Students will be able to apply to Harvard University without taking the SAT or ACT for at least the next four years, according to a report from the PBS NewsHour. Harvard announced last year that standardized tests would be optional for a year due to the lack of available or accessible testing sites during the…
College Board Cancels At-Home SATs
Despite the Coronavirus showing no signs of slowing down in the US, the College Board announced that they have scrapped plans to offer an at-home SAT. At-home testing requires 3 hours of uninterrupted, high-speed internet access, which can’t be guaranteed for everyone who wants to take the test. COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on higher education….
UPDATES: How Does Corona Continue to Impact Testing? [GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, ACT, SAT, TOEFL, EA]
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The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect schools and businesses worldwide. The health and safety of testing candidates and staff remain priorities as testing organizations continue to offer online testing while finding ways to safely reopen testing centers. Here is the most up-to-date information on admission tests and their response to coronavirus. GRE ETS is offering…
SAT “Adversity Score” to Capture Students Social and Economic Background
The Wall Street Journal reports that The College Board (the New York-based nonprofit that supervises the SAT) intends to give every student that takes the SAT an adversity score in an attempt to capture their social and economic background. How it works This figure is calculated using 15 indicators including the crime rate and poverty…
Top Tips to Improve Your SAT Score
When you’re prepping for the SAT, the last thing you want to do is waste time. And there are a lot of time wasters out there: from bad materials to tutors only familiar with the old test (it changed in 2016, people!), it seems like there are more potential landmines cropping up every day. But…
Affordable Online Test Prep [Episode 198]
We are now getting calls from applicants who plan to plan to apply in the summer, fall, and winter to matriculate in 2018. A few have all their ducks lined up – test score in place, school visits planned, a GPA they’re proud of, and maybe they’re just rounding out their profile to put icing…
ACT vs SAT: Pros And Cons
Which test should you take? The SAT or the ACT? An already tough question even without the added wrench of the brand new SAT (premiering in March 2016) thrown into the equation. So if you are planning on taking standardized tests in the spring of next year or later, make sure you read on to…
Comparing Old and New SAT Scores
Now that scores are out for the new SAT, we can answer many lingering questions. First off, how does a specific score on the new test correspond to the old test? Secondly, how do the two tests stack up against each other—is one more difficult than the other? And finally, just how many questions can…
The SAT Essay: A Breakdown
The Prompt On the old test, the SAT essay prompts were pretty simple one sentence phrases that you’d have to evaluate, something like: The best leaders are those who listen to what others have to say. Since this was far too readily gamed, students writing perfect-scoring essays that were cookie cutter and lacked logical consistency,…
Why Is The SAT Scored From 600 To 2400?
There are only a few times in your life when you’ll look at test scores and see a number like 1200 or 2000. Wait, wait—there’s only one time, really: that’s the SAT. Ninety-nine percent of the tests you take are scored as a fraction or a percentage, so what gives? What’s the point of putting…
The Test Prep Guru Speaks
In honor of Thanksgiving, we’ve decided to repost one of the podcast episodes that our listeners have been most grateful for. If you didn’t hear it the first time or you just want to review, now is the perfect time to listen to our highly informative (and super-popular) interview with Bhavin Parikh, CEO and founder of Magoosh, the…
Magoosh’s New eBook: Lightening the SAT Math Load
For some high school students, SAT math is the bane of their existence. You need to learn all these foreign strings of numbers and letters, and then magically recall them once you’re sitting in a hot room for hours with your entire future weighing down on your tired shoulders. Yeah – SAT math…not the funnest…
Big SAT Changes Favored More by Adcom than by Students
Kaplan asked 403 admissions officers from top schools and 684 high school students their opinions on the new SAT. Survey results show that the admissions officers are more supportive of the changes than the college applicants. 79% of officers support the changes, up from 72% last year. Big changes include reverting back to the 1600…
18 SAT Lifehacks [An Awesome Infographic]
Thanks to our friends at Magoosh SAT for putting together this SAT lifehack infographic to make sure you safely avoid any test-day nightmares. Take some time to browse this list of SAT prep lifehacks and master the 18 unexpected tips you’ll need for a higher SAT score! Good luck!
What if I Need to Retake the SAT?
Some treat taking the SAT over again as though it were the same thing as walking down the aisle to take one’s marriage vows for the second time. If stigma should be attached anywhere, it should be on not re-taking the SAT—a second time, third time, and a fourth time. I’m not saying become an…
ACT, SAT, PSAT…What’s the Difference?
When we compare standardized tests to each other, there are usually two points of view that people take: either they’re all the same, or you have to prepare for each one separately. The truth—surprise, surprise—is actually somewhere between those two ideas. But that’s boring to write about (who actually likes compromising, anyway?), so I’m not…
Review of BenchPrep’s Online Test Prep Site
I just logged into the BenchPrep test prep website and am welcomed with their greeting of “Gain an unfair advantage on test day”; I like this – a test prep site with an edge! Let’s continue exploring… After you sign in and choose your test (see list below), you’ll then choose your target test date….
How Does the Essay Affect Your SAT Score?
Although the SAT essay is going to be optional before long (when the test changes in 2016), as of right now it’s a must. So, love it or hate it, your essay will influence your SAT score, and the admissions offices at the colleges you’ll apply to will see that score. So let’s answer one…
GMAT, GRE, SAT, and All Things Test Prep
GMAT, GRE, SAT… If one of these tests graces your future, tune in to our interview with Bhavin Parikh, CEO and founder of Magoosh, the leading online test prep company. Listen to the recording of our conversation with Bhavin for great test prep advice and the lowdown on Magoosh. 00:02:17 – The story behind Magoosh…
Writing an Interesting SAT Essay in 25 Minutes
A common mistake students make on the SAT essay is thinking that if they stick to a formulaic approach, they will get a good SAT score essay-wise. The thing is using a “cookie cutter” approach to the essay can often result in a dull, predictable—and not at all convincing—essay. What is this approach, I speak…
