Online SAT / ACT Prep Blog by PrepScholar (162)

How to Submit a Pell Grant Application

If you're applying for the Pell Grant, it's important to know where the application is and how to submit it.

Here's a secret: there's actually no dedicated or special application for the Pell Grant—instead, students are automatically considered for this federal aid program when they submit their Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.

But the FAFSA can be complicated for a lot of students since it requires info about your family and financial situation. Follow the steps in this guide in order to submit your FAFSA to apply for a Pell Grant!

Posted by Francesca Fulciniti

Financial Aid

Federal Pell Grants are great resources for students who could use more help paying for school. Like all good things, though, there are some restrictions and rules around how you can use a Pell Grant. In this post, I'll explain:

Exactly how much you can get from your Pell Grant
Eligibility restrictions
Limits on how you can use Pell Grant money

Posted by Rebecca Safier

Encyclopedia

The SAT was first administered to a few thousand college applicants in 1926. Called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was adapted from Army Alpha and Beta tests, intelligence tests used for recruitment during World War I. Psychologist and Princeton professor Carl Brigham helped develop and later adapt these tests for use in college admissions. The development of this standardized admissions test was partially intended to eliminate bias and equalize educational access among people from different socio-economic backgrounds.

Posted by Laura Staffaroni

SAT Reading

Inference questions appear frequently on the SAT Reading and Writing section. Answering inference questions correctly requires the ability to take information given in the text and then draw logical, supported conclusions from it.

What are the different kinds of inference questions asked on the SAT Reading and Writing Section, and how should you go about answering them? I've got the answers for you in this article.

Posted by Rebecca Safier

Encyclopedia

In the U.S., the SAT is offered seven times throughout the year, in January, March (or April), May, June, October, November, and December. Internationally, the SAT is typically offered six times, including all the aforementioned dates with the exception of March. The redesigned SAT, commonly referred to as the new SAT, will be first administered in March of 2016. Students testing internationally will first encounter the new SAT in May of 2016.

Posted by Rebecca Safier

Encyclopedia

The SAT has three sections, Critical Reading (formerly referred to as Verbal), Mathematics, and Writing. All of the questions within these sections are multiple choice, with the exception of a 25 minute essay in Writing and ten student-produced responses in Mathematics.

Posted by Rebecca Safier

Encyclopedia

Many 4-year U.S. colleges and universities require SAT or ACT scores from their prospective students. Admissions officers, particularly those selecting for academic ability, consider the SAT as a measurement of academic ability and potential. The SAT is meant to be a reasoning test that evaluates students' problem-solving and analytical skills, rather than their specific content knowledge.

Posted by Rebecca Safier

Encyclopedia

The Writing section of the SAT consists of multiple choice questions and a 25 minute essay. The Writing section was added to the SAT in 2005, changing the maximum composite score from 1600 to 2400. It was based on, though not directly comparable to, the old SAT Subject Test in Writing.

Posted by Rebecca Safier

Encyclopedia

The Critical Reading section of the SAT tests students' literacy skills, in particular their reading comprehension and understanding of vocabulary. It is meant to measure students' ability to understand written English on the level needed for success in college courses. Top scorers on this section tend to use methods of speed reading and skimming for important details to their advantage, as Critical Reading questions simultaneously require close reading and efficiency. Studies have also shown that maintaining a mindset of interest in the passages aids a reader's retention of facts and details.

Posted by Rebecca Safier

Encyclopedia

The Mathematics section of the SAT asks students to solve problems with pre-algebra, algebra, geometry, probability, and data analysis from charts and graphs. The SAT does not test advanced math like trigonometry, pre-calculus, or calculus. Students who have taken a high school level algebra class and geometry class likely have sufficient familiarity with the tested concepts to sit for the SAT. Those who have less familiarity with these concepts in their general education will likely benefit from self-teaching with SAT preparation materials.

Posted by Francesca Fulciniti

Financial Aid

You might have heard about the federal Pell Grant and have some idea that it helps you pay for college. But you might not know the details, like how much you can get, whether you qualify, and how to apply.

If you're looking for information financial aid, you should definitely learn about the Pell Grant. This annual award is given by the federal government to students who need help paying for college—if you meet all eligibility criteria, you're guaranteed to receive the money. Sounds like a great deal!

Posted by Laura Staffaroni

ACT Reading

Questions that ask you about what information can be inferred from a line or series of lines on ACT Reading comprise about 15% of ACT Reading questions (based on my analysis of 4 publicly available ACTs). In order to answer these inference questions correctly, you must be able to understand what is written in the text and take one tiny, logical step beyond what is directly stated.

But how are inference questions asked, and what ACT Reading strategies can you use to answer them? Keep reading to find out and prep for this important question type!

Posted by Justin Berkman

ACT English

Macro logic questions on ACT English ask you to determine where to properly place sentences within a paragraph and where to properly place paragraphs within a passage. These rhetorical skills questions test your ability to analyze sentences and determine how to most logically organize a passage. Knowing how to recognize and using my top ACT English strategies to approach these questions will enable you to correctly answer them in an efficient manner.

Posted by Rebecca Safier

Encyclopedia

The SAT is one of two major tests used for admission to 4-year colleges and universities in the United States. Colleges selecting for academic ability often use the SAT, or its counterpart, the ACT, as a critical factor when deciding whether or not to grant admission to prospective students.

Posted by Courtney Montgomery

ACT Math

Fractions and ratios (and by extension rational numbers) are all around us and, knowingly or not, we use them every day. If you wanted to brag over the fact that you ate half a pizza by yourself (and why not?) or you needed to know how many parts water to rice you need when making rice on the stove (two parts water to one part rice), then you need to communicate this using fractions and ratios.

In essence, fractions and ratios represent pieces of a whole by comparing those pieces either to each other or to the whole itself. Don’t worry if that sentence makes no sense right now. We’ll break down all the rules and workings of these concepts throughout this guide--both how these mathematical concepts work in general and how they will be presented to you on the ACT.

Whether you are an old hat at dealing with fractions, ratios, and rationals, or a novice, this guide is for you. This guide will break down what these terms mean, how to manipulate these kinds of problems, and how to answer the most difficult fraction, ratio, and rational number questions on the ACT.