SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

Should You Really Join an SAT Summer Camp?

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Posted by Anna Aldric

SAT

SAT Summer camps are cram school for the SATs. They include long hours and intensive sessions, promising students increases in their SAT scores or their money back. They range from online tutoring programs held over the summer (there are a lot of these), day camps like Elite's Summer Test Prep, and month-long residential camps where students live and breathe SAT prep and college admissions, like Columbia University's SummerFuel.

They all promise score increases, and some even guarantee them. But how do you know if you even need an SAT summer camp? Keep reading to find out!

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How to Cancel Your SAT Registration and Test

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Posted by Anna Aldric

SAT

You registered for the SAT, but as test day draws near, you find that you don’t want to take the test anymore! You may want to take the ACT instead, or maybe you decided to opt out of the SAT altogether and apply to colleges that don’t require you to report SAT scores. But what can you do?

Well, first, don't panic!

We at PrepScholar noticed how hard it was to find this information online, so we put it all together for you in one place.

Here are some things you need to consider:

  1. Can you cancel the SAT test?
  2. Can you get your money back?
  3. Will this go on your permanent record?
  4. Do you need to cancel your SAT to change your test date?
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What Is SAT Verbal? How to Raise Your Reading Score

If you've found this article, you might have heard the term SAT Verbal. It's an older, outdated term to describe the SAT Reading and Writing section. However, the content of the SAT Verbal section is still very important today.

Many of the topics and skills from what used to be known as SAT Verbal are now tested in the SAT Reading and Writing section. To do well on the Reading and Writing section, you need to understand what SAT Verbal is, what types of skills it tests, and how to practice it.

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On the SAT, How Many People Get a 1400, 1500, or 1600?

How many students get a high score on the SAT?  How many students get a perfect score?  Here we look at the number of students and the percentile of these top ranks. Then we find out whether you should retake the SAT if you get these scores.

Note: This guide was created when the SAT used its old 2400 scoring scale. Unfortunately, we don't have the same data for the current version of the SAT (out of 1600 points), but we do have a conversion chart below so you can convert your 1600-scale SAT score to a 2400-scale score and still make use of the information in this article.

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What to Bring to the SAT and What Not to Bring

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Posted by Rebecca Safier

SAT

After months of planning and prepping, test day is finally upon you! What exactly do you need to bring to the SAT—and what should you just leave home?

We’ll talk about what to bring to the SAT for certain and some not so obvious things that might come in handy. Make sure your bag is packed and ready to go so you can focus on performing your best—and not on tracking down a pencil sharpener!

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SAT Score to GPA Conversion Table

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Posted by Dr. Fred Zhang

SAT

Do you want to convert your GPA to SAT scores, or vice versa? Perhaps you're wondering what SAT score you might get based on your high school grades. In this article, we've pored over the statistics to let you do just that! Before we jump into the data, though, we do have some caveats to be aware of.

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How Long Is the SAT With Extended Time?

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Posted by Rebecca Safier

SAT

Students with documented disabilities may be eligible to receive extended time on one or more sections of the SAT. The options for extended time vary by student and must be approved ahead of the testing date by College Board's Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD).

If you're a student, parent, or educator interested in extra time accommodations on the SAT, read on to learn about the different options and how long each one makes the SAT. First, let's briefly review who qualifies for additional time.

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How to Get the Most Out Of Khan Academy SAT Prep

The College Board recently partnered with Khan Academy to provide free SAT prep resources. There are a lot of resources offered, and they can be a great help if you know how to use them correctly.

This guide will explain exactly what prep materials Khan Academy offers, what they’re best for, when you should rely on other prep materials, and tips for getting the most of out Khan Academy's resources.

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The Best SAT Diagnostic Test

If you’re preparing for the SAT, you may know how important it is to take a diagnostic test early on in your studying. An SAT diagnostic test will give you a baseline score you can use to develop an individualized study plan that’ll target your weaknesses and help you reach your target SAT score.

In this guide, we’ll explain what an SAT diagnostic test is, where you can find the best free SAT diagnostic tests, and exactly how you can use every piece of information you get from the diagnostic test to create the best SAT study plan for you.

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13 Last Minute SAT Tips You Should Remember

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SAT

You only have a couple days before the SAT (or maybe less than a day!), and you’re determined to ace this test! Whether you're looking for last-minute study tips, advice on how to prepare the day of the test, or test-taking strategies to maximize your scores, we've got you covered.

Here are a bunch of handy last minute SAT tips that will help you stay focused and raise your scores.

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The 5 Best SAT Prep Games

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Posted by Ellen McCammon

SAT

You may have heard of a new trend in test prep: games. That’s right—studying for your SAT by playing computer (and even phone) games!

If this sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is. Most of the SAT prep games out there are pretty bad. However, there are a few games that may genuinely help you with some aspects of your test prep experience—although they won’t do much other than supplement your more typical studying activities like taking practice tests and doing practice problems.

In this article I’ll break down the SAT prep game trend, explain why most prep games won’t help you, describe what makes a good prep game, offer some recommendations for games that will help you, and offer some advice on how to use them.

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The Best SAT Score Predictor

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Posted by Dora Seigel

SAT

The SAT can be mysterious and nerve-inducing; your score on this never-before-seen test will play a huge role in your college applications. When I took the SAT for the first time, I didn’t do any preparation and wasn't sure I could reach my target score.

The best way to lessen your fear is to try to predict your SAT score. How can you estimate your SAT score? What are the effective methods? Do the SAT score predictor quizzes really work? This guide will walk you through the different methods of estimating your SAT score and will tell you how to use that prediction.

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What's the Highest New SAT Score Possible?

Understanding how the SAT scoring system works is an important part of preparing for the test. After all, how else are you supposed to measure your progress and set goals?

The SAT underwent some big format changes in 2016, which means that the scoring system most people were familiar with was radically overhauled. Here, I’ll cover how the scoring system has changed on the SAT, how this has affected the highest possible SAT score, and what this means for test takers.

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How Long Should I Study for the SAT? 6 Step Guide

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SAT

In planning your SAT prep, you probably want to know how long you need to study. Is it weeks or months? Is it dozens of hours or hundreds?

The answer to these questions depends on a variety of factors, including the scores you are hoping to get and how comfortable you already are with the test material from your general experiences in school and life. There’s no reason to torture yourself with endless SAT studying if your scores are already in the target range for your top choice schools. On the other hand, if you are still pretty far away from the scores you are looking for, you may have to work harder than you think.

In this guide, I'll show you how to figure out how much you need to improve on the SAT, how many hours you need to spend to get there, and how you should build a study schedule before your next real test. Below are the six steps you need to follow to figure out your SAT study plan.

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When Should I Take the SAT for the First Time?

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Posted by Rebecca Safier

SAT

You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. — Zig Ziglar

It can be hard to decide when to take the SAT for the first time. Should you wait until junior year? Is the fall better than the spring? Should you only take it if you've studied geometry or read the top 100 classics in English literature?

Since everyone's different, there's no blanket answer to the question, "When should I take the SAT for the first time?" Let's consider the most important factors in this decision so you can determine when to sign up for your initial test. First, what do most students do?

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