Totally pulling a blank as to what to write about for your main college essay? These 15 prompts will help you find the perfect topic for you.
What Should I Write My Common App Essay about?
7 Tips for Using Your Summer to Get into College
Worried about how to make the most of those crucial summers during the college process, sophomore through junior year? Worry no more—this post lays out a road map to what you need to keep your eye on.
How Long Does It Take to Study for the SAT and ACT?
How long does it really take to study for the Digital SAT or ACT? The answer to that question is anything but one-size-fits-all. So if you want to know how long it might take YOU to prep for the SAT or ACT and make it to your target score, consider these factors.
Which Is More Likely To Get You into College: the SAT or ACT?
Given how much time goes into prepping for standardized tests, you want to make sure you’re taking the right test to begin with. So which one gives you a bigger advantage in college admissions—the Digital SAT or the ACT?
How to Design a Sane College Process
Fights, confusion, stress—that's just what junior year is like, right? Nope! There's a better way. I promise. Let me show you what it can be like.
Can NMS Finalists Validate with the ACT?
If you’re a finalist for the National Merit Scholarship Program, you used to have the SAT forced on you. But these days, you can now validate your qualifying PSAT score with an ACT score! Let me explain how that impacts the testing decisions of high-achieving students.
New Year's Reflections for College Acceptance
A new year is a chance to pause, take stock, and course correct as you proceed joyfully towards your goals. This little New Year’s ritual offers you questions to ask yourself and words to take to heart—all designed to help you realize your college process goals, no matter where you are in that process right now.
When to Submit SAT/ACT Scores to Test-Optional Colleges
Should you submit your SAT or ACT scores to that test-optional school? Will they help you or hurt you? This is a tricky question, but this blog post offers you three ways to make this important decision.
10 Things *Not* to Do in Your College Applications
I get it: college admissions is a pressure cooker, and it’s tempting to take some shortcuts to success. But there are some supposed “hacks” that backfire big-time. Here's what NOT to do when you're applying to college.
Making Your College List: Factors to Consider
Before you start applying to colleges, you need to figure out which ones you’re applying TO. Sounds simple, right? But there are so many factors to consider that making a college list can seem intimidating. Don’t worry! This week I’m giving you a straightforward five-step guide to drafting your list of dream schools….so you can start working on getting INTO them.
Does "Test Optional" Mean You Can Skip the SAT or ACT?
Many colleges went “test-optional” during COVID. But the winds have shifted since then. Can you get away with skipping the SAT/ACT entirely…and still get into your colleges of choice? Let’s find out.
Overwhelmed by Junior Year? Here's What to Do.
Don't throw in the towel! Instead, muster your grit and learn to make time for schoolwork AND test prep.
Your 5-Step Plan to Beat the Sophomore Slump
Feeling doomy and gloomy as you head in to tenth grade? With my five tips, you can turn Sophomore year from a bummer into an asset, AND start making yourself a better candidate for college down the line.
New Year's Reflections to Help You Get into College in 2023
Winter break is a time high school students pause to rest and reflect…but the college process waits for no one. These are some questions to reflect on to keep your eye on the prize in the year ahead in YOUR college process—no matter where you are in high school! (There’s also a special message in here for juniors, who are really in the thick of it right now.)
Avoid These Three Common Mistakes For a Winning Testing Timeline—And Winning Test Scores
Avoid these top three mistakes I see all the time in my work as an elite test-prep expert and your road to the doors of that dream school will run a LOT more smoothly.
The Testing Timeline: The SUREST Path to the ACT and SAT Scores That Open Doors
So you want the best possible SAT or ACT scores you can get, huh? AND you’d like to stay sane while achieving them, so you can enjoy that dream school when you get there? Your road map to navigating the overwhelming, stressful testing and college processes needs the SUREST tool to success: a Testing Timeline.
SAT and ACT Test Dates 2020-2021
To plan a successful 2020-2021 college application cycle (read: to get into that dream school in 2021), you need to start making a testing plan now. So here’s your complete ACT and SAT testing calendar for 2020-2021—every test date with information about which tests (ACT, SAT, and SAT II Subject Tests) are available, registration deadlines, and score availability dates. Get planning!
Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors AND Seniors: Here's Your Quarantine/Post-Quarantine College Admissions To-Do List
We may be having a very weird semester, but time hasn’t stopped. Your future is still coming—so how are you getting ready for it? In this post, I’m giving every high school class a to-do list for using your quarantine time to set up the most successful college process and transition possible. Tackle this list and you’ll have a leg up when things do get back to baseline.
Summer's Over: It's Time to Get Serious About Studying Again
No matter what year you are in high school, if you're anything like my students, now is the time for a wake-up call: summer vacation is over...it's time to get serious about testing and the college process again! I'm breaking down the year ahead for every grade level!
Totally pulling a blank as to what to write about for your main college essay? These 15 prompts will help you find the perfect topic for you.