Introducing FreeTestPrep.com
We have been working hard behind the scenes over the past several months, and we are excited to finally introduce freetestprep.com — a completely free test prep site for students preparing for the SAT, ACT, and AP exams. One of the most common questions we hear from families is what students should be doing between tutoring sessions. Along with prep books like the Barron’s SAT and ACT guides, freetestprep.com is a resource we are happy to point students toward. It is especially useful for students who want free, targeted online practice without having to dig through a full prep book.
Desmos Calculator Now Available on the Online ACT Test
The ACT just announced that the powerful Desmos Calculator will be embedded into the online version of the ACT test starting with the December online ACT. Please check out our Online ACT Desmos Guide for several tips and tricks that will help you make the most of this resource. In addition to the built-in calculator, be sure to use a hand-held graphing calculator when you take the ACT. It remains to be seen how much having the built-in Desmos calculator will make a difference for students who do the online version of the test. Until we have more conclusive information
Free ACT & SAT Help Sessions
BWS Education Consulting President Brian Stewart will be presenting several free ACT and SAT help sessions in partnership with the Columbus Public Library. This is an excellent learning opportunity for students who cannot afford private SAT and ACT tutoring. The dates/times and Zoom links are as follows: Tuesday, 9/9/25 4-4:45 p.m. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88548883607 Wednesday, 9/24/25 4-4:45 p.m. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87266704850 Tuesday, 10/7/25 4-4:45 p.m. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86104536582 Wednesday, 10/22/25 4-4:45 p.m. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87266704850 Tuesday, 11/4/25 4-4:45 p.m. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86104536582 Wednesday, 11/19/25 4-4:45 p.m. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81892662775 Tuesday, 12/2/25 4-4:45 p.m. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86104536582 Wednesday, 12/10/25 4-4:45 p.m. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81677503799
Preparation Material for the New, Enhanced ACT
The ACT has just released a free “Preparing for the ACT” booklet that models the new format that students taking the paper ACT in September will see. Here is a link to it: Preparing for the ACT 2025-26 Booklet Students will notice that the English questions all have prompts, the Math section no longer has sets of questions on a common table or chart, the Reading section has four fewer questions, and the Science consistently has seven passages. In addition to this free preparation book, the ACT has made four tests available in the new paper-based format in their new
Ohio State University will require ACT and SAT Scores
In a major announcement, The Ohio State University has decided to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirements for applicants to the main Columbus campus in the 2026 application cycle. In addition, Ohio State will now “superscore” the ACT and SAT–they will take the best section score over multiple test attempts. Ohio State had been one of the major schools that many of our students had to plan on submitting a single test score. It appears that students applying to the Ohio State branch campuses will still have the option to submit their SAT or ACT scores. As Ohio State has become more
New Practice SAT Tests from College Board Coming in February
The College Board just announced that they will be changing three of their SAT practice tests and adding a full new SAT practice test. Further details about this change are available here: https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/practice/practice-tests/bluebook Over the course of 2024, the content of the SAT tests on Bluebook has changed as the College Board has had opportunities to refine the tests based on actual student performance. Once these changes are in place, students can have more confidence that the scores they receive on their Bluebook tests will be fair representations of how they will perform on the actual SAT. These “growing pains”
The New ACT and What to Expect
By now, many students have heard that the ACT is changing with their slow roll out of the “new ACT” starting in 2025. However, the ACT hasn’t released many details until recently. Read on to learn how each part of the ACT will be changed in this newest iteration of the old familiar test. English: The biggest change in the English section is in the wording of the questions. The old ACT often lacked what is called a question stem. In other words, there were no questions, merely a list of options. Students had to read lengthy directions at the
Digital SAT Text Structure and Purpose Reading Practice Questions #2
1. The buying of orchids always has in it a certain speculative flavor. You have before you the brown shriveled lump of tissue, and for the rest you must trust your judgment, or the auctioneer, or your good-luck, as your taste may incline. The plant may be moribund or dead, or it may be just a respectable purchase, fair value for your money, or perhaps—for the thing has happened again and again—there slowly unfolds before the delighted eyes of the happy purchaser, day after day, some new variety, some novel richness, a strange twist of the labellum, or some subtler
Digital SAT Standard English Conventions Questions: Punctuation #2
The following sentences are all excerpted from Jane Austin’s book “Emma”. It’s a great piece of literature that would help you improve your reading skills. If you want to read it you can find it on Project Gutenberg. 1. Mr. Knightley, a sensible man about ____________________________ not only a very old and intimate friend of the family, but particularly connected with it, as the elder brother of Isabella’s husband. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? A. thirty-seven or thirty-eight wasB. thirty-seven or thirty-eight, wasC thirty-seven, or thirty-eight, wasD. thirty-seven or thirty
Changes to the ACT in 2025
In response to the shorter, digital version of the SAT, the ACT announced that they too will be modifying their test. The two major problems students have with the ACT are (1) it takes too long to complete a full test and (2) they often do not have enough time to answer all the questions. These changes will tackle these concerns, making the ACT much more competitive with the SAT. Here is what we know for sure about the new ACT: What do we need to find out about the new ACT? What should students do about the new ACT?
Digital SAT Practice Rhetorical Synthesis #3
1. While researching a topic a student has taken the following notes: The student wants to educate her anatomy class as to why it is important for quadrupeds to have different spinal curves than humans. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal? A. The human spine differs from the spine of the quadruped in that it has only one curve instead of two. The human spine is curved in the antero-posterior aspect.B. The human spine needs more support than the spine of the quadruped and therefore has fewer curves.C. The spine of the
Digital SAT Reading Practice: Main Idea Questions
1. The following text is adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1888 book The Black Arrow—A Tale of the Two Roses:One afternoon, the bell upon Tunstall Moat House was heard ringing at an unaccustomed hour. Far and near, in the forest and in the fields along the river, people began to desert their labors and hurry towards the sound. By the bridge, there was a stone cross upon a knoll, and here a group had collected—half a dozen women and one tall fellow in a russet smock—discussing what the bell betided. An express had gone through the hamlet an hour before,
Successful Preparation for Successful ASVAB Testing
So you’re thinking about joining the armed services. Well, just like applying to many colleges, there is a test you’re going to need to take in order to set yourself up for success. It’s called the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). The ASVAB tests a variety of things, from mechanical aptitude, to vocabulary. It’s a fairly fast paced test, so knowing what to expect and going into the test with a plan is a must. Keep in mind that your ASVAB score may impact your ability not just to get into a certain branch of the service, but to
Digital SAT Practice: Writing/Verb Choice Questions #2
1. The mother of Dr. Haddock was Abigail Webster, a favorite sister of Ezekiel and Daniel Webster, who, with Sarah, ______ the only children of the Hon. Ebenezer Webster by his second wife, Abigail Eastman, who survived her husband and all her daughters. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?A. wasB. wereC. areD. is 2. Mr. Layard in excavating beneath the great pyramid at Nimroud, had penetrated a mass of masonry, within which he had discovered the tomb and statue of Sardanapalus, accompanied by full annals of the monarch’s reign engraved on
DSAT Reading Words in Context Practice Questions #2
1. Up to this moment the young earl had stood still, as if spell-bound; but being now convinced that the spirit had fled, he pressed forward, and, ere many seconds, emerged from the brake. The full moon was rising as he ______________ and illuminating the glades and vistas, and the calmness and beauty of all around seemed at total variance with the fearful vision he had just witnessed. Which of the following choices best completes the text with the most logical and precise phrase?A. went from,B. issued forth,C. cropped up,D. came across, 2. They walked on in silence, for the
In a Major Reversal, Harvard Will Again Require ACT and SAT Scores
Following a wave of other prestigious colleges–Brown, Dartmouth, Yale– that have changed from test optional to test required, Harvard University announced today that they will again require standardized test scores for undergraduate admissions: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/4/11/harvard-sat-act-admissions-requirement/ This shift is especially notable because Harvard had previously stated that they would remain test optional up through applicants for the Harvard graduating class of 2030. Why this change? First, “Harvard has found that SAT and ACT scores are the best predictors of Harvard grades.” This comes as no surprise in light of increasing grade inflation at U.S. high schools. According to Inside Higher Ed, “the
Digital SAT Practice Questions: Command of Evidence
1. The following is an excerpt from Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson: The farmer imagines power and place are fine things. But the President has paid dear for his White House. It has commonly cost him all his peace, and the best of his many attributes. To preserve for a short time so conspicuous an appearance before the world, he is content to eat dust before the real masters who stand erect behind the throne. Or, do men desire the more substantial and permanent grandeur of genius? Neither has this an immunity. He who by force of will or of
Digital SAT Text Structure and Purpose Reading Practice Questions #2
1. The following is an excerpt from Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice. In it, Mrs. Bennet seeks to get to know her new neighbor, Mr. Bingley: An invitation to dinner was soon afterwards dispatched; and already had Mrs. Bennet planned the courses that were to do credit to her housekeeping, when an answer arrived which deferred it all. Mr. Bingley was obliged to be in town the following day, and consequently unable to accept the honor of their invitation. Mrs. Bennet was quite disconcerted. She could not imagine what business he could have in town so soon after his arrival
Digital SAT Practice Rhetorical Synthesis #2
1. While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes: The student wants to educate someone unfamiliar with Egyptian paintings as to the difference between intaglio and bas-relief painting. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal? A. Intaglio and bas-relief paintings are both forms of art that were prevalent in Ancient Egypt, and were found on walls, columns, and cornices.B. Intaglio designs are those painted on hallowed out sections of a flat surface while bas-relief paintings are raised from the surface. Both were common in Ancient Egyptian art.C. Modern scholars do
Digital SAT Standard English Conventions Practice Questions: Punctuation
1. The hour of noon had just struck, and the few visitors still lingering among the curiosities of the great museum were suddenly startled by the sight of one of the attendants running down the broad, central staircase, loudly shouting, “Close the doors! Let no one out! An accident has ____________________ to leave the building.” Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?A. occurred, while nobody’sB. occurred, while nobodiesC. occurred, and nobody isD. occurred, and nobodies 2. She did not answer. She did not even look his way. With a rapid glance into
Digital SAT Writing Transitions Practice Questions #2
1. He felt convinced, in his own mind, that he had been attacked by some fatal disease. When he arrived in London, ___________ he was relieved to find that the specialists whom he consulted, while they mostly gave him his money’s worth of polite interest, did not display any anxiety as to his condition. Which choice competes the text with the most logical translation?A. after a bit,B. however,C. on the other hand,D. in addition 2. I want to talk to you about the child, little Juliet,” she said, a day or two later. She is not mine ________________ beyond that
Digital SAT Practice: Writing/Verb Choice Questions
1. The officer nodded, took the boy by the arm, and in a trice ___________ with him into the adjoining store. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?A. have disappearedB. disappearsC. disappearedD. disappear 2. ________ the white light burn on, Mr. Gryce, by a characteristic effort, shifted his attention to the walls, covered, as I have said, with tapestries and curios. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?A. LettingB. LetC. Had letD. Have let 3. And sure enough, in another instant this strange being,
Digital SAT Poetry Practice Reading Questions #4
1. The following is a poem by Alfred Tenison: When cats run home and light is come,And dew is cold upon the ground,And the far-off stream is dumb,And the whirring sail goes round,And the whirring sail goes round;Alone and warming his five wits,The white owl in the belfry sits. When merry milkmaids click the latch,And rarely smells the new-mown hay,And the cock hath sung beneath the thatchTwice or thrice his roundelay,Twice or thrice his roundelay;Alone and warming his five wits,The white owl in the belfry sits. What is the main idea of the text?A. Cats and milkmaids share much in