Short-form videos can be surprisingly powerful for SAT/ACT prep—especially when each one teaches a single “micro-skill” you can apply immediately on practice tests. In this article, we’ll group four quick lessons into one theme: how to think and work like a high-scoring test taker. That includes technical accuracy (so you don’t lose points to formatting) and flexible reasoning (so you don’t freeze when a problem feels unfamiliar).
On the Digital SAT, the Writing and Language-style questions (now inside the Reading & Writing section) reward students who can move quickly without getting sloppy. That usually means two things: (1) spot the grammatical “signal” the test is actually measuring, and (2) use the minimum amount of reading needed to answer confidently.
The Digital SAT gives you a built-in highlighter, but the highest-scoring students don’t use it to color every line. They use it as a decision-making tool: highlight only what helps you eliminate answers faster, keep track of grammar relationships, and spot transitions that change meaning.
Earlier this spring, we at MyGuru declared that test optional college admission policies were coming to an end for high school students applying to top American universities. As part of the upcoming 2024-25 application cycle beginning this fall, most of the Ivy League and a notable number of elite universities across the United States are once again requiring an ACT or SAT score. Now, Stanford has quietly announced (in a classic Friday news dump) that it too will be reinstating a standardized testing requirement for undergraduate applicants, but beginning in 2025, making this the final test optional application cycle for the Cardinal. This particular decision is important for two reasons:
With Harvard and Caltech joining the ranks of selective colleges and universities requiring a standardized test once again as part of the 2024-25 application cycle, MyGuru is more than comfortable asserting that all high schoolers planning to attend college should once again plan to take either the ACT or SAT. While many applicants will see this as a negative (who wants to take a test on a weekend, right!?), this return to standardized testing requirements has been supported by each of the institutions reinstating the exams with data illustrating that test optional policies have actually harmed the at-risk and lower income students that they purportedly were intended to help.
This February, Dartmouth and Yale announced the return of standardized testing requirements as part of their undergraduate application processes. Both institutions provided rigorous statistical analysis illustrating that standardized tests remain the single best predictor of student performance upon admission, as well as evidence that removing the standardized testing requirement, contrary to popular belief, actually led to a decrease in admissions of lesser-served student populations. Still, despite overwhelming evidence, these decisions have been met with both approval and derision as various constituencies project larger philosophical debates onto the issue of standardized testing in college admissions.