SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

While you might think college preparation only happens during the summer before college, this isn’t necessarily true. In fact, you can start preparing for college as early as 9th grade! But what exactly does the process of college preparation entail?

Here, we explain how to prepare for college at every grade level in high school. Specifically, we take a look at what you can do on the academic, financial, and extracurricular fronts, providing you with advice and tips, as well as a helpful preparing-for-college checklist.

The Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE) is a standardized test for students in grades 2 through 12 take to apply to many private schools. ISEE score reports are known for containing a lot of information, most of it not very intuitive. So what do these scores mean? Which are the ones schools care about? And what is a good ISEE score? Read on for the answers to all these questions!

If you didn't graduate from high school, going back and finishing it so you can finally get your high school diploma is a practical step. But if you're an adult well past your teenage years, the prospect of going back to high school can be pretty intimidating. Fortunately, there are alternative ways adults can earn a high school diploma.

Read on to learn more about what the general steps are for getting a high school diploma, how important having the physical diploma is, whether you can attend college without a high school diploma, and what your options are for legitimate adult high school diploma programs.

Academics and athletics have a lot in common: they require tons of practice, dedication, and diligence to succeed. Athletes often get trophies, medals, and letterman jackets to reward them for their accomplishments on the field and in the gym.

But earning great grades can be just as tough as winning a state football tournament! That’s why many schools choose to honor their top two graduates by awarding them the titles of valedictorian and salutatorian.

We’ve already covered what a valedictorian is in another post, so in this article, we’ll answer all of your questions about salutatorians, including:

• What is a salutatorian?
• Does being a salutatorian help you get into college?
• What is a salutatorian speech?
• How do you become a salutatorian?

Are you ready to learn more about what it means to be the salutatorian of your graduating class? Then let’s get started!

There are lots of reasons to work hard in high school: you gain important knowledge and skills, your grades help you get into great universities, and your dedication can even earn you scholarship money for tuition!   

But your hard work can also help you become valedictorian or salutatorian, which are awards given to the top two students in your graduating class. But what does it mean to be a valedictorian vs. a salutatorian?

Don’t worry: you’ve come to the right place! Not only will we explain what a valedictorian and salutatorian is, we’ll also dig into the similarities and differences between the two awards and what they mean for the college admissions process.

There's a lot of pressure in high school to prepare for the future, but between classes, extracurriculars, and trying to have a social life, thinking about what comes after high school can feel like being told to climb a mountain with no help.

Instead of fixating on the future, success in high school means thinking about what you can do now. Being on top of things in high school is a great foundation for success in the future.

But what does being successful mean? How can you get started today? What should you worry about, and what should you let slide?

This guide will help you learn how to be successful in high school no matter where you are in your education. With tips and goals to strive for, you'll be prepared for the future at any point in high school—it's never too late to start getting a plan together.

Are you interested in going to private school? If so, you might need to take the SSAT to get in. But what is the SSAT? It's an admissions test that independent schools throughout the U.S. and the world use to assess their prospective students.

The test is available in three levels, so students in elementary, middle, and high school can take it. This comprehensive guide will go over each level of the SSAT so you can learn all about its purpose, structure, and questions. You'll also find six useful tips for test prep. To start, let's go over the purpose of the test.

Have you heard about the Common Core? Are you asking, "what is the Common Core, exactly?" Don't worry. This post will explain what the Common Core is, why it was adopted, and how it could affect you as a student.

Why should you care? The Common Core has driven some pretty major changes to big-name standardized tests like the SAT and ACT, as well as curriculum changes within schools. So read on to discover what you’re being tested on and why! 

If you're interested in attending an independent school, you may have heard the term SSAT being batted around and may now be wondering how to study for the test. In this article, we'll briefly cover the basics of what the SSAT is and does, list the best study materials to use, and offer key SSAT prep strategies and tips.

If you (or your child) are worried about preparing for an upcoming PARCC exam, official practice tests are the best way to study.

Here, we’ll direct you to these PARCC practice materials. We’ll also explain how to use these tests (and other resources at your disposal) if you want to do well on an upcoming PARCC exam.

Do you go to school in California? Chances are you’ve heard of the CAHSEE – the exam all Californians need to take to graduate high school.

You might be wondering how to pass the CAHSEE. In this post, we will explain what the CAHSEE tests, what you need to do to pass, and how to study for it.

Looking to learn more about the Open Door Policy? The Open Door Policy was an important policy that affected Asian, European, and US trade for decades and even contributed to the Japanese/American conflict in WWII.

What was the Open Door Policy definition? Why and when was the Open Door Policy created? What are the impacts of it? We answer all those questions and more in these open door notes.

In every science class, you must know how to use and interpret the Celsius temperature scale. But this can be difficult for students who are used to using Fahrenheit instead. How do you convert Celsius to Fahrenheit? What about Fahrenheit to Celsius?

We answer these questions below, giving you the mathematical formulas for converting between these two temperature units, a handy conversion chart, and a quick conversion trick you can use without having to grab a calculator.

Community service is a great way to help others, as well give you valuable skills and experiences. There are a lot of ways to get involved in community service, and choosing the best place to volunteer your time can be difficult.

Our guide gives examples of some of the top places to do community service, as well as steps to help you decide which place is best for you.

Are you about to start college soon? Are you wondering what changes to expect? How is college different from high school? When you compare high school vs college, you'll find many differences, some of which are obvious, others less so.

It's important to understand how high school and college are different from each other so you know what to expect and can have a smoother transition when you begin college. In this guide, we explain the 15 most important differences between high school and college and give you tips to help make this major life change a bit less intimidating.