Alexis Avila Founder/President of Prepped & Polished teaches you a helpful backsolving technique for scoring higher on the SAT Math Section.
Plug-in the answer choices usually starting with choice C because it’s the median of the five answer choices. If your first backsolving attempt doesn’t work, eliminate this answer choice and attempt the other answer choices until you find a match.
Did you find this SAT Math Backsolving tip helpful? Would you consider using this math approach on the SAT test?
By Grant Hanada, Tutoring and Test Preparation Instructor, Prepped & Polished, LLC
You should know the essay on the SSAT test does not count toward your score at all. However, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care about it. In fact, you should put just as much preparation and effort into your essay as you would for any of the scored sections on the test. All of the schools in which you are applying to will have access to your essay and will most likely use it towards their decision in your admittance. Here are some great tips to help you write the best possible essay:
1. Come prepared
Some people are born gifted writers and can produce masterpieces on the first try, but for the rest of us, we need to go through many drafts to get it right. In order to write a great essay on the actual test, you should practice writing great essays beforehand. So instead of writing a first draft on the test day, you are really writing a well-practiced final draft.
2. Write a great introduction
Think about anything you have ever tried reading: literature books, news articles, magazines, comic books, an e-mail, the back of a book, or even a long facebook wall post. I bet you could tell in the first 2 lines whether or not it was going to be interesting. Maybe you didn’t even finish reading it. That is the same mentality your admission readers will have. Focus on saying something interesting and unique right from the start. Don’t just repeat the question that the prompt asks you. Be creative! Introduce a quote or ask a question to entice the reader to pay attention. Writing a catchy introduction will set the tone for the rest of your essay.
3. Prepare good, flexible examples ahead of time
Almost all the essay prompts are very general and vague. They often ask you to agree or disagree with a statement. Don’t sit on the fence, pick a side! Figure out which side you can write a better argument for. It doesn’t matter whether or not you believe the side that you pick. It matters how well you can convey your points to the reader. Since the prompts are general, you can actually prepare ideas ahead of time. Make a list of important people, historical events, current events, or literature books that you know about. Try to choose subjects that are flexible and can viewed as both positive and negative. For instance, the value of the internet is a great subject. It can be talked about positively for all the information we get out of it or it can be viewed negatively when used in ways to hurt people. You can also write about a personal experience (even if you make something up), which is a great way to prove a point and add a personal touch. Having a pre-planned list of subjects will be an invaluable tool on the actual test. 4. Make clear connections
Now that you have come up with a bunch of potential subjects for your essay, practice connecting them to different prompts. It is important to do some research on your subjects and show that you know facts. Use important names and dates or significant events. After writing about the facts, it is just as important to say HOW they relate to the prompt. Be very clear in tying your subject back to the essay topic. Insert the same words that are stated in the prompt into your essay at the beginning and throughout each paragraph to really prove your point.
5. Organization and Neatness count
You should have 4-5 clearly defined paragraphs. You need to have 1 paragraph for the introduction and 1 paragraph for the conclusion. The body of your essay should be 2 or 3 paragraphs depending on how many subjects you decide to write about. Make sure you indent your paragraphs or leave a blank line between paragraphs to clearly show your organization. If you need to cross out a word, draw 1 straight line through the middle of the word. Even though you can’t lose points for not writing neatly, people can get slightly irritated when they have to struggle to read your essay. You don’t want to put your reader in a bad mood, so write as neatly as you can.
Grant Hanada has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychobiology from UCLA, and is currently pursuing his Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from Boston University.
Did you find these SSAT Essay tips helpful? Which tip affected you the most?
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.
Did you find these SSAT Reading Comprehension tips helpful? Which tip affected you the most?
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.
Did you find this SAT Math Plug-in tip helpful? Would you consider using this math plug-in approach on the SAT test?
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
Do you think the content on your Facebook page could influence the decisions of College Admissions Officers? Any thoughts about this article?
“Just a note to let you know that our daughter Beatriz improved 190 points in her recent SAT exam over her previous performance. It is clear that the tutoring with Prepped and Polished had a very positive effect, and her mother and I want to thank you for your efforts on our daughter’s behalf.
Coming as Bea does from a foreign culture (Spain) and having attended a British school all her life, she was not as familiar with the SAT format as her counterparts in America. Therefore the coaching she received from you was doubly important – first, to fathom the test and learn strategies for taking it, and second to grasp the concepts and knowledge that the test is based on.
Bea has applied early action to Princeton, and we will be sure to let you know the results on December 15th!”
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.
Did you find these ISEE Synonym tips helpful? What is your strongest/weakest section on the ISEE test?
Alexis Avila, Founder/President of Prepped & Polished will give a seminar about getting ready for the college application process. The college application process can be stressful for both students and parents.
Get updated, organized, and ready for the college admissions process.
Some of the things you will learn include:
How to best prepare yourself for college during Junior and Senior Year of High School.
When to take standardized tests and how to best prepare for them.
What to do during a college campus visit.
Alexis Avila, Founder/President of Prepped & Polished, LLC will provide students with a review of the types of mathematical problems found on the SAT and offers test-taking strategies for the exam. We will review algebra and geometry, focusing on students’ specific needs and areas of difficulty, and utilize actual SAT practice test problems. Emphasis will be placed on what to practice in preparation for the exam, how to practice, and strategies to help maximize your score. Students are encouraged to bring questions. Please bring a calculator, pencil, and notebook to class.
