ACT & SAT Prep and College Admissions Blog

If you really want to get a high SAT score, perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind is that “talent” or “IQ” matters far less than you think. There are not really “math people” or “natural readers.” What matters is the amount and quality of your SAT prep, which of course is influenced in large part by how passionate and genuinely interested you are in doing well on the SAT or ACT. So if you want to get a 99^th percentile SAT score or a 34 on the ACT, it’s possible that you can do it.

Read More

Topics: sat tutors, College Admissions, ACT/SAT study skills, college tips, college entrance, college timeline, ACT prep, sat prep, college

What is the best way to prepare for the ACT or SAT?

Well, it’s true arriving at a useful answer to this question does depend a lot on your timing and the context. If you are a junior with average grades, but aspire to get a high SAT score, and you take the SAT in 30 days, this article should be able to help adopt the right mindset and bring some calm and confidence to exam day. But practically, with only 30 days until the exam, you should be considering online SAT tutoring or an SAT crash course to get the best SAT score you possibly can. SAT tutoring and courses can and will help you get a higher score.

Read More

Topics: sat tutors, College Admissions, ACT/SAT study skills, college tips, college entrance, college timeline, ACT prep, sat prep, college

Since we are an SAT tutoring company, you might expect us to argue that hiring an SAT coach is almost always worth it. But we don’t believe that to be true.

Read More

Topics: sat tutors, College Admissions, ACT/SAT study skills, college tips, college entrance, college timeline, ACT prep, sat prep, college

Parents of high schoolers frequently ask me when the best time is to begin planning for college. My answer is usually “now!” which often, and more importantly, leads to talking about “how.”

Read More

Topics: sat tutors, College Admissions, ACT/SAT study skills, college tips, college entrance, college timeline, ACT prep, sat prep, college

When applying to competitive colleges, every aspect of your application is carefully scrutinized. We’ve interviewed several admission officers during the pandemic and asked them what they look for in students. All said the same thing: They are looking for students who step up and make a difference (even a small one) in their community. 

Read More

Topics: College Applications, college tips, college questions, college advice, college admissions process, college admissions essay, college resume, extracurriculars

Topics: ACT/SAT, High School Test Taking, study skills, college education, college tips, college freshman advice, college questions, college advice, ACT prep, sat reading, sat prep, college student, SAT reading comprehension

No matter how many times your parents have repeated it to you, it never quite sinks in – If you fail to plan you plan to fail. While this feels a bit dramatic, in a test like the SAT or ACT it is important to realize that preparation can have a significant benefit on your score and on opportunities that stem from this such as college admission and scholarships. While many students have performed well in high school, standardized admissions tests can be a limiting factor because students often fall into a few common traps, such as the idea that being a good student translates directly into a high performing standardized test taker. While this may be true for some students, it often is not the case. College admissions exams often require knowledge on how to study for and take a standardized exam. The best way to overcome this hurdle is by creating a study schedule and planning for test day ahead of time.

Read More

Topics: ACT/SAT, High School Test Taking, study skills, college education, college tips, college freshman advice, college questions, college advice, ACT prep, sat prep, college student

Students who decide to take the SAT Chemistry subject test generally feel that they are well suited for the test because they are doing well in the high school chemistry course they are taking at their high school. What I have found though is that they may not be aware of the specialized preparation that is needed in order to get a top score on the exam beyond their study for the course they are taking at school. There are several reasons for the need for specialized preparation for the exam. This article explains what those are and what the student can do to be better prepared for the test.

Read More

Topics: High School Test Taking, study skills, ap test prep, ap classes, college education, college tips, college freshman advice, college questions, college advice, chemistry, college student, AP tutoring, sat chemistry test, chemistry subject test

Plenty of students take AP courses as a way to prove to colleges that they are capable of handling exactly the sort of work that universities demand of students.  However, while taking the courses themselves is often quite important in admissions decisions at American universities, the scores often matter more for the purpose of getting advanced credit.  Therefore, for many students, the difference between a 4 and a 5, depending on the university that he or she ultimately ends up attending, is not that vast.

Read More

Topics: High School Test Taking, study skills, ap test prep, ap classes, college education, college tips, college freshman advice, college questions, college advice, college student, AP tutoring, study abroad

In our last blog post on this topic, we explored why today’s high school students must be so productive in high school. Getting good grades isn’t quite enough anymore. You need to show a variety of interests and ideally achieve leadership positions outside the classroom to maximize your chances of admission to a top college. We offered a six-step process to being more productive in high school:

Read More

Topics: study skills, college education, college tips, undergraduate student common questions, college freshman advice, college questions, college advice, college student