You should just be aiming to do as well as you possibly can on the ACT or SAT, right? WRONG. It’s a way better strategy to aim for a specific target score. Let me tell you why and how to find yours!
When to Cancel Your ACT or SAT Score
There are new and helpful options for how to cancel your SAT or ACT score. But don’t get carried away, because there’s a really important question you should ask yourself before you take advantage of them: SHOULD you cancel your score? Let me walk you through the decision the way I’ve helped my students tackle it.
The Best Guessing Strategy for the Digital SAT and ACT
If you’ve taken a few SAT or ACT practice tests (or even a round or two of the actual test), you may have found yourself running out of time on a section or two. What should you do when you don’t have time to actually think through those last few questions? Will it help or harm your score to guess—and if you should guess, what are the smartest strategies for doing so? This week’s post has got you covered.
The New ACT: Section-by-Section Updates
The first practice test for the new ACT just dropped. And it reveals a LOT of things we didn’t know about the new test. Read on for a section-by-section breakdown of what will be different come February/July.
Why Junior Spring Matters to College Admissions
Junior spring is hectic, I know! You might be tempted to let your academics slide as you focus on test prep...but wait! Let me explain why you need to keep your eye on your school books, not just your prep books.
Returning to Test Prep after a Break: 5-Step Plan
Whether it’s winter vacation or a family weekend away, everyone has to take breaks from test prep sometimes. But getting back to your desk after time away can feel like a real drag. Here’s how to regain the momentum you’ve lost.
A New Year's Ritual to Get Accepted to College
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.
How to Double-Check Your Common App
There’s more to calling your Common Application complete than dotting every I, crossing every T, and catching every typo. My six-step checklist will have you hitting submit with confidence!
The Best Common App Resources
Those deadlines are looming and your stress level is rising. Don’t panic! This Common App resources roundup has got links that will help you answer any question, and overcome any hurdle, standing in the way of clicking “submit.”
Early decision: advice if you didn't get accepted (and if you did!)
Early Decisions are about to come out. No matter what happens, you've got next steps. Let me tell you what they are.
Do you have to write the essay on the SAT or ACT?
Do you have to write the essay on the ACT or SAT? I’m usually here to tell you that skipping something you COULD use as an opportunity to shine is a mistake…but maybe not this time. Read on to find out if you’re one of the lucky ones who really CAN forget about writing the SAT Essay section or the ACT Writing component.
ACT Math Study Guide
What’s on the ACT Math section? The ACT website provides one answer to that question…but it’s a slightly confusing one. It isn’t always clear what content is covered under the broad terms they use, like “Algebra.” That’s why I’ve come up with my own system for categorizing every single math topic that the ACT can test you on. Whether you’re taking the 2024 version of the test or the new, revised 2025 version, this post will save you lots of time by helping you figure out exactly what to study and what to skip.
How to find the right standardized testing tutor for you
How can you tell whether your ACT or Digital SAT tutor is the right one for you? This article breaks down the two main types of tutor, and the ten qualities your tutor should have (no matter which “type” you pick).
Make Getting into College Less Stressful
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.
The Easiest Digital SAT Tricks
Short on study time…but hoping for a point boost on the Digital SAT? Here are my top 12 recs for low-effort, high-reward hacks on this particular test.
Five Tips for a High Digital SAT Reading + Writing Score
Strategy goes a long way on the Reading and Writing section of the Digital SAT. Here are my top five.
Best ACT Strategies: 2024-2025
Sometimes you just don’t have time to learn content. For those of you looking for quick ways to gain points on the ACT, here are my top twelve strategy tips.
Anxious about Your Teen's College Process?
Parents, this one's for you! Don't drown in all the insanity that comes with the college process—be a rock of sanity instead. Here's how.
Guide to the "Why this School?" Application Essay
You've completed your activity list, answered every question, and tweaked your essays to fit each application. But there's one you can't fudge: the "why this school?" essay! It's a lot of pressure, right when you need to really shine. I'll walk you through it.
Stuck on the Common App? 15 Prompts to ‘Unstick’ You
In my introduction to what you should write about in your Personal Statement, I note that college admissions officers are reading your Common App Essay to find out: what you're passionate about; where you've showed initiative; how you've transformed in important ways; in short, what makes you YOU!
But as for actually CONVEYING all that….well, easier said than done, right? There are MANY mental obstacles that come up when it’s time to actually draft the thing. After all, a blank computer screen and a blinking cursor can even feel scary to lifelong writers, let alone high schoolers!
First I’m going to ask you to take a slow, deep breath with me. As someone who’s helped hundreds of students of all stripes write superlative essays, I can assure you that you, too, have PLENTY of things to talk about. We just have to find those gold nuggets in the hills of your experience and personality!
So, open up a blank Word/Google .doc or grab a piece of paper. You’re going to jot down your answers to questions below. Once you’ve answered these 15 prompts, common threads should start to emerge, and you’ll be on your way to a Personal Statement that stands out from the stack while staying true to you!
Article Contents
1. Video version of this article
2. What to ask yourself if you have Personal Statement writer’s block
Video version of this article:
What to ask yourself if you have Personal Statement writer’s block
A. Finding Your Personal Statement subject: How do you spend your spare time?
The answers to these four Qs make up the basic foundation of your life—the water you’d swim in, if you were a fish. For that reason, you might not even realize that not everyone shares these interests. It’s easy to think that all teenagers spend their weekends closely observing nesting owls with binos, or making candles for their friends. But believe me, most people don't surf birding forums or visit apothecary shops just for kicks. This is a YOU thing that makes you—and your application—interesting.
1. In class: What are your academic and intellectual interests?
2. Outside of class: What are your favorite hobbies and activities? What do you enjoy about them?
3. Over the summer: Have you done any programs, classes, interesting trips, or taught yourself anything?
4. To relax: What do you do when you need to take a breather from life’s stresses?
B. Common App essay tip: Consider your special interests
5. Do you have any unusual talents or skills? If so, how did you develop them? How did you get into them in the first place?
6. Are there any global topics or social issues you feel passionate about? Why? What are you doing about it?
Again, you may assume that since you’ve been spending years rehabbing injured squirrels in your neighborhood, everyone else must be thinking about/working on the same thing. They aren't. Or if you're obsessed with watching football and teaching yourself every last detail about player stats, you may think that's just typical teenager stuff. It isn't. It’s special that you taught yourself how to splint a tiny leg from an anatomy book, and you should consider writing about it.
C. Personal Statement inspiration: your achievements.
7. What accomplishment are you most proud of? What did you have to do to accomplish it?
8. What was the most challenging ordeal or event you've gone through? How did you get through it?
9. When or how have you shown leadership?
You don’t have to have won a state championship in a given activity for an accomplishment to say something about you. More than how "big" an achievement appears by external metrics, it's the work you put in that's impressive to the admissions counselors. Not everything you want to do in life (and college) will come easily to you. In fact, even if you were truly born with a "natural" genius for something, you'll still only get better at that thing through hard work. What shows your character is how you put your nose to the grindstone and embrace the challenge—especially when success was not guaranteed and you had to take a risk.
D. Common App essay ideas: pivotal moments.
10. What was the best experience you've ever had? Why was this the "best"?
11. What was the worst experience you've ever had? Why was this the "worst"?
12. How have you changed over the past few years? Was there any event or person who caused/facilitated this transformation?
There aren't always major life events or "Aha!" moments that alter the course of your life and personality. However, if there are, the key is to look for the positive in the situation: how did you make lemons out of lemonade? How did you mature, even though a situation may have been really tough? Or if something wonderful happened, how has this made you a more appreciative and grateful person, someone determined to spread the good fortune you’ve received?
E. College essay brainstorming: your personality.
13. How are you unique or different from other people you know?
14. Is there anything about you that doesn't fit the stereotype, or that's unexpected?
15. Do you have any principles or beliefs that guide your actions? What are they?
The person reading your application wants to know what kind of person you are and where you'd fit in on their campus. They want to know what makes you tick—and bonus points for being self-aware enough to already have some ideas about this in high school! Are you the philosophical type who actively thinks about the values you hold, and how to act on them? That means you think for yourself, which will serve you well into college and beyond. Do you surprise people by being different from what they'd expect, like the varsity swimmer who also closely follows the clarinetist Martin Frost and listens to his concert recordings every night after school? Surprising traits and combinations like this will make you stand out—and help you get into your dream school!
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I hope this brainstorming sesh has helped illuminate some common themes from your life. If one topic has come up several times, chances are, that's what you should write about to let the admissions officers know exactly who you are and why you're special!
More than that, I also want this exercise to assure you that you have several unique qualities that you probably take for granted, but that others would find awesome.
Though I'm able to give out this advice for free, sometimes you need extra one-on-one help to get the guidance and confidence you need. To learn about working together one-on-one to bring out the real YOU in your Common App and supplemental essays, contact me here. Or, if you’re more of a self-study type, check out my full guide to writing a killer Personal Statement here.
