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Test optional colleges often tell applicants that withholding SAT or ACT scores won’t hurt their chances—even while acknowledging that strong scores can strengthen an application. Here’s why that contradiction matters for students and families.

Swarthmore has stopped superscoring the ACT while continuing to superscore the SAT — the first confirmed example of a highly selective college amending its policies in response to the redesigned ACT.

Discover what makes a great tutor, from clear explanations and student connection to adaptive teaching, engagement, and lasting learning.

Test prep courses promise score gains by teaching content and strategies, yet decades of research show their average impact is modest at best. The real story lies not in the mean score increase, but in who benefits, why the gains are unevenly distributed, and what this implies for how test prep should actually be designed.

Among test prep experts, few topics spark more debate than SAT Reading Strategies. Some tutors emphasize deep comprehension—reading the passage as a cohesive whole—while others favor targeted extraction of just the relevant details.

Parents often assume spring is best—but that choice can backfire. We break down why December testing gives students the edge: fewer schedule conflicts, built-in backup dates, and time to mature before the big day.

In this post, we dig into SAT superscore behavior across multiple sittings and compare it to the ACT, revealing which test offers more leverage for motivated testers.

Colleges know the ACT Superscore option no longer meets basic reliability standards. Yet many still reward the illusion of stable scores through superscoring. In doing so, they incentivize repeat testing, widen equity gaps, and reinforce a system they quietly acknowledge is broken.

With shorter sections and more volatility, the new ACT changes the game. This post breaks down the ACT superscore strategy — and why repeat testing is now statistically smarter than ever.

Before you commit to any SAT or ACT tutor, ask these seven questions. They reveal more than credentials—they uncover philosophy, integrity, and whether a tutor actually knows how to help students improve.