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Specific answers to the questions students actually ask, written by the people who built the practice engine. No account needed for any of it.
What actually happens on test day, what to bring and what is banned, how to handle the break, and the week-before routine that matters more than last-minute studying.
Read →A complete free preparation plan: which official free resources to use, in what order, and an honest account of what a paid course buys that free material does not.
Read →How to fit SAT preparation around classes, sport and a job: session length, what to cut when a week collapses, and why consistency beats intensity.
Read →The study techniques with the strongest evidence behind them, translated into what they mean for SAT and ACT preparation, and the popular methods that do not work.
Read →Taking a practice test measures you; reviewing it is what improves you. The four-category error log, how long review should take, and why you must review right answers too.
Read →How to pick a test date around your school calendar, your preparation block and your application deadlines, and why the date you pick matters more than the month it falls in.
Read →A realistic answer by school year, why the summer before junior year is the highest-value block, and how long preparation actually needs to be.
Read →Fee waivers cover far more than the test fee, including college application fee waivers worth hundreds of dollars. Who qualifies, how to get one, and what students leave unclaimed.
Read →Registering for the ACT: the MyACT account, the photo, whether to add Science and Writing, choosing a center, and how standby testing works.
Read →What registering for the SAT actually involves: the account, the photo, choosing a test center and date, deadlines, and the mistakes that cost students their first choice.
Read →The digital SAT tests a small, predictable set of punctuation rules. Here are the five that account for most Standard English Conventions questions.
Read →A four-week SAT plan built for students who also have classes, with what to do each week, how long it takes, and what to cut when the week goes wrong.
Read →Test optional does not mean test irrelevant. A simple rule for deciding whether to send your SAT or ACT score, and the cases where it clearly helps.
Read →The ACT composite averages four scores, which makes your weakest section mathematically the easiest place to gain. Here is the arithmetic and what to do with it.
Read →There is no universal good SAT score. Here is how to turn your college list into a concrete target using published middle-50 percent ranges.
Read →More practice tests is not better. How many full-length tests are worth taking, how to space them, and why reviewing one properly takes longer than sitting it.
Read →The digital SAT adapts between modules, not between questions. Here is what that means for your score ceiling and why the first module deserves more care.
Read →The ACT Science section barely tests science. Here is what it does test, the three passage types, and the habits that turn it into the fastest points on the exam.
Read →The SAT and ACT differ less in difficulty than in pace. Here are the actual seconds per question for each section, and how to use them to pick a test.
Read →How the National Merit Selection Index is calculated, why a Reading and Writing point is worth two Math points, and what to do if you are near a cutoff.
Read →CruxStudy is a college admission test prep program by CruxSci. Not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the College Board or ACT, Inc. SAT and PSAT/NMSQT are trademarks of the College Board; ACT is a trademark of ACT, Inc.