a list of the 17 largest college football stadiums in the country. To give you some perspective on the size of these stadiums, the largest NFL stadium, Met Life Stadium, would only be number 16 on this list. These are not only the largest college football stadiums, but they're also the largest stadiums in the country.

If you're taking the SAT, you're definitely not alone! While colleges use SAT scores as an indicator of smarts and aptitude for college, smart people do not always perform well on the SAT test. In this article, I'll share the SAT scores of some reputedly smart people, former and current Presidents, CEOs, authors, etc. Hopefully, their scores will make you feel proud of your own!

If you are taking the ACT, you are following in the footsteps of a lot of other smart people! Universities use ACT scores as an indication of smarts and preparedness for college, but smart people do not always score high on the ACT test. In this article, I divulge the ACT scores of some reputedly smart people, politicians, CEOs, authors, etc.

College Board is mixing things up. With the new suite of assessments starting to roll out this fall, the new PSAT is one of the first tests to debut.

Apart from changes in content and structure, the new PSAT will use a different scoring system than the one used in previous years. This new scale will correspond with, though not match exactly, the scale for the new SAT.

This article will go over the new PSAT score range, along with explaining what your PSAT scores will mean for National Merit and your performance on the SAT. Let's check out the new scoring system.

NOTE: In 2023, the PSAT became fully digital and debuted a new, shorter format. Learn all about the score range of the current PSAT here!

Trying to figure out why your SAT score went down on a retake? Or are you just wondering how much a digital SAT score can drop if you retake the test?

Find out the likelihood of an SAT score decrease, how much your SAT score could decrease by, and how to make sure your score goes up, not down.

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.