SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

You’ve been studying hard, and now the time has come to really test what you have mastered! Are you ready to try out 12 of the toughest questions to grace the digital SAT’s Reading and Writing section? 

I've combed all the official practice tests to find the absolute hardest SAT Writing questions. If you get all of these right, you're truly a master of this section.

Did you make a weird error in filling out your multiple choice answer sheet that led to a dramatically reduced score? Was your essay scanned incorrectly? Hand Score Verification is a way for you to address and correct these mistakes without having to retake the test.

In this guide, I'll describe what SAT Hand Score Verification is, how it can help you, and how it might hurt.

"Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers."

If Isaac Asimov were talking about the SAT Writing and Language section, he would probably add that he would have to think through his fingers fast. With 35 minutes for 44 multiple choice questions, you have to work quickly and efficiently to achieve a high score.

UPDATE: The Digital SAT no longer has a separate writing section. Get details on what to expect from the combined Reading and Writing in our complete guide.

Let's go over the Writing and Language section in detail so you know exactly what to expect.

Your number two pencils are sharpened; you have functioning erasers at the ready and tissues for when you can’t stop the tears. That’s right. You’re gearing up to study for the SAT/ACT.

Except…how do you actually go about studying for the SAT/ACT? Do you need a tutor, or can you just do it on your own?

We cover this topic pretty thoroughly in our free booklets on comparing methods of test prep for the SAT and ACT, so this article will just give you a brief rundown of when it’s worth it to hire a tutor.

Did you know that some colleges do not require an SAT Writing score on the old SAT? It's true. As you're deciding which colleges to apply to, you should have a clear understanding of the admissions requirements for each school. If you're particularly worried about your SAT Writing score, perhaps this article can alleviate some of your stress.

Which colleges do not require SAT Writing? We will provide you with a complete list, broken down by state. But first, an important note about the new version of the SAT.

Last year, the average Reading score on the ACT was 21.2. With a strategic approach to reading the passages quickly and efficiently, you should be able to break away from this average and boost your scores!

Let's review what you'll see on the ACT Reading section and then talk about the most efficient way to read the passages and answer the questions with time to spare.

Are you planning to take the ACT soon? Curious about what the English section is like? It's more than just correcting grammar and recognizing proper punctuation. In this post we will break down exactly what the ACT English section tests. 

As you may have seen in some of my other articles on tutoring, if there's one thing you need to know about tutoring, it's this: tutoring is expensive, particularly high quality tutoring. In fact, I've even written an entire article devoted to the topic of how much you should pay for SAT/ACT tutoring.

So how can you save money on SAT/ACT tutoring? Let me give you a few tips, tailored around the case studies of 3 hypothetical students.

feature image credit: Money – Savings by 401(K) 2012, used under CC BY-SA 2.0/Cropped from original.

You’ve taken that first step—you’ve decided that you need an SAT/ACT tutor. Hurray for self-knowledge!

The next step is equally important. Who is going to be the one who tutors you in the ways of…the SAT/ACT? A mediocre tutor won’t improve, and can actually worsen, your test scores…and your self-confidence (read more on what makes an effective SAT/ACT tutor here).

Fortunately, I've come up with a set of guidelines you can follow to make sure you find the best SAT/ACT tutor for you.

You'd think that with a name like “Critical Reading” or just plain “Reading” that the best tutor for these sections of the SAT and ACT would just be someone who is good at reading critically. Alas, it is not that simple. For instance: I love to read and aced the SAT Critical Reading section when I took the test lo so many years ago, but because it comes naturally to me, I haven’t ever had to think of alternate ways to approach questions. I actually have to work much harder at tutoring Reading than I do at tutoring subjects that I had to put more effort into learning (for me, SAT Math).

Read on for more specifics on what makes the most effective SAT/ACT Reading tutor. And if you want specific advice on SAT/ACT Math tutoring as well, don't worry—you can read more about what makes a great SAT/ACT Math tutor here.

You’d think that finding a good SAT/ACT Math tutor should be simple—just get someone who is really good at math to tutor you. Unfortunately, just because someone is good at math doesn’t make her the most effective tutor, particularly when it comes to the SAT or ACT. For instance, while I'm better at SAT/ACT Reading (compared to SAT/ACT Math), I'm actually a better math tutor, because I don’t always “get it" right away—I have to try out different ways to teach myself the material before I grasp it fully.

Read on for more specifics on what makes the most effective SAT/ACT Math tutor. And if you want specific advice on SAT/ACT Reading tutoring as well, don't worry—we have an article about what to look for in an SAT/ACT Reading tutor here.

If you’re applying to college soon, you might have heard about the Universal College Application, a service that allows you to apply to multiple colleges with one application.

So which colleges are on the Universal College Application? And is it worth using? We will give the complete list and also weigh the pros and cons of the UCA.

You know you want tutoring, but do you go with in-person tutoring or online tutoring? Right now, I can practically hear the face some of you just made at the idea of online tutoring (yes, the face was so awful it actually made a noise).

The world is full of dire warnings about the issues with online learning. “How can you possibly learn if you’re not in there in person with your teacher? Won’t you just slack off?” On the other side of the issue are people like me, whose reactions to hearing about online tutoring are more along the lines of "Woo! No travel time means I get to spend more time doing non-SAT/ACT-related things!"

To help you get a better sense of whether or not online tutoring is right for you, I’ve blocked out the three areas in which there are significant differences between online and in-person tutoring. For each of these areas, I’ll explain when online tutoring is the right choice…and when it is not.

feature image credit: Thought plus action by Ben Tesch, used under CC BY 2.0.

Have you taken the ACT recently? Do you think you did badly? Or maybe you’re just wondering what the minimum score you need to get into college is.

We will explain what a bad ACT score is, both in terms of the national averages and colleges you want to go to.

Tutors are an investment in both time and money. Just because someone calls themselves a “SAT tutoring expert” doesn’t automatically confer the skills of that title upon them. (If it did, I would have become a master dinosaur expert by age 4.)

Bad or ineffective tutors can actually hurt you and your potential SAT/ACT test score in two ways:

#1 Financially: bad tutoring takes away from your budget and limits the resources you can spend to recoup your loss.

#2 Time-wise: the time you spend on ineffective tutoring takes away from the time you could be spending better elsewhere.

So what makes a tutor effective? In this article, I’ll go over the key qualities of the best SAT/ACT tutors.