When it comes to choosing between taking the SAT and the ACT, you obviously want to pick the one that’s going to help you shine the most on your college applications. But how do you figure THAT out?! This post clarifies the ways that this question has changed in recent years, AND the three key steps you should take to decide which test is right for you.
How to Cram for the ACT
If you’re sweating bullets before your rapidly-approaching ACT, never fear! This last-minute study plan is here to save you time, sanity, and points by telling you EXACTLY what to study. The five question types I’ve highlighted here get you a lot of bang for your studying buck on the ACT…and so are exactly what you should focus on in the week or so left before your exam, whether you’ve already been studying hard or hardly studying.
Your Last-Minute SAT Study Plan
Let's say you've only got a week or two to go before your SAT. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do in the next few days to raise your score—in fact, you can still boost your score by as much as 300 points. How? By studying the five high-point-yield topics I’ve listed out in this blog post.
What Grammar Do You Need to Know for the SAT?
For a high score on the SAT Writing and Language test, you’ll need to learn more about grammar and rhetoric than what you’re being taught in your high school classroom. This week’s post brings you the 19 key elements of the English language that the SAT Writing and Language section will test you on.
ACT English Grammar Guide
Which grammar rules, exactly, do you need to master in order to grab that perfect score on the ACT English section? This week’s post brings you just the wheat and none of the chaff: the 19 essential parts of grammar that the ACT English will test you on.
Should You Guess on the SAT and ACT? (And If So, How?)
If you’ve taken a few SAT or ACT practice tests (or even a round or two of the actual test), you may have found yourself running out of time on a section or two. What should you do when you don’t have time to actually think through those last few questions? Will it help or harm your score to guess—and if you should guess, what are the smartest strategies for doing so? This week’s post has got you covered.
Does the Class of 2023 Need to Take the SAT or ACT?
Lots of things looked different for the 2020-21 college application cycle—including the fact that many more colleges than usual went Test Blind (didn't accept SAT/ACT scores) or Test Optional (allowed applicants to opt out of submitting scores). But will these COVID-specific policies still be in effect next year? If you’re in the class of 2023, read on for answers to this question, and my specific advice to rising Juniors on this front.
How Does the New ACT Superscore Report Affect You?
In April, the ACT introduced a new report that students can use to send their ACT Superscores to colleges. What is Superscoring, anyways—and what does the new reporting method mean for YOUR college application?
Class of 2022: How Do the Cancelled SAT II Subject Tests Affect You?
If you’re in the class of 2022 or after, you’re probably wondering how the College Board’s decision to discontinue the SAT II Subject Tests affects your test prep. I’m breaking it down for you with expert analysis of several different situations you might find yourself in.
Are APs the New SAT IIs?
So now that the SAT II Subject Tests have been permanently discontinued by the College Board…what takes their place? How does this change your college application and your test-prep planning? Concerned parents asked me these questions over and over again at a recent speaking gig, and I’m sharing my answers with you.
Avoid These Three Common Mistakes For a Winning Testing Timeline—And Winning Test Scores
Avoid these top three mistakes I see all the time in my work as an elite test-prep expert and your road to the doors of that dream school will run a LOT more smoothly.
Do you have to write the essay on the SAT or ACT?
Do you have to write the essay on the ACT or SAT? I’m usually here to tell you that skipping something you COULD use as an opportunity to shine is a mistake…but maybe not this time. Read on to find out if you’re one of the lucky ones who really CAN forget about writing the SAT Essay section or the ACT Writing component.
The Testing Timeline: The SUREST Path to the ACT and SAT Scores That Open Doors
So you want the best possible SAT or ACT scores you can get, huh? AND you’d like to stay sane while achieving them, so you can enjoy that dream school when you get there? Your road map to navigating the overwhelming, stressful testing and college processes needs the SUREST tool to success: a Testing Timeline.
SAT and ACT Test Dates 2020-2021
To plan a successful 2020-2021 college application cycle (read: to get into that dream school in 2021), you need to start making a testing plan now. So here’s your complete ACT and SAT testing calendar for 2020-2021—every test date with information about which tests (ACT, SAT, and SAT II Subject Tests) are available, registration deadlines, and score availability dates. Get planning!
"Test-optional" applications: can YOU skip the SAT or ACT entirely?
So…we’ve taken a look at what “test optional” REALLY means, and how it affects the way your application is evaluated. Now that you have a little more information about what makes this decision complicated, let’s cut to the chase: how do you decide if YOU can skip the SAT or ACT? I’ll walk you through it.
Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors AND Seniors: Here's Your Quarantine/Post-Quarantine College Admissions To-Do List
We may be having a very weird semester, but time hasn’t stopped. Your future is still coming—so how are you getting ready for it? In this post, I’m giving every high school class a to-do list for using your quarantine time to set up the most successful college process and transition possible. Tackle this list and you’ll have a leg up when things do get back to baseline.
Expert Guidance For Uncertain Times: FREE Webinars on Test Prep in the Time of Covid-19
We’re living in very uncertain times—Covid-19 is changing test prep, with new adjustments being announced every week, but it’s not changing the fact that college admissions deadlines are fast approaching! I can’t get hand sanitizer back on the shelves, but I CAN make sure you have all the information you need to navigate this uniquely challenging situation and stay on track to your dream school. So welcome to my webinar series—it’s the latest news, expert analysis, and the chance to ask me YOUR questions, and it’s ABSOLUTELY FREE.
How To Make Online Test Prep Work For You
Online education, distance learning, remote instruction—whatever you call it, it’s our new normal for right now. How will you make the switch without letting it derail your prep for ACTs, SATs, and even just your classes? For the last decade, I’ve been helping students in nine time zones across six continents get the scores they need to get into their dream schools—so let me explain.
Test Prep in the Time of Coronavirus: Advice From an Expert
The coronavirus pandemic is disrupting lives around the globe—and it’s also disrupting test prep and college admissions. In this post I’m passing you all the news you need and giving you my expert analysis of how it will affect your test prep and what you can do to stay ahead of the curve.
Sticking To Your Test Prep Plan Through The Winter Of Your Test Prep Discontent
This is the time of year where people start changing up their test prep plans—or just bailing out on them altogether. I’ve been talking my students through this “winter of their test prep discontent” for more than a decade, and across to the other side to where the results they need lie. In this post, I’m doing the same for you.
