COllege Admissions News and ACT / SAT Strategy

The verbal section of the SAT exam includes a section on critical reading. Reading “critically” means reading without simply accepting the text as fact. When you read a text critically, you are trying to evaluate the validity of the claims presented, recognizing that the author necessarily has experiences, biases, or prejudices that influence his or her views on the subject.

If the piece presented is an argument, the author's biases may influence the choice of material presented or excluded, and the relative importance accorded to each claim in the construction of the overall argument. Ultimately, you have to try as far as possible to separate the author's biases from the objective merits of the claim.

The ACT Reading test requires you to read four short passages and answer ten multiple choice questions about each one. The time limit for this section of the ACT is 35 minutes, a little over a question a minute. Of course the 35 minutes includes the time required to read the passages, so in practice you'll need to answer around 2 questions a minute, depending on how fast you read and how thoroughly you understand the passage.

Recently, a parent contacted MyGuru about ACT tutoring.  Her daughter’s first session with the tutor went well, but because she was scheduled to take a practice ACT test in school the next week, they waited to schedule another session until the results of that test were available.

So you're getting ready to take the ACT! That's great! Good luck! Here are 5 tips to help you do your best on ACT exam day:

Tip #1

Be confident, yet just a tiny bit paranoid. That slight edge of paranoia will help you not to underestimate the ACT. The ACT has 4 sections: English, Math, Reading, and Science, plus an optional written essay component. You've been studying English, math, reading, science, and writing for years and years, so you should be well prepared, right? Well, yes and no. Your background knowledge in each subject is very important and will help you on the test. However, the test makers will often try to lull you into a sense of false security. To do so, over the years the makers of the ACT have developed some rather slippery tricks to try to get you to make mistakes even on topics you're very familiar with. Which leads us to the next tip.

Prepping for the SAT is like taking a trip. You want the journey to be safe, to be as pleasant as possible, and to bring you to your intended destination. Making the journey certainly doesn't have to be a drag. In fact, it can be kind of exciting when you see that you're making good progress, and extra exciting when your SAT score reflects the progress you've made. A tutor is like a guide who knows the territory your trip will cover and can help you get to your destination smoothly, avoiding dangers and wrong turns. Here are 6 reasons why a tutor can make your test prep a better experience and help you raise your SAT score:

MyGuru doesn’t discriminate – we provide tutoring in almost all subjects and standardized tests.  However, students certainly request tutors in some subjects much more than others.  This got me to thinking about the various classes students can take in college, and the various majors to which those classes lead.

This is a three-part post that covers two topics:

• What criteria to use in choosing a college major and
• 5 example majors which are surprisingly good choices

In this post, part 1, we discuss the criteria one should use in choosing a major and the first recommended college major:

Philosophy.