Because there’s a penalty of ¼ raw score point for incorrect multiple choice responses on the SAT, many students experience extreme trepidation about guessing when they aren’t sure about an answer. I’ve stated my general advice on guessing before, but the truth is that while I almost always find that my students benefit slightly from (more…)
Follow me on Tumblr if you want to help color him in. I’ve got some good stuff brewing behind the scenes here (hint: it’s more advice, drills, and challenge questions) but things might be a bit slower than usual this week. If you’ve got the itch for learning, though, and I’m not sufficiently scratching it, (more…)
About a month ago I realized that, as someone who blogs about SAT prep, I really should have an informed opinion on what’s out there in the online test prep space. With the June SAT prep cycle winding down, I’ve finally had time to sign up for a free trial and give Grockit a test spin (more…)
My sincerest hope is that when you loaded the page at College Board’s site that contained your May SAT scores, you were elated. If, however, the numbers on the screen left you dismayed, you shouldn’t waste time sulking. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start plotting your revenge. Here, I’ll help: Is the June (more…)
You don’t need to move mountains to significantly increase your score; you just need to focus on weak areas, a few at a time, and make them strengths. This entire site is dedicated to the specifics of doing just that, but I wanted to take a bird’s eye view today and point out that in (more…)
I know things have seemed quiet around here lately, and for that I’m sorry. The May SAT, as you’re well aware I’m sure, is 8 days away, and I’ve been very much in demand in my real life. It has, regrettably, cut a bit into my blogging time. That said, I have still been busy behind (more…)
If you visit regularly, you’ve maybe noticed that there’s only been one post so far this week. I’m sorry for that. I’ve been concentrating on trying to put together good Reading Comp passages and questions for you, and honestly it’s really difficult to do it right. Also, Portal 2 came out on Tuesday. That said, (more…)
March SAT scores are out today and I’ve heard almost exclusively good news from the students I’ve worked with. The smiles and laughter of children, they are like manna to me. I know, however, that score day is never a happy day for everyone. If your results today fell short of your expectations, here’s some (more…)
Most of what you’ll read below can be found couched in more confusing language right at The College Board’s own Score Choice™ website, or in their Score-Use Practices report. The College Board, obviously, is the final authority since they make the rules, but since I’m often inundated by these questions, I thought it’d be nice to (more…)
According to this article at The Princeton Review’s site, some kids from Great Neck North HS (that’s on Long Island, for those of you not from the NY metro area) are about to get SO totally busted. Can you pay someone to take the SAT for you? Yeah, I guess. Can you ever overcome the (more…)
Assuming (C) is the most common answer makes no sense. Just like this picture. People say dumb things about the SAT a lot. It’s really common to hear someone say the thing about the most common answer being C. Honestly, I set out to write this post to eviscerate those people, but then I did (more…)
I did a Google Image Search for “badass” and this is what I got. Yes. I agree. Print your Admission Ticket. If your printer is going to decide to barf when it prints your ticket, better to find out today while you can still print it somewhere else. Tomorrow morning, that’d be a big deal. Today, (more…)
I figure now is as good a time as any to answer publicly some of the questions I’ve been asked more than once privately. Some of these are great questions. Some are…not. Should I take a practice test the night before? No. Relax on the night before. If you’re cramming now because you didn’t prepare (more…)
source. I’m constantly reminding students to look for patterns. The key to transcendent scores is pattern recognition. If you want to be a truly adroit test taker, you’re going to have to devote yourself to taking every test you take actively. Obviously, you should be looking for patterns in the kinds of mistakes you’re making, (more…)
If you’re not paying someone to help you prepare for the SAT, that doesn’t mean you should be going it completely alone. I hope you’re able to find some helpful things here on this site, but I figured I’d give you a few other things to add to your bookmarks bar as well: College Confidential’s (more…)
