Test Prep

CollegePrepExpress, LLC helps raise scores on the SSAT, ISEE PSAT, SAT, SAT Subject Tests, ACT, MCAS, CAPT, CMT, GRE, GMAT, LSAT, and many other standardized tests.
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Instructional Videos

Standardized Test Prep Made Simple: Tip Sheet for Preparing for SATs and ACTs

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Preparing for high-stakes standardized tests like the SAT or the ACT is not EASY, but it is SIMPLE. What I mean by that is much of the work is psychological: you need to make a decision to invest the necessary time, plan your work, and then work your plan. For years instructors at CollegePrepExpress have been helping students get high scores by showing them that preparation for these behemoth exams is really the same as that for any other test: it involves TWO basic activities: studying the material covered on the exam and taking practice tests to give you facility […]

How to Interpret PSAT Scores in the College Admissions Game and What They Mean for your Standardized Test-Taking Future

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It’s been about a month since your PSAT scores came back, so it’s high time you stepped out from the darkness of denial and into the light of Holy crap! Can I still get into college? Do they count? What do they mean? What’s with the funny scale? How do they translate to SAT scores? To ACT scores? Can I use them to decide whether I’d be better at SATs or ACTs? Am I having fun yet? Settle down, young grasshopper. We got you. Most importantly, the PSAT only counts if you do well :-). There’s no downside, no way […]

Dr. Yo’s Short- and Long-Term Steps to Higher SAT Scores

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There are basically two ways to prep for the SATs and ACTs, otherwise known as the college entrance exams: slow-and-steady and cram-like-hell. Know which one’s better? BOTH.  If your goal is to be competitive at the nation’s top colleges, I recommend you prep slow-and-steady over the long haul (one to two years for most) AND cram like hell at the end. For those with less ambitious goals or where there are constraints of time and/or budget, you may choose to select a one vs. the other approach. This week I offer you CollegePrepExpress’s plans for short- and long-term prep for the SAT for students sitting for the exam between October 2014 […]

SAT and ACT Prep: Peaking at the Right Time

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First, three words about the “major” changes to the SAT coming in 2016: hype, hype, and HYPE. Don’t get me started about the ruse mounted by the College Board in creating more authentic test questions and bringing social justice to college admissions testing, the two huge flags they’re waving over this new campaign. Bottom line is that ANY test that asks ACADEMIC questions and forces you to work ALONE is inauthentic from the get-go: can you name ANY profession that requires you to answer academic questions and without the benefit of collaborating with colleagues? Besides teaching? And claiming to level […]

Root & Synonym Clusters 10: Short-lived, Temporary

 tagged rap to learn / SAT / strategies / test prep / vocab by

Nothing lasts forever, and the College Board knows it. Many fancy SAT words have the flavor, if not exact meaning of “short-lived” or “temporary,” and here they are: Follow Dr. Yo on Pinterest   temporary – adjective – lasting for only a limited period of time; not permanent: a temporary job. transient – adjective – lasting only for a short time; impermanent: a transient cold spell. noun – a person who is staying or working in a place for only a short time transitory – adjective – not permanent: transitory periods of medieval greatness. ephemeral – adjective – lasting for a very short time: fashions are ephemeral. evanescent – adjective – soon passing out of sight, memory, or existence; quickly fading ordisappearing: a shimmering evanescent bubble. fleeting – adjectivelasting for a very short time: hoping to get a fleeting glimpse of […]

Got ACT on 9/21? 5 Tips for Cramming

 tagged ACT / standardized tests / test prep by

If you’re taking the ACT next weekend and haven’t been able to prepare as thoroughly as you’d like—hey, we understand, end of summer, start of school, yada yada yada—do not despair. Because there’s no vocabulary on the exam, you don’t need to spend nearly as much time studying as you do for the SAT. The ACT is, in fact, a much more “beatable” test than the SAT, especially when time is short. There are two bodies of material you need to know: math (key topics in Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, and a wee bit of Trig) and 10 key […]

Root & Synonym Clusters 8: ARROGANT

 tagged rap to learn / SAT / strategies / test prep / vocab by

Don’t you hate it when you have to deal with people who think they’re better than you? People who make you feel like you’re not smart enough, classy enough, or just plain good enough to deserve their time and attention? Hey, EVERYONE is ignorant, just on a different set of subjects. But anyway, there are words that pop up frequently on the SAT for people who think they’re better than everyone else, and here they are: pompous – affectedly and irritatingly grand, solemn, or self-important: a pompous ass who pretends he knows everything. disdainful – showing contempt or lack of respect: with a last disdainful look, she turned toward the door. supercilious – behaving […]

Root & Synonym Clusters 9: STUBBORN

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Here are a bunch of words all clustered around STUBBORN. Try using them on your hard-nosed friends–not to make them angry, but to learn the words!   adamant – refusing to be persuaded or to change one’s mind: he is adamant thathe is not going to resign. dogged – having or showing tenacity and grim persistence: success required dogged determination. obstinate – stubbornly refusing to change one’s opinion or chosen course of action, despite attempts to persuade one to do so. obdurate – stubbornly refusing to change one’s opinion or course of action. pertinacious – holding firmly to an opinion or a course of action: he worked with a pertinacious resistance to interruptions. unyielding – or structure) not giving way to pressure; hard or solid: the […]

Root & Synonym Clusters 7: To look Down On, aka “D” words

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In our Root & Synonym Clusters 5: Laud Roots and to Praise Synonyms, we encountered words we use when we look up to people. In this new installment we consider their antonyms, words we use to “look down on.” For some crazy reason, many of them begin with the letter “D,” which you can use to your advantage as a mnemonic. Do you know that word, mnemonic?   decry – publicly denounce: they decried human rights abuses. denigrate – to speak damagingly of; criticize in a derogatory manner; sully; defame: to denigrate someone’s character defame – to attack the good name or reputation of, as by uttering or publishing maliciously or falsely anything injurious; calumniate: The newspaper editorial defamed the politician. deprecate – express disapproval of: he sniffed in a deprecating way. disparage – regard or represent as being of little worth: he never missed an opportunity to disparage his competitors. disdain […]

5-Point Checklist to Prep for the ACT in a Week…or Less!

 tagged ACT / strategies / test prep by

If you’re taking the ACTs this weekend and haven’t been able to prepare as thoroughly as you’d like—understandable given the SATs and/or January midterms many of you faced—do not despair. Because there’s no vocabulary on the exam, you don’t need to spend nearly as much time studying as you do for the SAT. The ACT is, in fact,   a much more “beatable” test than the SAT, especially when time is short. Whereas the SAT requires a huge chunk of STUDY time to master all the abstruse vocabulary (see what I did there?), ACT prep places a premium on taking […]

Why the ACT is just as important as the SAT

 tagged ACT / admissions / junior year / SAT / test prep by

By Kate Cryan “There are several compelling reasons why students SHOULD TAKE BOTH tests.”  So said Dr. Yo in this 2008 post. You could say he was a good five years ahead of the curve: last year, the number of students taking the ACT was, for the first time, slightly higher than the number taking SAT, and 50% higher than the number taking ACT ten years ago. Why the sudden preference for ACT? It’s not sudden, and it’s not a preference, because SAT popularity hasn’t waned. The number of ACT takers has steadily increased each year until it finally surpassed […]

3 Things to Do with Your Recently Arrived PSAT Scores

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 So your wake-up call came this week in the form of PSAT scores from the CollegeBoard. Now what? Decide whether you’re an SAT kid, an ACT kid, both, or neither. Because the PSAT is a really good indicator of how well you’d do on the SAT (just add a zero to each score; e.g., a 53 PSAT –> 530 SAT), we typically advise students take an ACT in December or February with which to compare to your PSAT results. Use any number of freely available conversion charts e.g., ACT’s charts, CollegeBoard’s charts) to help you decide how to allocate test-prep […]

Got ACT on 9/21? 5 Tips for Cramming

 tagged ACT / standardized tests / test prep by

If you’re taking the ACT next weekend and haven’t been able to prepare as thoroughly as you’d like—hey, we understand, end of summer, start of school, yada yada yada—do not despair. Because there’s no vocabulary on the exam, you don’t need to spend nearly as much time studying as you do for the SAT. The ACT is, in fact, a much more “beatable” test than the SAT, especially when time is short. There are two bodies of material you need to know: math (key topics in Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, and a wee bit of Trig) and 10 key […]

The PSAT: Why It Matters and Why You Should Prep for It

 tagged PSAT / test prep by

The PSAT is an exam intended for college-bound students to take in the fall of their junior year. It’s just over half the length of the SAT (2 hr. 10 min., vs. 3 hr. 45 min.) and comprises the same three sections—Critical Reading (sentence completions and reading comprehension), Math, and Writing (I always chuckle at a test called Writing, but on which there is NO actual writing to do, only multiple choice grammar questions to answer). Unlike the SAT, there’s no essay on the PSAT, nor is there an experimental section. It is NOT required by any college, nor can […]