ACT Prep
The only reason someone would take the ACT is to get into a good college, and it only makes sense that you want to do the very best you can, which for most people means taking an ACT prep course. However, it’s going to be difficult score high on the ACT with knowing more about it, so let’s get into that now.
The ACT is a standardized test given in the United State. The ACT contains four separate tests: English, Math, Reading, and Science Reasoning. In 2005 the ACT also added an optional Writing component.
The purpose of the ACT is to assess the general intellectual development of the students who take it. This admissions test evaluates their readiness for college in four main areas: English, Math, Reading, and Science. Tests like the SAT and the ACT create an objective standard to measure students, since GPAs are largely unreliable, or at least flawed. For the most part, higher learning institutes use test scores to evaluate only one area of a student’s suitability for college.
The ACT has five sections, but only 4 are always taken. Those four multiple choice tests are about English, math, reading, and science reasoning. Those tests are scored on a scale from 1 to 36, and those four scores of 1-36 are ultimately averaged for a composite score of 1-36. The fifth, optional section of this test is the Writing section, which contains the ACT Essay. A student’s writing score has no impact on his final composite score. The ACT has no penalty for answering questions incorrectly.
The first section of this exam is the English test. Students must complete the 75-question test in forty-five minutes. ACT English always consists of five reading passages, and students must choose which versions of different sentences represent improvements tothe passage, or otherwise satisfy questions asked on the test. Students who hope to do well must master a variety of English conventions.
The ACT math section comes second on the test and takes 60 minutes to complete. Students must asnwer 60 questions on this section, and unlike on the other parts of the test, students are allowed to use a calculator. ACT Math is also different from the other sections because the questions come with five possible answer choices, instead of four. On the ACT Reading, students are 35 minutes in which to answer 40 questions, which are based on four passages from the test booklet. Those passages are taken from a number of different sources. You must have a solid ACT prep method that you can use on these questions.
The ACT Science Reasoning section has seven passages that go along with 5 to 7 questions each. Good ACT prep will show you that studying the sciences is not the best way to prepare for this test. What is more important is learning to read passages properly and process charts and graphs. There is also the ACT Writing section, which is optional. In that section test-takers have thirty minutes to plan and write an essay on a provided topic. However, the final composite score of 1 to 36 is not affected by your performance on the ACT essay, so it’s a good idea to find out ahead of time if you need to take it, so you don’t waste valuable ACT prep time.
ACT Prep
ISEE Test Prep
Many students who want to attend a private school are concerned about ISEE prep. After all, if you’d like to do well on a test like the ISEE, being prepared is very important. First, let’s talk a little more about what this test is. The ISEE, or Independent School Entrance Examination, is an admissions test used by many private schools throughout the US. Most students who take this test will use some variety of ISEE test prep. This test, which was created and is given by the Educational Records Bureau, has three different levels: Lower level (grades 5-6), Middle level (grades 7-8), Upper level (grades 9-12). All levels of this test consist of the same five sections: Reading Comprehension, Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, Mathematics Achievement, and a 30 minute essay section. The test is three hours long, including two short breaks.
Verbal Reasoning
This section contains synonyms questions and sentence completion questions. The Upper and Middle Level versions have 40 questions to be answered in 20 minutes. The Lower Level version of the ISEE test has 40 questions to be answered in 25 minutes.
Quantitative Reasoning
The Upper and Middle Levels of the ISEE, have 35 questions to be answered in 35 minutes. The Lower Level ISEE consists of 35 questions to be answered in 35 minutes. The Lower and Middle levels of the test consist of “Comprehension,” “Interpretation/Application,” and “Higher Order Thinking” questions, and the Upper level consists of “Arithmetic/Algebra/Geometry,” “Concepts/Understanding,” “Applications/Higher Order Thinking,” and “Quantitative Comparison” sections.
Reading Comprehension
This section consists of about 5-6 passages on a variety of topics. This section on the Middle and Upper level consists of 40 questions to be completed in 40 minutes, and the Lower version consists of 36 questions to be answered in 40 minutes.
Mathematics Achievement
On this math section, Lower level test-takers have 35 questions to answer in 40 minutes, and Middle and Upper level test-takers have 45 questions to answer in 40 minutes. All levels test “Knowledge and Skills,” “Computation/Comprehension,” and “Application,” and Upper level also tests “Arithmetic/Algebra/Geometry.”
Essay
The ISEE essay is unscored, and is the same on all levels. Students must respond to a random topic inside of 30 minutes. The essay section provides a sample of the student’s writing to the school where he hopes to get in.
ISEE Test Prep
LSAT Prep
The LSAT is a complicated and often intimidating test, which is why most students opt for some type of LSAT prep. Before we discuss that, though, let’s talk about the test. The Law School Admissions Test is given four times a year in the US and Canada by the LSAC. It exists to evaluate each year’s new crop of hopeful law students.
The widespread use of sophisticated LSAT prep has made test scores more competitive than ever. This test consists of five 35 minute multiple choice sections featuring three different question types. One of those five sections is always an unscored experimental section. After the multiple choice section, test-takers sit and write the unscored written portion of the test.
There are two Logical Reasoning sections on every version of the LSAT. In this section, test-takers must evaluate an argument as it is presented to them. They must decide whether the argument is flawed, or what could improve it, etc. Most arguments only have one corresponding question; some have two. Your choice of LSAT prep should help you attack these questions. The LSAT will also have a Reading Comprehension section. Here, you will see 3 short passages which will be about a variety of possible subjects. Each passage will have corresponding questions about various aspects of the passages. Also, each RC section will include a comparative reasoning passage, which is actually two short passages addressing opposite side of an issue.
You will find one Analytical Reasoning section per LSAT. Many people refer to this as the “logic games” section. The four games featured on each exam will involve tests of your grouping, matching, and ordering abilities. This section will present an initial situation and a set of rules to govern it, and then it will ask you to draw conclusions based on questions and modifications. These may not be as complex as they seem, so watch out for LSAT prep that makes this harder than it needs to be.
One other thing to be aware of on the LSAT is the unscored experimental section. The way that the LSAC tests out new questions to be used on later tests is to see how test-takers do on them ahead of time. They do this by adding one section to each test, called the experimental section, which is not scored. Then, the LSAC uses that data later on when adding those same questions to actual, scored portions of the test.
The last portion of the LSAT is the writing sample. This comes after all of the multiple choice sections are completed, so it can be challenging because essentially you are expected to write an essay after several hours of testing. The LSAC chooses a pretty mundane topic and then presents two different sides of the issue. Your job is to pick one side and defend it. Although this section is not scored, your response is sent to your prospective school.
Probably the most intelligent things that you can do to ensure that you get a good score on this test is to engage in some LSAT prep. There are a number of options with a range of costs, from used LSAT prep books to entire LSAT preparation courses that last several months. It is hard to say what will be best for any one person, but it is definitely worth looking into if you’d like a good score on the test. Above all, make sure that you practice your LSAT prep strategies against real practice questions, so you know whether they work or not.
LSAT Prep
SAT Prep
Nearly all the students who take this test will use some type of SAT prep. Online video SAT Prep Courses are more mainstream in recent years because of their low prices and efficacy. The SAT test is important in determining admission to universities in the United States. The exam measures critical thinking and analytical skills. In broad terms, the SAT is a reasonably reliable predictor of college performance. The SAT exam is given seven times each calendar year. The specific test dates change slightly all the time. Students who wish to find more information about when and how to take this test should contact their guidance counselors, or the College Board, directly. The three main sections of the SAT are: writing, critical reading, and math.
SAT Writing
The writing section consists of an essay, to be written in 20 minutes, and a multiple choice writing section. The multiple choice portion takes 35 minutes and always comes last, whereas the essay section comes first. The main question types are: Improving Sentences, Improving Paragraphs, and Identifying Sentence Errors questions.
SAT Critical Reading
There are three critical reading sections on each version of the SAT exam. Two are 25 minutes long, and the other is 20 minutes long. In these sections, students must read short passages or long passages and then respond to multiple choice questions. These types of questions are designed to test sentence completion, in-context vocabulary comprehension, reading comprehension, and critical reading.
SAT Math
Each SAT has three math section: one that takes 20 minutes, and two that take 25 minutes. Questions are either multiple choice or grid-in, and they may cover subjects such as properties of numbers, functions, geometry and measurements, statistics and data analysis, and algebra.
SAT Prep
SSAT Prep
Good SSAT prep is absolutely essential for anyone who wants to get into a good private school. However, before you get ready to take the SSAT, you must understand the basics of the test. Let’s look at some of the introductory information about this test. The SSAT, or Secondary School Admission Test, is an admissions test for students in grades 5-11. This test is given in either Lower Level (grades 5-7) or Upper Level (grades 8-11). The majority of students who sit for this examination will go through some kind of SSAT prep. There are two different levels of this test. The Lower level version of the SSAT is for test-takers grades 5 through 7, but the Upper level version is for test-takers grades 8 through 11. The SSAT exam has four major parts: a brief, unscored essay section, and three multiple choice sections: Mathematics, Reading Comprehension, and Verbal.
Essay
The SSAT essay asks students to respond to a prompt using either personal or academic examples. Students have 25 minutes to both plan and write their essays on one side of one sheet of paper. The essay section of the test is unscored.
Mathematics Section
SSAT Math contains two math sections at 30 minutes each. Test-takers must answer 25 questions per section by executing basic computations which include some algebraic work. The questions in this section can range from a variety of equations to word problems.
Verbal Section
The SSAT verbal section is 30 minutes long. It has 30 synonyms questions and 30 analogy questions. SSAT verbal tests your vocabulary skilld, your verbal reasoning skills, and also how well you can relate ideas logically.
Reading Comprehension Section
SSAT Reading Comprehension has 40 questions to be answered in 40 minutes. You must be able to understand and absorb the material that you read quickly and consistently. Good SSAT prep will make this part of the test much easier to deal with.