By Grant Hanada, Tutoring and Test Preparation Instructor, Prepped & Polished, LLC

The reading comprehension section for the SSAT tends to be one of the hardest parts of the test for most students. Very few students are actually taught in school how to prepare for these types of reading passages and even fewer are given specific advice on how to tackle this in an effective way under time pressure. Here are 5 great tips for students to have when they approach the SSAT reading comprehension section:

1. You choose which passages to read.
Before the test, you should spend some time practicing all the various types of passages (historical, story, science, etc.) and know which ones you are stronger in. During the actual test, nobody will stop you from completing the passages out of order. Quickly browse each passage as soon as time begins and start answering the easier passages first and save the hard ones until the end. It is ok if you don’t have time to completely finish the hard passages, you can still get a great score!

2. Don’t read the entire passage like a book.
It is not important to know every detail like you would when doing a book report. Start each passage by doing a quick scan of only the introduction, the topics sentences of each paragraph, and the conclusion. You should be able to do this in less than 1 minute. Just gather the overall ideas and the general tone of the passage. That is it, don’t try and read the entire passage at once. When you get to the questions you will read specific parts more closely.

3. Separate “specific” vs “general” questions.
There are always 2 types of questions—specific or general. A specific question will point you to a very specific part of the passage and often the exact line numbers. Do these types of questions first and leave the general questions for later. When you answer specific questions you should read a few lines before and after the specific area you are looking at for context, but make sure the answer you pick is directly related to the information in the specified lines from the question. General questions are much more broad and should be answered last because after you answer all the specific questions you should know the entire passage well enough to answer questions about the main purpose.

4. Be careful on “definition” questions.
Many passages will have a question that asks you to answer what a certain word means in the context of the passage. Usually the reason this word is important is because it is being used in a different manner than you are used to seeing. Be very wary of picking answers that are the typical dictionary definitions. Also, if 2 answer choices are synonyms of each other and since 2 answers can’t both be correct, most likely neither one of those answers are correct.

5. Be a skeptic.
As you look at all your answer choices you should be negative and critical toward every one. Imagine that they are all incorrect and that it would take direct evidence to convince you that an answer choice is really correct. Therefore, when deciding which answer is best, you need to find hard evidence from the passage to fully prove that an answer is the best. Also, be sure to not have any prior assumptions about topics. If you know a lot about dogs and the passage happens to be about dogs, forget everything you know. The answers must come directly from the passage alone. Remember, you are not picking a “perfectly correct” answer; you are picking the best answer.

Grant Hanada has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychobiology from UCLA, and is currently pursuing his Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from Boston University.

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Alexis Avila Founder/President of Prepped & Polished teaches you a key technique for scoring higher on the SAT Math Section.

First plug-in numbers for the variables provided in the math problem.
Second make sure you re-read the question, replacing the variables for the numbers you assigned.

Third, solve the problem and come up with your target answer.
Last, go to the answer choices and eliminate all answers that don’t match your target answer.

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By Jennifer Varnell, Assistant Director of Education, School Counseling Services, Laurel Springs School

Social media and internet use is integrated in the lives of most children and young adults. Services such as Facebook, MySpace, Google+, and others allow students to connect with friends and family, and post status updates and photos. For many young people, social media is a major part of their lives, with a recent study showing that more than half of children aged 12-13 and 88% of children aged 14-17 use social media. Parents can help their children by initiating discussions about the impact of social media activity, and how it can influence college admissions.

According to a recent study. at least a quarter of college admissions officers are using social media to conduct background research on applicants. While the practice is not yet routine, 12% of study participants said that “what they found ‘negatively impacted’ the applicant’s chances of admission.” Some college admissions officers cited examples of inappropriate behavior and plagiarism when explaining how social media can reveal negative impressions of an applicant.

Parents can address this issue by making sure their children are aware that their social media activities may be examined by college admissions officers, and that many things that children post online can be accessed in the public domain. Students can employ the positive strategy of using social media to project a more holistic picture of their thoughts and activities. Here are some examples of how students can use social media to bolster their college admissions plan:

• If your children are involved in volunteer work, they can post photos of their activities at a soup kitchen or tutoring center.
• If your children take AP or test prep courses, they can post updates that show how these classes are preparing them for college.
• Children can post updates related to their extra-curricular activities, such as sports, National Honor Society, student council, or clubs.
• If you children have jobs or internships, they can post about what they are learning from the experience.

As students become more active on social media sites, parents can review the principles of ethical online behavior with their children. Children can learn to delete posts, untag themselves from Facebook photos, and periodically check to ensure that their privacy settings are in line with family preferences. When children have a greater awareness of how their social media presence is viewed and used by others, they can be more thoughtful about how they choose to participate

Jennifer Varnell has a Master’s degree in Counseling and Guidance, and is a member of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA). She is the Assistant Director of Education, School Counseling, for Laurel Springs School, an accredited online private school serving students in grades K-12. Laurel Springs School

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Alexis Avila Founder/President of Prepped & Polished teaches tricks and strategies for mastering the synonym portion of the ISEE test.

First, figure out the definition of the word before looking at the distracting answer choices. Dissect the word and figure out the roots of the word. If you’re not sure about the roots of the word, then use a positive, negative, neutral strategy to find a matching charge of the word.

Finally, go to the answer choices, and eliminate the three wrong choices.

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Alexis Avila Founder/President of Prepped & Polished teaches you a key technique for mastering the analogy portion of the SSAT test.

First connect the stem words with a concise, meaningful, dictionary-style definition, and then apply this definition to the answer choices.

Did you find this SSAT analogy tip helpful? What is your strongest/weakest section on the SSAT test?

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Alexis Avila Founder/President of Prepped & Polished helps you decide whether to take the ACT or SAT, or both.

If you want a more straightforward format, no guessing penalty, and don’t mind science then go for the ACT test. If you prefer a test that requires more logic and you have the time and money to have a tutor teach you the techniques and strategies necessary to beat the SAT, then go for the SAT test.

Are you considering the ACT or the SAT test? Is one test better than the other?

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Alexis Avila Founder/President of Prepped & Polished offers advice on how to avoid careless mistakes on the SAT Sentence Error Questions on the SAT Writing Grammar Section.

Before circling an answer because it sounds wrong, come up with a valid replacement for the incorrect grammar.

Did you find this SAT Grammar tip helpful? What are some other ways to avoid careless grammar mistakes on the SAT?

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Alexis Avila Founder/President of Prepped & Polished offers advice on how to avoid careless mistakes on the math portion of the SAT test.

Underlining or circling the key words in the math question will help you to avoid careless mistakes by forcing you to read the problem carefully and know exactly what you are looking for.

Did you find this SAT Math tip helpful? What are some other ways to avoid careless math mistakes on the SAT?

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Alexis Avila Founder/President of Prepped & Polished talks about the recent controversial SAT essay topic about reality television.

He thinks that while the topic may appear at first glance biased only to those who habitually watch reality television, it is still a broad enough topic where virtually any high school can properly answer the question.

Was the reality television SAT essay topic a good or bad question? How would you have answered this SAT essay question?

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By Amie Hoff, Certified Fitness Trainer and Consultant, NYC

Summer will be here before you know it and yup, you guessed it – that means shorts and bathing suits too! Are you ready? Is your body ready?

If you were one of the many who shelved your workouts over the winter because it was just too darn cold or already fell off the resolution wagon, no more excuses. I’m here to help you get your body moving and shed the winter body fat just in time to shed the layers. Tone up those legs, arms and abs and get ready to turn some heads on campus! Just by making a few small adjustments and following these exercise and nutrition tips, you’ll blast the winter weight gain and be cruising the campus feeling awesome and looking great.

College workout survival tips to help inspire you to get up and moving:

• Get your roommate or a friend to join you. Enlisting the help of others not only makes it more fun, but gives you quality catch up time as well.

• Schedule your workouts just like you would your classes and stick to it. No blowing it off for another day.

• Walk or bike to class, take the stairs whenever possible and visit your friends rather than email. Hint – move, move, move.

• Keep a workout journal to help chart your progress, understand how you’re feeling, what workouts you like (and don’t) and keep an eye on your weight.

• Dress for success – If you do choose to exercise outside, it’s important to dress for the elements. Layer with wicking and breathable fabrics. Cotton is not a good choice as it traps sweat and dries slowly, not fun. Think of light layers that can be peeled off as your body temperature rises. And if it’s still chilly, wearing a hat is smart. Most of your body heat escapes through the head.

• Check for leagues or teams on campus that play ultimate frisbee, volleyball, baseball, etc. Getting a workout while having fun and meeting new people is a bonus. If your school doesn’t have one, start your own!

• Use the stadium bleachers for an awesome cardio workout. Run up and down them for 10 min working up to 20.

• Or, find the building on campus with the most floors and run up and down the stairwell. Trust me, that will get your heart pumping! For even more of a challenge, try taking two steps at a time on your way up.

• When you get bored with your workout, switch up one of the following: Intensity, duration frequency or activity.

• Stock your dorm room and fill your fridge with plenty of healthy snacks so when the urge to order late night pizza hits, you can fill up on good-for-you foods and have healthy options.

• Try the now “it” workout: HIIT – High Intensity Interval Training. Alternating short bursts of intense activity with short slower periods for recovery. A serious calorie burner!

• Keep a food diary to track your calorie intake. When writing everything down, you’ll certainly think twice about what goes in your mouth.

• Download some new up-beat, fun music to get your feet jumping and body moving.

Amie Hoff is a certified personal trainer and fitness consultant in NYC, co-founder of FitKitDORM – Total Fitness in a Kit. www.FitKit.com Enter code DORM at checkout and get a 20% discount!

What was your favorite college workout tip? Do you have any others?

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