Marisela and I partnered on a presentation earlier in the year at the Harrison Memorial Library in Carmel with great success. I was able to bring some test prep tips to the audience while she laid out some excellent college application and admission advice. Marisela represents Collegewise, “America’s largest and most well-regarded private college counseling service” according to their marketing materials. While Collegewise offers outstanding services for those seeking college

Marisela and I partnered on a presentation earlier in the year at the Harrison Memorial Library in Carmel with great success. I was able to bring some test prep tips to the audience while she laid out some excellent college application and admission advice. Marisela represents Collegewise, “America’s largest and most well-regarded private college counseling service” according to their marketing materials. While Collegewise offers outstanding services for those seeking college

The PSAT is approaching quickly. In fact, there is likely less than a month to prepare for the PSAT since schools that administer the test will do so on October 14 or 28. That the test is on the horizon should not create any stress for test takers. As my students and readers of this blog can attest, stress should not be part of any test preparation.  First and foremost, the PSAT is an opportunity to understand how a student performs on standardized tests. Scores can be used

The PSAT is approaching quickly. In fact, there is likely less than a month to prepare for the PSAT since schools that administer the test will do so on October 14 or 28. That the test is on the horizon should not create any stress for test takers. As my students and readers of this blog can attest, stress should not be part of any test preparation.  First and foremost, the PSAT is an opportunity to understand how a student performs on standardized tests. Scores can be used

What are the most important R’s for successful test takers? If you said “reading, writing and arithmetic” then I am afraid you missed the mark. While good test takers excel at reading, writing and arithmetic, the following R’s represent the qualities of the best test takers: Realistic: Good test takers are realistic. They understand that test taking is a skill. Skills, like playing an instrument or mastering a new sport, require time and dedicated practice. Happy outcomes

What are the most important R’s for successful test takers? If you said “reading, writing and arithmetic” then I am afraid you missed the mark. While good test takers excel at reading, writing and arithmetic, the following R’s represent the qualities of the best test takers: Realistic: Good test takers are realistic. They understand that test taking is a skill. Skills, like playing an instrument or mastering a new sport, require time and dedicated practice. Happy outcomes

It wasn’t long ago that I posted a recent success story at CROSSWALK. While that was certainly fun to tell, a better story unfolded this past month. This latest story starts with a student who performed below her expectations on the PSAT. A smart student with a good GPA, she scored in the 39th percentile on the PSAT meaning that she scored better than just 39% of the population while 61% of test takers scored better than her.  Based on this score, the student felt really low

It wasn’t long ago that I posted a recent success story at CROSSWALK. While that was certainly fun to tell, a better story unfolded this past month. This latest story starts with a student who performed below her expectations on the PSAT. A smart student with a good GPA, she scored in the 39th percentile on the PSAT meaning that she scored better than just 39% of the population while 61% of test takers scored better than her.  Based on this score, the student felt really low

Time to celebrate another success story at CROSSWALK! Sure, bragging about our own success may make us appear less than humble. Nevertheless, we take great pride in helping our students and we all celebrate when a student achieves his or her goal. The latest example is Morgan, a student who worked on SAT prep with one of CROSSWALK’s finest tutors, Dan. Morgan had a goal to increase her SAT score to improve her chances at attending California Polytechnic State University, San

Time to celebrate another success story at CROSSWALK! Sure, bragging about our own success may make us appear less than humble. Nevertheless, we take great pride in helping our students and we all celebrate when a student achieves his or her goal. The latest example is Morgan, a student who worked on SAT prep with one of CROSSWALK’s finest tutors, Dan. Morgan had a goal to increase her SAT score to improve her chances at attending California Polytechnic State University, San

Math word problems: do you love them or hate them? Chances are you hate them. Most students struggle with math problems that contain more words than numbers. Translating sentences into equations is not always the easiest thing to do. Despite the challenge, there is no way around word problems. Most of the math questions on the SAT and ACT deal with more words than numbers. Remember, the SAT and ACT are tests designed primarily to test your reading ability, not your math skill

Math word problems: do you love them or hate them? Chances are you hate them. Most students struggle with math problems that contain more words than numbers. Translating sentences into equations is not always the easiest thing to do. Despite the challenge, there is no way around word problems. Most of the math questions on the SAT and ACT deal with more words than numbers. Remember, the SAT and ACT are tests designed primarily to test your reading ability, not your math skill

One of the first activities I like to do with my ACT and SAT students is to begin with the end in mind. In other words, before we do any test prep, we research the SAT and ACT scores for the schools the student is considering. Armed with the knowledge of what score a student needs, the real preparation begins. Understanding what score you need on the ACT and SAT is the most important step in your preparation. Once you know the score you need, you can figure out how many quest

One of the first activities I like to do with my ACT and SAT students is to begin with the end in mind. In other words, before we do any test prep, we research the SAT and ACT scores for the schools the student is considering. Armed with the knowledge of what score a student needs, the real preparation begins. Understanding what score you need on the ACT and SAT is the most important step in your preparation. Once you know the score you need, you can figure out how many quest

October is already here? Unbelievable! The school year is already moving too fast. Good thing it is easy to keep up with CROSSWALK. No matter how fast the school year is going, we make it pretty simple to find out the latest and greatest in the world of tutoring and test prep on the Monterey Peninsula. The easiest way to keep up with CROSSWALK is to follow our blog. Visit the CROSSWALK website homepage and on the right hand side of the screen you will see a “SUBSCRIBE” butto

October is already here? Unbelievable! The school year is already moving too fast. Good thing it is easy to keep up with CROSSWALK. No matter how fast the school year is going, we make it pretty simple to find out the latest and greatest in the world of tutoring and test prep on the Monterey Peninsula. The easiest way to keep up with CROSSWALK is to follow our blog. Visit the CROSSWALK website homepage and on the right hand side of the screen you will see a “SUBSCRIBE” butto

The next ACT test is scheduled for September 13th. Undoubtedly, I will field a call from a parent or student looking for test prep help on September 10th. Same goes for the SAT. With the next test scheduled for October 11th, someone will frantically call me October 8th trying to schedule some test prep. Here is how the calls usually go: Parent: Can we schedule some tutoring before Saturday’s test? Me: We can definitely schedule some tutoring, but I doubt that it will do much

The next ACT test is scheduled for September 13th. Undoubtedly, I will field a call from a parent or student looking for test prep help on September 10th. Same goes for the SAT. With the next test scheduled for October 11th, someone will frantically call me October 8th trying to schedule some test prep. Here is how the calls usually go: Parent: Can we schedule some tutoring before Saturday’s test? Me: We can definitely schedule some tutoring, but I doubt that it will do much

Lamentably, flashcards are now passé. Call me old-school, but in my day I spent a lot of time writing vocabulary words on one side of an index card and their definitions on the other side. I would tote around stacks of cards to class, the library and home. Nowadays, it is all about using your smartphone to study. And why not? Smartphones are portable, easy to use, and fun. A good smartphone app for learning SAT vocabulary can mean no more lugging around flashcards all over th

Lamentably, flashcards are now passé. Call me old-school, but in my day I spent a lot of time writing vocabulary words on one side of an index card and their definitions on the other side. I would tote around stacks of cards to class, the library and home. Nowadays, it is all about using your smartphone to study. And why not? Smartphones are portable, easy to use, and fun. A good smartphone app for learning SAT vocabulary can mean no more lugging around flashcards all over th