SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

Writing your personal statement for your college application is an undeniably overwhelming project. Your essay is your big shot to show colleges who you are—it's totally reasonable to get stressed out. But don't let that stress paralyze you.

This guide will walk you through each step of the essay writing process to help you understand exactly what you need to do to write the best possible personal statement. I'm also going to follow an imaginary student named Eva as she plans and writes her college essay, from her initial organization and brainstorming to her final edits. By the end of this article, you'll have all the tools you need to create a fantastic, effective college essay.

Are you aiming to attend an Ivy League school? What ACT/SAT scores do Ivy League universities—Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Penn, and Yale—expect? Here, we look at what test scores these eight highly selective schools consider good, as well as what scores are considered borderline.

Do you dream of becoming a doctor? If you're set on going to medical school, then a combined BS/MD or BA/MD program might be for you. The majority of these combined programs allow motivated high school students to go right from undergraduate to medical school without having to go through another application process.

While there aren't a ton of spots available in combined programs, there are schools throughout the country that offer them. Before we look at those, however, let's review what BA/MD and BS/MD programs entail, as well as the pros and cons for high school and young undergraduate applicants.

Have you heard of the Brown University PLME program and want to learn more about it? As the only BS/MD program in the Ivy League, the PLME program can be a great way to attend excellent schools for both undergrad and med school without worrying about med school applications down the line.

However, the Brown PLME program is quite unique in its academic requirements (or, rather, lack of requirements), and it's definitely not the best choice for everyone. How can you know if it's right for you?

Read this guide for everything you need to know about the PLME program, including what it is, the Brown PLME acceptance rate, the questions to ask yourself before applying, and what your application needs to shine.

When it comes to college applications, you have a few options for how you can apply. Two of these are the Common Application (or Common App) and the Coalition Application (or Coalition App).

In this extensive guide to the Coalition vs Common App, we’ll go over the major features of the two application systems and take a look at their biggest pros and cons. We’ll then review the colleges that don’t accept either application system, and offer you tips on whether you should choose the Coalition or Common App.

Princeton is one of the most prestigious and selective universities in the world, admitting less than eight percent of students every year. In order to be one of them, you need to make sure that your application stands out from the other tens of thousands of applicants the admissions committee must review.

In this article, we'll break down exactly how to get into Princeton, starting with how difficult it is to get in. Then, we'll move into talking about the test scores, essays, and supplemental materials you'll need to really make your application stand out.

The NCAA, the major governing body for intercollegiate sports, separates its member institutions by divisions. Division I colleges are generally the biggest. They have the largest athletic department budgets and their sports teams generate the most revenue. All of the schools that participate in bowl games and March Madness are Division I schools. However, there are some regional colleges and smaller private schools you may not be familiar with that are also classified as Division I. In this article, I’ll give you a basic understanding of Division I and a complete list of current Division I schools by state.

The NCAA—the major governing body for intercollegiate sports—separates its member institutions by divisions. Division III colleges are generally the smallest and have the fewest resources for their athletic teams; however, Division III is the biggest division in terms of number of schools and student-athletes. Many Division III schools take pride in their sports teams, and athletes comprise a significant percentage of the student population.

In this article, I’ll give you a basic understanding of Division III as well as a complete list of current Division III schools, organized by state.

The NCAA, the major governing body for intercollegiate sports, separates its member institutions by divisions. Division II colleges are generally smaller and have fewer athletic department resources than Division I schools, but they're larger and more well funded than Division III institutions.

While Division II schools may not have the money or get the publicity of Division I institutions, many Division II colleges have passionate fan bases that show enthusiastic support for their sports teams, especially for those teams that regularly compete for championships.

In this article, I'll give you a basic understanding of Division II and a complete list of current Division II schools by state.

Villanova University is a private, Catholic research university in Pennsylvania. With a 20 percent acceptance rate, it's considered moderately competitive—but even that level of selectiveness has an average GPA just shy of 4.0.

But acceptance to Villanova isn't just about your test scores and GPA; you'll also need to nail the Villanova supplement essay, rounding out your application with a strong representation of yourself.

In this guide, we'll cover all of Villanova's essay prompts and how to best answer them, including potential topics and pitfalls.

In 2021/2022, MIT admitted only 3.96% of students who applied to the school. With such a low admissions rate, it may seem like getting accepted is close to impossible, but we're here to help!

In this guide, we'll explain everything you need to know to complete the MIT application, including when every important MIT application deadline is, what exactly you need to submit with your application, what admissions officers are really looking for when they review your application, and how you can make each part of your MIT application stand out from the pack.

If you want to go to NYU, you'll need to make sure your application is strong enough to stand out from the crowd of other applicants. NYU's acceptance rate is falling every year, so you'll need all parts of your application to be competitive if you hope to be admitted to NYU.

In this article, we'll teach you everything you need to know to get into NYU. First, we'll talk about how hard it is to get into NYU in the first place, taking a look at the average test scores and grades of admitted applicants. Next, we'll discuss NYU's admissions requirements and essays. Finally, we'll give tips to teach you how to get into NYU.

Located in West Point, NY, West Point is also known as the United States Military Academy.

West Point is one of the most prestigious universities in the country and is extremely competitive to get into. It also has an in-depth application process with some unique requirements that you won't see at non-military colleges and universities.

In this article, we'll cover exactly how to get into West Point, from the test scores you should aim for to the logistical requirements of your application.

Applying to college usually means writing some essays, asking for letters of recommendation, and submitting your transcripts. But what about the ACT and SAT? Is the ACT required for college? The answer is, not necessarily!

In this guide, we explain what test-optional colleges are and give you the complete list of 1,000+ colleges that don't require ACT scores from applicants. We also offer a few tips for what to do with these ACT-optional college lists.

Are you taking the ACT? Before registering, you should know how admissions officers look at your scores. Do they consider Math, Science, Reading, and English individually, or do they care more about the composite score?

You might be relieved to hear that many colleges "superscore" your ACT scores by taking the best subscores across all your test dates and creating the strongest possible composite score. Read on for the full list of colleges that superscore the ACT, followed by some tips on how you can use this policy to your advantage.