SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

Students with documented disabilities who would like extended time on the ACT can request one of two options: National Extended Time, which entails 50% additional time, or Special Testing, which varies by student, includes more than time and a half, and tends to take place over multiple testing days.

This guide will take a deeper look at the options for extended time on the ACT, and how long the test-taking experience is for students with these accommodations. To begin, who qualifies for extra time?

25 to 30% of the SAT math section will involve geometry, and the majority of those questions will deal with polygons in some form or another. Polygons come in many shapes and sizes and you will have to know your way around them with confidence in order to ace those SAT questions on test day.

Luckily, despite their variety, polygons are often less complex than they look, and a few simple rules and strategies will have you breezing through those geometry questions in no time.

This will be your complete guide to SAT polygons—the rules and formulas for various polygons, the kinds of questions you’ll be asked about them, and the best approach for solving these types of questions.

One of the ACT’s absolute favorite shapes is the circle (or at least we assume so, given how often circles show up on the test). You will not be given any formulas on the ACT, so you’ll have to know and memorize the ins and outs of how circles work before test day. And, considering how often circles show up, mastering circle problems is definitely in your best interest.

This will be your complete guide to ACT circles, including areas, circumferences, degrees, arcs, and points on a circle. We’ll take you through what these terms mean, how to manipulate and solve for various aspects of a circle, and how to tackle the most difficult ACT circle questions you may see on test day.

Scholarships are competitive. They represent an investment in you as a student and your commitment to pursuing your goals in college. Donors want to make sure you're putting their money where your mouth is, so to speak.

In order to earn a scholarship, applicants should give committees a clear sense of who they are, what their plans are, and how motivated they are to achieve them. Letters of recommendation for scholarships can go a long way toward testifying to a student's past achievements and potential for future success.

Let's take a more in depth look at what purpose recommendation letters serve in the scholarship application process.

As an English teacher and college counselor working with high school students, I've had the privilege and responsibility of writing letters of recommendation. Starting out, I had a strong urge to help, but no clear sense of what exactly should go into a reference letter. If they all speak to students' impressive qualities and accomplishments, what makes some letters stand out among the rest?

To answer this question, I researched recommendation letters from both sides of the college process, drawing on the advice of high school counselors and teachers and the perspective of college admissions officers. I also read dozens of recommendation letters, from the ones that admissions committees loved to the ones that were cast aside as mediocre, useless, or straight up negative about a student.

This article compiles the most important lessons I learned through this research and my own work supporting students through the college process. Read on for a discussion of what exactly needs to go into the kind of rec letter that effectively advocates for a student and boosts her admissions chances.

You have a general idea of what it means to take out a loan, but calling a loan "unsubsidized" makes it sound a bit suspicious. What is an unsubsidized loan, and how are they different from subsidized loans? Are they good options if you're considering taking on student debt?

Here's the unsubsidized loan definition: a Direct Unsubsidized loan is one type of financial aid provided by the US federal government, or more specifically, the US Department of Education. You can also receive Direct Subsidized loans as part of your financial aid package.

In this post, I'll discuss why these loans exist, before talking in more detail about how loans usually work. With this information, you'll be able to get a full understanding of the details of Direct Unsubsidized loans and whether they may be a good option for you.

In looking over the financial aid packages that colleges provide, you might see some terms that are unfamiliar. You have a general idea of what a loan is—you borrow money now, and pay it back later (plus some extra)—but what's a Direct Subsidized Loan? As it turns out, subsidized student loans are pretty unique (in a good way).

So what is a subsidized loan? How do you define subsidized and compare it to unsubsidized loans?

A Direct Subsidized student loan is one type of financial aid provided by the US federal government, or more specifically, the US Department of Education. You can also get Direct Unsubsidized student loans as part of your federal financial aid package. Before we get into the specifics of subsidized loans, I'll talk a little bit about why these loans exist, and how loans usually work.

If there's a gap between what you actually have to pay for college and your school's price tag, you might be considering taking out student loans. What you might not know is that there are different types of student loans, with different terms and restrictions.

First, we'll cover the basics of what it means to take on student debt. Then, we'll walk you through the differences between two major federal loan types: Direct Subsidized and Direct Unsubsidized. If you want a quick overview, just jump to the end of the article for a side-by-side comparison!

Your SAT/ACT score isn't a one-trick pony.

Wondering why your SAT/ACT scores are important? They're used for more than just college admissions.

Get a list here of who uses SAT/ACT scores, and why. You may be surprised how late into life your SAT/ACT scores can follow you!

As a high school student, you might be overwhelmed and scared by the college search process. You're probably asking yourself, "What college should I go to? What college is right for me?"

It’s not easy to choose a college that’s right for you, especially when you have over 2,000 options in the US alone! To find a school that will truly make you happy, you have to be honest with yourself about what components will make up the most fulfilling college experience based on your interests and personality. This article will give you the tools you need to choose a college that’s the right fit for your goals.

Mark Twain famously once wrote in a letter that the “difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”

The SAT agrees with good old Mark, and tests students on their ability to recognize when the almost-right word has been subbed in for the right one.

Are you confident in your ability to not be tricked by the SAT's unusual diction questions? Read on for some strategies and tips for this section.

As you study for SAT Writing, you’ll need some sample tests to practice your new skills on. Resist the temptation to just start trying random questions, however. It’s vital that you only use practice tests that will actually help you improve, and those can be a bit tricky to find.

In this post, I'll explain why you should stick to accurate practice tests, what makes for a good practice test, how to use them in your SAT writing prep, and where to find the best practice SATs.

I’ve worked with dozens of students as they studied for the SAT, and the writing section is often the most confusing for them. It tests a lot of grammar concepts you may not have learned in school or else haven’t studied in many years—even if you're an A student in English class, there are probably some rules tested on the SAT that you aren't familiar with.

Happily, the test asks about the same few concepts over and over again, so there aren't that many topics you really need to know. Avoiding just a few of the most common mistakes students often make can really help your score.

Let’s go through these common mistakes one at a time:

The SAT and the ACT are both recently underwent updates: the ACT got a new writing test and some minor content tweaks, while the SAT was fully redesigned.

With all this change, it can be difficult to keep track of everything. I've created some simple charts that outline the basic differences in structure and content for the new SAT vs the ACT.

This post is more of an overview than a detailed side-by-side comparison, however, so for a more in-depth discussion of the differences between the updated versions of the two tests, you should take a look at our full breakdown of the SAT vs ACT here.

Improving your score on the SAT isn’t always easy, but it might be a little easier than you think if you use these tips! They're not necessarily magical, but here are 15 tips and tricks for different sections of the SAT to help you improve your scores with minimal extra study time.