There are many apps available to help students navigate the SAT and ACT prep waters.
IXL offers math practice. ACCUPLACER helps with reading. Magoosh is great for vocabulary.
While these apps are all great options, the best (and easiest) app to use for test prep is your calendar app.
Wherever you are in your test preparation, pull out your calendar app and note the days and times you will study. Like many tasks in life, if you put them on a calendar, you increase the likelihood of getting them done.
Many students have test prep books, practice sets, online resources or other helpful study tools. All of these are all worthless unless you take the time to use them.
And there is no better way to take the time than making the time. Set up specific hours in the day over a period of several months when you will read through the books, try practice sets, review test content and take full-length practice sets.
Putting these tasks on a calendar is a simple and extremely effective way to ensure that you get your prep done. Avoid procrastination by scheduling what you will do and when.
Calendars and routines may be boring but they enable amazing productivity. Set your routine on your calendar app, heed the event reminders and build towards your test prep success.
If you need help along the way, CROSSWALK is here. Contact us today.
On standardized tests like the SAT and ACT, time is money. Not money in the sense of cash but money as a currency to be saved or spent.
Make no mistake: the SAT and ACT are strictly timed tests. For a student to maximize a score, a key approach is to know when to spend time and when to save time.
Let's take the ACT math section as an example:
The ACT math section is 60 questions in 60 minutes. In other words, each question should take one minute. ACT math questions are also organized so that easier questions are found in the beginning of the set while harder ones are found towards the end.
Easy questions are perfect opportunities to save time. If you can solve a math problem in less than 30 seconds, you save 30 seconds to use on a harder problem. Save 30 seconds on five or six problems and you now have an extra 2-3 minutes to spend on hard problems that require more time.
You can even save time on the really hard problems. If you were to come across a problem that seems impossible, save time on this one by guessing the answer and moving on. The 2-3 minutes you would have spent on an impossible problem is now saved time that you can use to score points in other areas.
This approach works on the other sections as well: time saved is time you can spend in other areas.
If you want a perfect score, then be sure to spend time on all of the problems. But if you don't need a perfect score, determine where to spend time and where to save time on the ACT and SAT.
Learn how to spend or save your time on the SAT and ACT with help from CROSSWALK. Contact us today to get prepared for test day.
"Stress is the enemy of test performance" is the mantra my students hear repeatedly. Much of my test prep work is about reducing the stress that surrounds SAT and ACT test day.
By familiarizing students with the content and strategy of the tests through practice sessions, the goal is to make test day routine and comfortable.
Along with test practice, students are routinely reminded that there are over 1,000 schools that do not place substantial weight on SAT and ACT scores in the process of admission. Thanks to FairTest, this fact provides great stress relief for students who realize there are many potential college opportunities regardless of test performance.
Further, students learn that test scores are just one piece of the pie. Colleges consider GPA, admission essays, interviews, letter of recommendations and more when reviewing applications.
So do test scores actually matter?
Reality check time: yes, they do.
Let's assume, like most students, you wish to apply to a competitive school. Competitive schools receive many applications. With so many applications, schools need a quick and easy method to identify top prospects. Test scores provide such a method.
Schools do not want to discourage applicants. Along with the financial gain of the application fees, schools want as many applications as possible so as to keep their admission rates low.
The lower a school's admission rate, the better its ranking on the US News and World Report list. The better its ranking, the more competitive the school. The more competitive a school, the more applications received. More applications means a lower admission rate and the cycle continues.
But admission rate and rankings are not the only reasons schools continue to use test scores in the process of admission. An article from the Wall Street Journal earlier this year cites several researched-backed reasons colleges continue to consider test scores in the process of admission.
The reality is that the SAT and ACT, particularly for the more competitive schools, are not going anywhere.
So as long as these tests are here to stay, you may as well find ways to navigate the process. Reduce your stress around the testing experience. Familiarize yourself with the content and strategies. And above all, read, read and read some more.
CROSSWALK is here to support you in the process. Contact CROSSWALK today and we will be happy to come alongside your journey.
It's SAT and ACT reading time and you know the drill: skim and annotate the passage, dive into the questions and start to eliminate answer choices based on your understanding of the passage.
While this approach to SAT and ACT reading is excellent, it fails to address a common challenge: what do you do if two answer choices both seem possible?
You know you have been there before; even after eliminating some answer choices, you are still stuck between two potential answer choices and both seem correct. So how do you get unstuck?
Getting unstuck is about asking yourself a simple question: "Which answer choice is most supported by the evidence in the passage?"
In order to answer this question, you will need to do a deep dive into the details of the two options and compare the exact words to the evidence in the passage. The one best answer choice will be supported by the same tone, structure and words as written in the passage.
For example, one of the questions on SAT Practice Test #8 asks the following:
The main purpose of lines 1-10 ("Even...awaited me") is to
A) introduce the characters who play a part in the narrator's story.
B) list the difficult conditions the narrator endured in childhood.
C) describe the passion that dries the actions the narrator recounts.
D) depict the narrator's aspirations before he met Sempere.
To uncover the best answer, go back to the passage. Here are lines 1-10 for reference:
Even then my only friends were made of paper and ink. At school I learned to read and write long before the other children. Where my school friends saw notches of ink on incomprehensible pages, I saw light, streets, and people. Words and the mystery of their hidden science fascinated me, and I saw in them a key with which I could unlock a boundless world, a safe haven from that home, those streets, and those troubled days in which even I could sense that only a limited fortune awaited me.
At a quick glance, it is pretty easy to eliminate two answer choices: with no introduction of characters, the answer cannot be A, and there is no mention of any aspirations, so D is out.
But what about B and C? Both seem to hint at some evidence. Might both be possible? How do you differentiate between these two?
Get unstuck by answering, "Which answer choice is most supported by the evidence in the passage?"
Choice B offers "troubled days" and "limited fortuned." But is this a list? Don't you need more than two conditions to constitute a list? And are these really difficult conditions of childhood? Troubled days, yes, but the limited fortune is in the future, not during childhood. It appears we may not have the evidence for that one.
Choice C, on the other hand, talks about "the passion" and lines 1-10 offer many passionate expressions: "I saw light," "mystery," "fascinated," "unlock a boundless world," and maybe even "safe haven." There is a ton of evidence to support the answer choice here.
So clearly choice C offers more evidence. It is the answer to the question "Which answer choice is most supported by the evidence in the passage?"
For reading, the devil is in the details. Each word matters. Each word connects (or lacks a connection) to the evidence in the passage. For an answer choice to be the best (i.e. correct), the words must mimic the evidence from the passage more than any other answer choice. So get unstuck between two possible answer choices by connecting back to whichever answer choice offers more evidence.
Get unstuck on other SAT and ACT problems with help from CROSSWALK. The Monterey Peninsula's resource for academic tutoring, test prep and more, CROSSWALK is here to help.
A college counselor friend of mine likes to tell the story of Matthew, a student with a dream to go to UC Berkeley.
Upon meeting with Mathew, my friend reviewed his clients test scores and grades. Since his scores and grades were good but not great, my friend recommended that Matthew consider other UC schools. UC Berkeley, my friend told Matthew, was a long shot.
Somewhat disheartened, the student agreed to apply to UC Merced as well UC Berkeley. While not his top choice, UC Merced appeared to be a viable back up. Both the counselor and the student agreed that his good grades and test scores would be more than enough to get admitted to UC Merced.
Months later, Matthew received follow up communication from both UC Berkeley and UC Merced. Unexpectedly, Matthew was rejected by UC Merced yet offered admission to UC Berkeley.
This seemingly improbable outcome proves that as much as college admission appears to be a science--good grades plus good test scores equals the college of your choice--nothing is ever guaranteed.
Or is it? I wrote previously about the new UC Transfer Admission Guarantee. If your goal is a degree from a UC, that is a great way to do it.
The other path towards potentially guaranteed UC admission is to ensure you are in the top 9% of California high school graduates. This "statewide path" is by no means easy since you must ensure you achieve a certain GPA and SAT or ACT score. Find out if you are in the top 9% by visiting this website and using the interactive tools to input your GPA and test scores.
If you are in the top 9%, and you are not admitted to a UC, you should be "offered a spot at another campus if space is available."
Perhaps this is not a guarantee but it is certainly something pretty close.
And who knows? Maybe you could be the next Matthew and find yourself admitted to your dream school too.
For test prep advice, contact CROSSWALK today. CROSSWALK is the go to resource for ACT, SAT, PSAT, SSAT and academic tutoring on the Monterey Peninsula.
There are exactly three spots left for CROSSWALK's six-week Summer ACT and SAT Test Prep Series. This is a highly personalized and individualized small group class ideal for Juniors and Sophomores.
Students can attend in person at the Stevenson School in Pebble Beach or via Skype.
All sessions meet on Tuesday evenings from 6-7:30pm. Here is the schedule:
- 6/26: SAT and ACT Test Overview and General Strategies
- 7/3: Reading Strategies for Success
- 7/10: Math Strategies for Success
- 7/17: Writing Strategies for Success
- 7/24: Science Strategies for Success
- 7/31: Essay Strategies for Success
Drop in for the session you need and pay by the class or sign up for the whole program and save.
Sign up today via the following form.
Questions? Or need further information? Contact CROSSWALK.
CROSSWALK is the Monterey Peninsula's local resource for SAT, ACT, PSAT, SSAT prep and academic tutoring.
Register today for a focused and individualized SAT and ACT test prep program by Brooke Higgins of CROSSWALK.
Starting Tuesday, June 26, CROSSWALK is hosting a six-week Summer ACT and SAT Test Prep Series.
Attend in person at the Stevenson School in Pebble Beach or via Skype.
All sessions meet on Tuesday evenings from 6-7:30pm. Here is the schedule:
- 6/26: SAT and ACT Test Overview and General Strategies
- 7/3: Reading Strategies for Success
- 7/10: Math Strategies for Success
- 7/17: Writing Strategies for Success
- 7/24: Science Strategies for Success
- 7/31: Essay Strategies for Success
Drop in for the session you need and pay by the class or sign up for the whole program and save.
Sign up via the following form.
Questions? Or need further information? Contact CROSSWALK.
CROSSWALK is the Monterey Peninsula's local resource for SAT, ACT, PSAT, SSAT prep and academic tutoring.
