In The Great Gatsby, between the glittering excitement of Manhattan and the stately mansions of East and West Egg, there is a horrible stretch of road that goes through an area covered in dust and ash from the nearby factories.

Why does the novel insist on spending time in this depressing place? Why, instead of simply calling it Queens, or giving it a fictional name, does Nick refer to it by the vaguely Biblical-sounding "valley of ashes"?

In this article, I'll dissect this potent symbol of the failure of the American Dream, analyze the places it occurs in the text, figure out the characters who are most closely associated with this location, and give you some tips on writing essays about this image.

There is no part of the ACT more mysterious to students than the essay, and very few people seem to know what exactly the ACT is looking for in a "perfect" essay (particularly since September 2015 was the new ACT Writing test's debut). Luckily, we've got the expertise to give you some insight into how the essay works and what you can do to push your score those extra few points up the scale.

Whether you're trying to impress your dream school or just want to boost your ACT score, the essay is a great thing to work on. Some of the tips below stand alone, while others are part of larger categories that have been assembled based our ACT expertise.

The maximum score on the ACT is a 36. Out of the 1.9 million students who take the test every year, only about 3,700 get the highest possible ACT score. This elusive perfect score places you at the top of millions of high school students and can be a big boost to your college applications.

I scored a perfect score on the ACT.

Most of the advice out there about how to get a perfect score comes from people who didn't get perfect scores. In this exclusive article, I'll be breaking down exactly what it takes, and the techniques I used to get a perfect score.

School counselors play a huge role in helping students get into college. Not only do counselors support students in laying the groundwork for their applications through class selection and extracurricular involvement, but they also provide them with the very important counselor letter of recommendation.

Whether you're writing a letter yourself or getting one for your application, letter of recommendation examples can help you see why an effective letter is effective. In this guide, we've written 3 strong recommendation letter examples for you to use for inspiration.

Anyone who's applied for a job knows how important recommendation letters can be to getting hired. While you've probably asked for a reference letter in the past, you may be less familiar with writing one. If someone asks you for a reference, how can you produce a great letter that will help your employee, colleague, or friend get hired?

To help you through the writing process, we're providing nine samples of effective letters of recommendation (scroll down to skip to the samples!). By reading through these examples, you'll gain a clear understanding of how to structure your own letters.

Before getting to the free recommendation letter samples, let's briefly review the role that reference letters play in the hiring process. Why are they important, and what makes some stand out over others?

You know your SAT score is important for college admissions and even things like scholarships, but how does your SAT score get calculated? I'll show the steps to calculating your final SAT score so you can get an accurate idea of how well you're doing on the exam. This article is fully updated for the new, digital SAT!

This final recommendation letter example represents a character reference. A character reference might come from a friend, neighbor, or even relative. It tends to be more personal than professional and speaks to the subject's personality and character.

In this guide, we'll explain what character references letters are and when they are needed, as well as how to write one and what to include in your letter. We also include a sample character reference letter so you can see what a complete one looks like, and we end with tips to help you write your own letter of recommendation for a friend.

Asking someone to write you a letter of recommendation can feel almost as daunting as asking that special someone out to a movie. You're putting yourself out there, just hoping they like you back enough to say yes! Luckily, most of your teachers are well accustomed to writing letters of recommendation for students and are glad to support you in your academic goals.

Plus, who wouldn't want to recommend you for college? You're great.

To ensure your request goes as smoothly as possible, you should be thoughtful about who and how you ask. This guide will go over the steps on how to request a recommendation letter for your college applications successfully (though this guide works equally well for applications for graduate school and jobs). First, let's briefly go over what you need to know before making your request.

What does a good recommendation letter look like? Below you'll find a sample letter written by a direct manager for an employee who works in software sales. If you're responsible for managing or leading a team, chances are you'll be called upon to write similar letters.

Read on to see how this manager endorses one member of his sales team, and then check out the breakdown of what this letter does well.

Think about something strange and unexplainable in your life. Maybe you get a headache right before it rains, or maybe you think your favorite sports team wins when you wear a certain color. If you wanted to see whether these are just coincidences or scientific fact, you would form a hypothesis, then create an experiment to see whether that hypothesis is true or not.

But what is a hypothesis, anyway? If you’re not sure about what a hypothesis is--or how to test for one!--you’re in the right place. This article will teach you everything you need to know about hypotheses, including: 

• Defining the term “hypothesis” 
• Providing hypothesis examples 
• Giving you tips for how to write your own hypothesis

So let’s get started!

Most private schools in the United States require applicants to take an entrance examination as part of the admissions process. If you're preparing to go to private school, you're likely wondering what exam you'll need to take.

There are two standardized exams used by admissions committees at private elementary, middle, and high schools: the ISEE and the SSAT. What is the difference between ISEE and SSAT exams? In this ISEE vs SSAT guide, we will explain the difference between the two and offer tips to help you decide whether to take the ISEE or SSAT.

In 2005, I applied to college and got into every school I applied to, including Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, and MIT. I decided to attend Harvard.

In this guide, I'll show you the entire college application that got me into Harvard—page by page, word for word.

In my complete analysis, I'll take you through my Common Application, Harvard supplemental application, personal statements and essays, extracurricular activities, teachers' letters of recommendation, counselor recommendation, complete high school transcript, and more. I'll also give you in-depth commentary on every part of my application.

To my knowledge, a college application analysis like this has never been done before. This is the application guide I wished I had when I was in high school.

If you're applying to top schools like the Ivy Leagues, you'll see firsthand what a successful application to Harvard and Princeton looks like. You'll learn the strategies I used to build a compelling application. You'll see what items were critical in getting me admitted, and what didn't end up helping much at all.

Reading this guide from beginning to end will be well worth your time—you might completely change your college application strategy as a result.

Are you getting ready to apply to nursing school? Then you’ll probably want to take a TEAS practice test to make sure you’ll get the best score possible on your TEAS exam.

This article contains a comprehensive list of free TEAS practice tests. Let’s dig in!

Thinking of attending a private elementary, middle, or high school in the United States? Then you'll need to take an entrance exam called the ISEE. But what exactly does this test entail? In this article, we'll go over what the ISEE test is, how it's structured and scored, what a good score on the ISEE exam looks like, and how to study effectively for it.

It can be difficult to improve your GPA quickly, especially if you're in the latter half of high school already. With your previous grades working against you, you'll have to put in even more effort to overcome lower averages.

However, there are some measures you can take to have a better chance of raising your GPA quickly and effectively. In this article, I'll give you different strategies that may help you raise your GPA even if you don't have much time left in high school.