http://testpreptexas.com Dallas Area SAT, PSAT, ACT Tutor Tue, 20 Apr 2010 18:00:06 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The College Board has released the March 2010 essay prompts. The text below is quoted directly from the College Board site. From the College Board: Prompt 1 Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below. Many powerful leaders throughout history have considered themselves above the law and acted ... http://testpreptexas.com/2010/04/sat-essay-prompts-march-2010-from-your-dallas-sat-tutor/ Want a quick way to get data on tuition and fees? Search the Chronicle of Higher Education's database. http://testpreptexas.com/2010/04/comparing-college-tuition-and-fees/ I've been reading The Choice (the NYTimes blog about college admission) closely this week. They've run a seven part series answering parents' questions about paying for school. I learned a lot and thought the series was pretty valuable overall. It's not like sitting down with a financial planner, but it ... http://testpreptexas.com/2010/01/paying-for-college-from-your-dallas-sat-tutor/ These are taken directly from the College Board's website; they are actual prompts from the December 2009 test. Prompt 1 Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below. Thanks to the Internet, the word "friendship" now has a much broader meaning. No longer are the bonds of ... http://testpreptexas.com/2010/01/more-sat-essay-prompts-from-your-dallas-sat-tutor/ A student applying to the University of Chicago wrote  a psuedo-love letter as his college essay. The dean, with the student's permission, sent it out to applicants as a way to 'lighten the mood.' Controversy ensued. I heard about it on the Choice, the NYTimes blog about college admissions. I haven't ... http://testpreptexas.com/2010/01/read-the-controversial-college-essay-yet/ The Texas Commission on the Arts has a great scholarship for artistic students -- it's called the Young Masters program. Read this to learn more. The deadline for applying is November 15. http://testpreptexas.com/2009/11/arts-scholarship-for-texas-8-12-graders/ 1. Buy a book with  lots of practice tests. Take one at 8am on a Saturday morning, under test-like conditions. *Go to a  library or an office or someplace quiet. *Time each section. *Stop. Then begin the next timed section. *Leave your phone at home. Use a watch. *Take 5 minute breaks between sections. Make ... http://testpreptexas.com/2009/10/self-study-for-the-act-and-sat-a-quick-guide-to-preparing-yourself-from-your-dallas-sat-tutor/ In June 2009, the National Association for College Admissions Counseling published the result of a survey. Here is a summary: ' "High School Survey Nearly three-fourths of high schools reported an increase in the number of students foregoing their “dream schools” in favor of more affordable options Overall, around one-third of all high schools ... http://testpreptexas.com/2009/10/how-the-recession-changes-college-admissions-from-your-dallas-sat-tutor/ From an article in the New Yorker, by Malcolm Gladwell: "Eric Hanushek, an economist at Stanford, estimates that the students of a very bad teacher will learn, on average, half a year’s worth of material in one school year. The students in the class of a very good teacher will learn ... http://testpreptexas.com/2009/09/evaluating-teacher-effectiveness-from-your-dallas-sat-tutor/ People often ask for sample SAT essay questions so they can practice writing essays. Here are four real SAT essay questions from the June 2009 test, as published by the College Board. (I'm quoting them directly from the College Board website.) Prompt 1 Think carefully about the issue presented in the following ... http://testpreptexas.com/2009/08/real-sat-essay-questions-from-your-dallas-sat-tutor/