SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

Little picture questions account for a huge amount of the questions on ACT Reading. Of the 4 publicly available ACTs I surveyed, between 25% and 50% of ALL Reading questions were little picture questions. So what does this mean for you and your ACT test prep? It means that it is well worth your time to make sure you can consistently answer little picture questions accurately and in a reasonable amount of time (what "reasonable" is will depend on the score you're aiming for).

In this article, I’ll provide examples of the different ways ACT Reading will ask you to use little picture skills and explain the strategies you can use to help with these questions. I'll end with a walkthrough of a sample question as well as practice questions for you try out on your own. First, however, I’ll explain what exactly I mean by “little picture” questions

On ACT Reading, you'll encounter questions that ask you to be able to read large amounts of text and distill them down; we call these "big picture" questions here at PrepScholar. Big picture questions can ask about the entire passage, a series of paragraph, or even just one paragraph (as opposed to "little picture" questions, which will ask for specific information). Being able to answer these types of questions will prove very useful for college/university, where professors will expect you to use these skills with even more dense and academic writing.

What are “big picture” questions on ACT Reading, and what are the best ways to approach answering them? I’ll start by discussing the two primary types of big picture questions you’ll encounter on the ACT, along with common ways the ACT will ask you about each. After that, I’ll give you some strategies to answer both types of questions, illustrated with examples from prose fiction and academic writing.

One of comedian Groucho Marx's most famous jokes involves a pachyderm and some sleepwear.

"One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas," he says. "How he got in my pajamas I don't know!"

This joke is a play on a grammatical error called a misplaced modifier, where a descriptive phrase or word is placed in the wrong part of the sentence.

The modifier errors on the SAT Writing may not be quite as funny as Groucho's, but it's still important that you understand how they work. To that end, we'll be covering both basic grammatical concepts behind faulty modifiers and how to apply that knowledge on the test:

On the identify the error subsection of SAT Writing, you may have noticed that there is always a “No Error” option. On the sentence improvement subsection, answer choice A will always be the same as the underlined portion of the original sentence.

Have you ever wondered how often the given sentence on the multiple choice SAT Writing questions will be right? Many students fear the “no error” option, but it is sometimes the right answer. In this article, I’ll explore the frequency of correct no error answers.

The ACT Science section, more than any other, is about strategy over knowledge. Because every graduating high school senior has a varied level of science education, the only way to make a "fair" or "standardized" test is to test very basic concepts. If the ACT Science tested basic concepts in an easy way everyone would get a 36, so instead, the ACT tests these basic concepts in new and confusing ways.

In order to get the best score, you need to use a strategy to attack this strange test and practice the strategy on several ACT Science practice tests. For information about practice tests, check out our other article. You only have 35 minutes to answer 40 questions (or 52.5 seconds per question) and each question has the same point value, so you also need a strategy that helps you answer as many questions as possible in the shortest amount of time.

If you've noticed that the SAT Writing section seems to be confusing, that's because it's intentionally designed to be that way.

But we're going to let you in on something that the College Board doesn't want you to know: there are a few key secrets that will help you understand this part of the SAT, and knowing them makes it much easier to crack. Read on to learn how to take this section of the SAT into your own hands.

Author technique is a specific type of reading comprehension question that appears frequently on the ACT English section. Author technique questions require you to analyze a specific sentence and determine if it fulfills an author's stated purpose.

Read this article for a thorough explanation of author technique and guidance on how to figure out author technique questions.

Lots of colleges "superscore" your SAT scores, or take your highest section scores across all your test dates. Besides making your application stronger, this policy can also be valuable for how you approach the SAT. How does it accomplish all this?

Read on to learn how SAT superscoring affects your overall testing strategy. First, what are the major benefits of SAT superscore?

You may recall the good ol’ days of elementary school when you learned about adjectives and adverbs. If you had realized that you would have to know about these parts of speech for the ACT, perhaps you would have paid better attention instead of daydreaming about Nickelodeon and The Disney Channel. Don’t worry. If you’ve forgotten or never learned about these parts of speech, I’ll teach you everything you need to know about them for the ACT English section.

You may know that the SAT offers both Superscoring and Score Choice, but do you know what separates the two? Much like a pair of dissimilarly flavored but equally delicious ice cream cones, each one benefits you, but in slightly different ways.

How did the ACT get started? And how did it become the test it is today? Read on to learn more about ACT history, its successes and failures, and how things might change for it in the future.

Three little letters, one big test.

Wondering what the letters ACT actually stand for? The answer reveals a lot about the history of the test as well as its goals. Read on to learn about the name of the ACT and why that matters.

Shockingly, catchy slogans were not a part of the original Scholastic Achievement Test. 

If you're a high school student trying to get into college, you've definitely heard of the SAT, and might already be studying for it. But have you ever wondered what "SAT" itself actually stands for? And does it reveal anything about what the SAT claims to measure?

Well, it turns out the SAT has gone through many name changes, which reveal changes in the test's design and purpose. Read on for the full story behind the SAT's name.

Few things in life are free – especially when it comes to college admissions. You have to shell out for prep books, test fees, application fees, and more. It adds up quickly! So doesn’t it make sense to save money where you can, like on those four free score reports that come with your SAT registration?

Maybe – or maybe not. We will examine the issue in depth and help you learn how to save your money and also maximize your college admission chances.