Do you have a high GPA, perform well in school, but can’t seem to do well on the SAT / ACT? This is a common pattern, and there are certain strategies that work especially well for you. First, we'll figure out why this is happening to you, and, depending on the reason, suggest ways to improve your SAT / ACT score. Second, we’ll go over what a high GPA but low SAT / ACT score signals to colleges and how to counter that signal.

When test day’s just around the corner, what final steps can you take to feel prepared? This guide will go over exactly what happens on the day you take the SAT so that you don’t have any surprises. 

Read on to learn what will happen at your test center, along with an overview of the materials you need to bring. Finally, we’ll discuss some strategies you can use to deal with nerves and feel confident going into the SAT.

This article is fully updated for the digital SAT!

The SAT has had a complete makeover. Just a quick glance will show you that it barely resembles its previous self. Many students, luckily, will find its transformation quite attractive.

This guide will help you catch up on the changes with a comprehensive overview of the new SAT format. Read on to learn about the test’s new design and scoring, followed by some tips on what these changes mean for test-takers. To begin, let’s go over the overall structure of the SAT.

As of March 5, 2016, the new SAT is out. This means that those who took the old 2400-point SAT may want to know what their new 1600-point SAT score would have been, and vice versa. This information is critical for when you research and apply to scholarships and colleges that use a different version of the SAT than the one you took.

Here, we give the official conversions between old SAT and new SAT scores. These conversions come directly from the College Board, and we've made automatic conversion tools to make it easier for you!

Participation rate has a huge impact on state average SAT / ACT scores. In any state, the top students on the SAT/ACT are those most eager to take it, so states with low participation rates have artificially higher SAT / ACT scores.  Here, we use advanced statistical methods to adjust for participation rate to get at the real ranking of states by their real SAT and ACT scores. 

At long last, you get your SAT or ACT scores back, and now you have to make an important decision—do you retake the test and aim for a higher score? What are your chances of improving your score?

The answer can get complicated, depending on how many times you've taken it before and what your score target is. Read on to develop the best testing plan for yourself.

The night before the SAT can be stressful, to say the least. Maybe you’re not sure about the best way to prepare yourself during these final hours - all you know is that you want to do the best you can on the exam.

Well, we’ve made it easy (and stress-free) for you to do what you need to do the night before the test. Here, I’ll lay out everything you should and shouldn’t do before you head to bed in order to ensure your best possible score. Follow these tips - including everything from logistical concerns to exam prep strategies - to wake up confident, refreshed, and ready.

Let’s get started!

It seems obvious that each ACT / SAT question must have exactly one answer, and this answer must be clearly and objectively correct. However, as we’ll explain below, that simple fact alone disqualifies vast swaths of reasonable questions that you otherwise see in everyday tests at school.  This obvious fact also leads to a little-known secret that, when applied correctly, guarantees the cracking of each question. You don’t have to trust me—read through this guide and ask any perfect or near-perfect scorer. They’ll agree on the secret.

Are you preparing for the SAT or PSAT? Maybe you’ve heard of Khan Academy and are wondering what it is and if it can help you raise your score. In cooperation with the College Board, Khan Academy recently released free materials to help students prepare for the SAT.

This guide will answer all your questions about the Khan Academy SAT content including what it is, if it’s really free, what resources it provides, and how it differs from other official SAT prep materials. By reading this guide, you'll learn exactly what information Khan Academy offers and how you can use it to study more effectively and boost your SAT score. 

Do you have great extracurriculars?  Maybe you’re captain of the football team or president of a top debate team.  Your approach to college admissions will be quite different than a typical student’s, and your SAT / ACT prep process should be uniquely tailored to you. In this article, we talk about what unique opportunities you have in test prep and what traps you should avoid.

Not so happy with your score on the Old SAT? You might be thinking about retaking the test. Unfortunately for you, the redesigned version of the SAT – in this post, we’ll just call it the “New SAT” – debuted in March of this year. Which means if you retake the SAT, you’ll be taking a totally redesigned test. So you may be wondering, "Should I take the New SAT?"

This post will help you decide if your Old SAT score is really not good enough for the colleges you hope to apply to. Next, we will explain some potential challenges with studying for the New SAT, and help you decide if it’s the right step for you. Don’t sign up for the New SAT before reading this post!

If you’re currently applying to college or getting ready to apply to college, you’ve probably heard of the SAT and/or the ACT. You may already know that the SAT is a standardized test which high school students take before applying to college, but how important is the SAT in college applications? It’s hard to overstate the importance of the SAT. Your test score will be one of the most important parts of your college application (if not the most important part).

In this guide, I'll explain why test scores are a key part of your application and how you can determine the SAT admission requirements for the schools you're interested in.

Are you already scoring well on the SAT and getting a 1400 or above (2100 in the 2400 scale)?  This puts you in a special class, and your strategy for improving your SAT score will be very different from the average students'.  Having made the improvement myself, I'll show you how you can aim for a perfect SAT score too.

Winter has come in the form of Storm Jonas, affecting much of the East Coast. Governors of Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Washington DC declared a state of emergency, and hundreds of SAT test centers closed.

Did YOUR January 23rd SAT test center get closed because of the storm? How do you maximize your score up until your February 20 makeup exam? Find out here.

Did you hear?  The old SAT was given for the final time on January 23rd, 2016.  What does that mean for students still studying for the SAT?  We'll discuss the implications of the old SAT sunset and what you need to do for new SAT prep!