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Do The Math To Get The Best Jobs

Top10 Jobs-2013 from WSJStudies by the career website CareerCast.com for the past several years have consistently shown that math is often the key to finding the best jobs. WSJ.com recently published an article “Dust Off Your Math Skills: Actuary is Best Job of 2013” reporting the results of the latest study.

CareerCast ranks 200 jobs from best to worst using the following criteria: physical demands, work environment, income, stress, and hiring outlook. Over the past few years, the top ranked jobs often involve some form of mathematics. Read More »Do The Math To Get The Best Jobs

Should I take the SAT or the ACT?

CalculatorPhotoAnswer a few questions about yourself and get an idea of which one may be a better fit for you…

As you’re likely to have noticed, the SAT has generally predominated in discourses about standardized testing for college admissions.  This is because traditionally, colleges have used the SAT as the gauge by which to evaluate candidate admissions.  But in recent years most colleges and universities have begun to accept ACT scores from applicants – some in addition to SAT scores, and others in lieu of them.

Of course the best way to determine what your scores might be on either test is to put yourself through some practice tests (I would suggest they be both full-length and timed, so you can get a sense of your endurance levels and the speed at which you work).  Read More »Should I take the SAT or the ACT?

Average SAT Scores for the Class of 2012 Remains Steady

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More than 1.66 million students took the SAT in 2012, the largest group to have taken the test, and according to the College Board, the most diverse as 45 percent of test takers were minority students. This year’s scores averages are virtually unchanged from previous years.

Average SAT scores for the class of 2012 in critical reading and writing each decreased by one point; the average scores for math, however, remained steady. Read More »Average SAT Scores for the Class of 2012 Remains Steady

True professionals don’t fear amateurs – Seth Godin

From Seth Godin’s Blog 12.24.12

True professionals don’t fear amateurs

Professional farmers don’t begrudge the backyard gardener his tomato harvest. That’s silly.

And talented mechanics certainly don’t mind the antics of the Car Talk guys (or their listeners). Sooner or later, if you need a real mechanic, you’ll find one, and if you don’t, well, that’s fine too.

Read More »True professionals don’t fear amateurs – Seth Godin

5 Ways to Learn SAT Vocabulary with (Apparently) Little Effort

My experience with helping students study for the SAT is that vocabulary tends to fall by the wayside. Students generally come to me needing verbal help because they’re worried about comprehension in the Critical Reading sections or because they think their grammar skills aren’t up to par. But consider this: there are three Critical Reading sections on every SAT exam, two of which begin with five or six questions that are specifically vocabulary-based (these are known as “sentence completion” questions), and one of which begins with eight. In addition, each of these Critical Reading sections contains at least 2-3 questions that require you understand the vocabulary involved: the College Board will either ask you about a word as it appears in context (“In line 34, the word “cloudy” most likely means: a) muddy b) overcast c) nebulous d) lackluster”), or it will present you with answer options that contain some demanding words (“The author of passage 1 would most likely assert that the position of the theorist in line 19 is: a) atypical b) perspicacious c) haughty d) unpretentious”).

Read More »5 Ways to Learn SAT Vocabulary with (Apparently) Little Effort

What Should I Know About the AP Program and the AP Tests?

If you’re a middle school or high school student, or the parent of one, chances are high you’ve been hearing about this quasi-mysterious “AP” for quite awhile.  But what do the AP program and the exams mean, what are they used for, where do they differ, and how can you participate in and prepare for the APs?  My goal is to answer some of these basic questions in the following article.

Read More »What Should I Know About the AP Program and the AP Tests?

How Long Should I Study for the GMAT? – Part 2

Continued from How Long Should I Study for the GMAT? – Part 1

  • Remember studying for the GMAT is a daily practice. If you have to miss a day, fine; but don’t miss two consecutive days. Also keep in mind that it’s not just the sitting-down-and-studying part that should be daily: you shouldn’t ignore a question type for too long either (don’t, for instance, work on math questions for a week and then verbal questions for a week: the exam won’t be like that, so why would your study time?) Try to fit in both in every sitting if you can (both problem solving and data sufficiency for the math, and all three (critical reasoning, reading comprehension, and sentence correction) for the verbal). Read More »How Long Should I Study for the GMAT? – Part 2

How Long Should I Study for the GMAT? – Part 1

The most honest (although admittedly, the most unsatisfying) answer to this question is, quite simply, “it depends.” Luckily, however, I can be a little more specific about what it depends upon, and that might help you – as a singular test-taker with needs that are different from every other test-taker – make some personal determinations. In the first place, it depends upon the difference between what you’ve scored on your GMAT diagnostic and what you hope to score on the real deal (let’s call this “the improvement factor”). In the second place, it depends on the degree to which you are capable of maximizing your study time (we’ll call this one “the efficiency factor”). Lastly (and looming over both of these) there is, of course, the ever-present “time factor.” Read More »How Long Should I Study for the GMAT? – Part 1

Which of the SAT Subject Tests is best for you to take?

(If you’re having similar difficulties deciding between the SAT and the ACT, by the way, check out “SAT versus ACT: The Test-Taker’s Guide”).

First, a word to all you history buffs out there who are currently scheming to just take both U.S. History and World History and wash your hands of the matter: most colleges that oblige you to take Subject Tests require they be in different subject areas.

Before deciding, you should first make a list of all the colleges you’re considering.  Then spend some time checking (and double-checking!) their requirements Read More »Which of the SAT Subject Tests is best for you to take?

What About Those SAT Subject Tests?

So you’ve been studying for the SAT for what seems like years now, and your critical thinking, grammar, and math skills are on par with the pros.  And yet, you’re finding your dreams of becoming an on-site biologist who studies homeostasis at the Congo River basin have not quite been furthered by all of this study.  So how do you show the colleges you’re interested in – well – what you’re interested in?  Or that you’re a much more well rounded student than the SAT (or ACT) might have them believe?  Further, when do you get a chance to prove to the world out there that everything you learned in your World History class actually “stuck”? Read More »What About Those SAT Subject Tests?