Aptitude tests offer a unique value to high school students. They can give you an unsurpassed understanding of your innate abilities, show you the most operative way you learn, and show you which careers capitalize on your talents. Unsurprisingly, many California parents want to arm their children with these psycho analytics to help them pick their college major as soon as possible. However, there exist several noteworthy aptitude tests that same parents must consider. Each test has its strengths and limitations. This post looks at each available aptitude assessment for California high school ..read more

More than two months after the March test-takers sat for the New SAT, the CollegeBoard finally delivered the New SAT score reports. The results were odd and left counselors, admissions officers, and parents nonplussed. The most striking change was the score recalibration. It was well-publicized that the New SAT scores were going from a 2400 scale to a 1600 scale, but what the CollegeBoard did not foretell was how the bell curve was going to skew upward. That is, if you took a student who scored 500 on all sections on the old SAT (1500 total), you might assume his score would translate to ..read more

Orange County’s premier SAT prep and ACT prep is now available in Los Angeles. Powerful Prep has been the OC’s top-choice for massive point-gains and concierge-service and is now offering its exclusive service to  LA. Move your scores higher and become a top applicant to the nation’s most selective universities by working with one of Powerful Prep’s genius tutors. The high school experience is demanding, and riddled with stressors at every turn. On top of needing a near-perfect GPA, head-turning extracurricular activities, and resounding letters of recommendation, students need 99th perce ..read more

–According to The Journal The Wall Street Journal ran a decidedly pro SAT & ACT earlier this month. The full article can be found here, and is noteworthy for being supportive of the tests when the media’s usual stance is one of condemnation. This stance is understandable: it is far easier to write stories about the cultural bias, the socioeconomic bias, the cheating, and the outlandishly expensive test-prep industry. And while those stories are not wholly inaccurate, they belie the fact that the SAT and ACT accomplish their primary goal: to predict students’ performance in c ..read more

Is the SAT on paper or a computer? Well, in an increasingly paperless world, the makers of the SAT and ACT are taking steps toward offering their tests exclusively online. This week, the entire Junior class of Chisholm High School in Enid, Oklahoma, will be taking the SAT on Chromebooks instead of with paper and pencil. Update: The SAT goes fully digital [2022] Is the SAT computer-based? It is now. Following an announcement in January 2022, the CollegeBoard plans to move the SAT to a computer-based format by 2024. Read the full story: Computer Based SAT Testing Table Of Contents Update ..read more

Applying to college: the phrase alone can instill terror in the hearts of high school seniors, and even in those of us who have lived through the experience. Every year, the college application process seems to get more complex, and more intense. If you’re a student, you might be reviewing rumors and horror stories about that classmate of yours with perfect grades and a 1500 SAT score who somehow got rejected from every Ivy League school. If you’re a parent, you might be afraid of how much the college admissions system has changed and grown more competitive since you were your kids’ age, or p ..read more

It’s a busy week at The CollegeBoard as both PSAT scores (from the October test) and SAT scores (from the December test) are being released. As you may be a little less familiar with the PSAT scoring system, here’s a quick guide to help you understand your score report. Understanding the difference between all the different PSATs The difference between all those new and different PSATs (the PSAT 8/9, PSAT 10, and PSAT/NMSQT) is simple. The PSAT 8/9 is a shorter and easier version of the PSAT 10, and it is intended to give you an idea of how prepared you are for the PSAT 10. The PSAT 10 is a s ..read more

The Inspired Child Web Series will highlight innovative educators, showcase student-focused community organizations, and will provide free resources to parents. The purpose of this web series is to provide parents with action-based tools that will help them support their students’ interests, get involved with service-learning opportunities, and become future change-makers. Register using the button below, and you will get access to all the rich content for free. You can opt-in or opt-out, but most importantly you will get access to listen to interview series on your own time. Powerful Prep wi ..read more

Beginning in late 2020, high schoolers will be greeted by an ACT test change sure to improve their experiences: single-section tests. The ACT announced Tuesday that students who have previously taken a full-length ACT will be allowed to sit for single sections at later dates. This will allow students to retake certain sections of the test without sitting through the entire exam. A student would have the option to sit for the 35-minute Reading or Science section, the 60-minute Math section, or the 45-minute English section. The pros: These ACT test changes create risk-free u ..read more

Celebrity ACT scores are a sham. Well, at least of a lot of them that we see posted all over the internet. The truth is, Marilyn Monroe never took the ACT. Neither did William Faulkner or former United States President, Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ), though there are pages of search results lamenting the low ACT scores of each. How did this curious rumor come to be, and what does it imply for today’s ACT test takers? Table Of Contents Why do people care about the President's IQ? The ACT Scores Rumors Continue So, I Personally Asked Arp About His List What’s The Harm, Some May Ask? Why do peop ..read more