SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

For students applying to the University of Chicago, the "why UChicago?" essay is more straightforward than most of the other essay prompts you'll see, but it can still be intimidating to try to figure out how you should tackle this essay.

What should you mention? What will impress the admissions team? What are they really looking for in your response?

We break down the "why UChicago?" essay, explain everything the University of Chicago is looking for in this essay, suggest topics to write about that'll help you stand out, and provide "why UChicago?" essay examples to help get your creative juices flowing.

When preparing for SAT Reading & Writing, it's crucial to use high-quality practice materials that accurately reflect the content of the real test. In this article, I will go through the best resources for SAT Reading & Writing practice materials, both online and in printed prep books.

If you’re taking the ACT, you know waiting for scores can be stressful. Wondering how your scores compare to those of other students is common, but how do you know what’s considered a good ACT score? More importantly, how do you decide what ACT score to shoot for in order to get accepted to your top colleges? 

We’ll tell you how to determine whether your ACT scores would be considered “good.”(Spoiler alert: it’s tricker than you think!) From there, we’ll explain how to set a target ACT score that helps you achieve your college admissions dreams. As a bonus, we’ll help you put your ACT scores in context by looking at how what qualifies as a good ACT score has changed over time. 

Let’s get started. 

Future ACT dates are only confirmed a little more than a year in advance, but at PrepScholar, we've researched patterns from previous testing years to predict future ACT test dates.

In this guide, we'll provide the confirmed and likely dates for 2024-2025, 2025-2026, and 2026-2027. From the data we've looked at, we can predict these dates with a fair degree of confidence.

Are you an international student aiming to attend college in the United States? Colleges are looking for students with language skills and global competencies more than ever, so you already have several strong assets to draw on in your college applications.

One requirement for your applications to most universities is the SAT or ACT. Let's go over the information you need to know about deciding between the SAT and ACT, registering for the tests, and preparing to achieve a high score.

But first, why are the SAT and ACT important for going to college in the US?

For the 2022–2023 admission cycle, Cornell admitted less than 8% of their total applicant pool. To be one of the students who gets accepted, you need to write amazing essays as part of your Cornell University application.

In this article, we'll outline the different types of essays you need to write for your Cornell University application and teach you how to write a Cornell supplemental essay that will help you stand out from the thousands of other applicants.

Most students know what the SAT is, but what is the PSAT? Sure, it's got "SAT" in its name, but is the PSAT actually connected to the SAT? More importantly, how does the PSAT test work and what is its purpose?

In this article, we'll answer your most pressing question: what is the PSAT test? We'll start by explaining the meaning of PSAT and why students typically elect to take it. We'll then go over the logistics of the test and how PSAT scoring works. Finally, we'll finish with a brief discussion about how important PSAT scores actually are for students.

Rice University is one of the top 20 universities in the nation, and to get in, you need more than just awesome grades and test scores—you need a compelling Rice essay. The Rice application requires several essays depending on the school you're applying to at the university. So what should you write about for each Rice essay to make your application as strong as it can be?

We'll explain what the Rice supplement is and go over the Rice University essay prompts you'll see on your application. Then, we'll give you expert tips on how to answer each essay prompt so you'll have an even better shot at getting accepted to this prestigious university!

If you're applying to college, you've probably heard the phrase "diversity essay" once or twice. This type of essay is a little different from your typical "Why this college?" essay. Instead of focusing on why you've chosen a certain school, you'll write about your background, values, community, and experiences—basically, what makes you special.

In this guide, I explain what a diversity college essay is, what schools are looking for in this essay, and what you can do to ensure your diversity essay stands out.

If you’re working on your college applications, you may have heard about “demonstrated interest,” and that colleges use it to decide who they’ll admit to their school. But what does that really mean? And does it matter to every school you’re applying to? The truth is, demonstrated interest can be an important part of the application review process, but only at certain schools.

To make things easier for you, we’ll explain what demonstrated interest is, why it matters to schools, and how you can use it to your advantage. Plus, we’ve created a list of all the colleges that consider demonstrated interest to be important! So read on to see how your top-schools feel about demonstrated interest.

With so many SAT prep books to choose from, how can you tell the good ones from the bad ones? Well, not to worry because we've evaluated SAT books for you! This fully updated guide gives you our recommendations for the top 11 SAT preparation books to help you achieve the scores you want.

More than a million students across the country take the SAT each year. So what do SAT scores by state look like? How do you stack up against other test takers in your state? Finally, what are some interesting state facts—for example, which state has the highest SAT score? The lowest SAT score? The highest rate of participation?

It's the battle of the states, SAT edition. Find out your state's average SAT scores and other fun facts in this article!

Curious about what perfection looks like on the SAT, or about how many people get perfect scores every year? In this post, we'll show you what the highest possible score on the SAT is and how many raw points you need to rack up in each section to earn that score.

We'll also include tips and links to other more detailed articles for those aiming for that rare—but not impossible!—maximum SAT score.

Most students think a lot about their GPA in high school. There's no doubt that GPA is one of the most important pieces of information colleges will consider in your application. However, GPA can vary drastically in the way it's calculated at different schools. Some high schools use unweighted GPAs and some use weighted GPAs. I'll give you an overview of the differences between the two and what each type of GPA might mean in the context of your personal experiences.

Feature image credit: Boston Public Library/Flickr

If you're applying to any University of California (UC) campus as an incoming first-year student, then you have a special challenge ahead of you. Applicants need to answer four UC personal insight questions, chosen from a pool of eight unique prompts different from those on the Common App. But not to worry! This article is here to help.

In this article, I'll dissect the eight UC essay prompts in detail. What are they asking you for? What do they want to know about you? What do UC admissions officers really care about? How do you avoid boring or repulsing them with your essay?

I'll break down all of these important questions for each prompt and discuss how to pick the four prompts that are perfect for you. I'll also give you examples of how to make sure your essay fully answers the question. Finally, I'll offer step-by-step instructions on how to come up with the best ideas for your UC personal statements.