On the day SAT scores are released, I wait for the one phone call that never fails: that from a distraught parent who cannot understand why her daughter with a 4.5 GPA received a 1350 on the SAT. Teachers and administrators at her daughter’s school may be quick to jump on the test anxiety bandwagon, […]
ACT English and SAT Writing Tips: Ambiguous Pronouns
I must apologize for my absence: Hurricane Matthew chased me from home for over a week and then kept me busy for another week when I came back. I am happy to settle back into a routine today, so let’s get right to it: Ambiguous pronouns. Ambiguous means unclear or open to more than one […]
SAT Essay Tips: Pre-Planned Ammunition
Soldiers do not go into battle without ammunition, and you should not go into the SAT without essay ammunition. The College Board uses essay questions that tend to have consistent themes, such as success, adversity, happiness, ethics, and technology. Because these themes appear so frequently, it is useful to have a few pre-planned examples that […]
SAT Reading Tips: Parts of Speech in Sentence Completion Questions
The five answer choices following a Sentence Completion question stem always share the same part of speech. This rule is important to remember in the event you come across a question like the following:
How to Improve your SAT Vocabulary—for Free!
While the College Board claims the SAT is not a vocabulary test, there is no denying that a broad vocabulary is required for a high Critical Reading score. But there is no reason to invest in expensive vocabulary books, flash cards, or computer programs. The internet has everything you need to improve your vocabulary, and […]
SAT Reading Tips: Decode Vocabulary Words with a Foreign Language
Are you currently taking language classes for Spanish, French, or Italian? If so, you may have an edge on the SAT. Since these languages have many words with Greek and Latin roots, you can often apply translations to English word counterparts.
SAT Writing: The Top 3 Grammatical Errors
The multiple choice portion of the Writing section contains three types of questions that test about two dozen types of common grammatical errors, such as pronoun reference, conjunction choice, and verb tense. But which errors are tested the most often? In the ten tests of The Official SAT Study Guide, there are a total of […]
Top Free Vocabulary Resources
While the College Board claims the SAT is not a vocabulary test, there is no denying that a broad vocabulary is required for a high Critical Reading score on the current test. But there is no reason to invest in expensive vocabulary books, flash cards, or computer programs. The internet has everything you need to […]
How to Prepare for the PSAT
Motivated sophomores and juniors who are looking to prepare for the PSAT are often surprised by what they find—or don’t find—on the shelves at the local bookstore and in the course catalogs of test prep companies. While the market seems flooded with SAT prep material, PSAT offerings—especially prep courses—are limited. Even the College Board, the […]
How to Start Studying for the SAT
We can procrastinate no longer. June is over. Independence Day is past. It’s time to return our blog and our attention to the SAT. I know, I know—I’m not happy about it, either. We were having so much fun last month, and now we have to refocus and get serious. But I’ll start slow. Rather […]