Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

How Stress Can Help SAT & ACT Performance

All my students know that my first message with respect to test prep is to avoid stress. Stress can lead to negativity. Negativity can deflate confidence. Deflated confidence can reduce performance. 


In fact, I claim that stress is the number one enemy of test performance. 

While I stand by my claim, there may actually be a benefit to stress as long as you know how to use it effectively.

Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman first wrote about pressure and stress on standardized tests for the New York Times in 2013 and expanded upon their original article in the book Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing. 

In both pieces, they argue that stress may not necessarily be a bad thing if you know how to harness it. 

Bronson and Merryman cite a study in which students were split into two groups and given a practice GRE. The control group was given the test normally while the test group was given a test with instructions that included a line that “people that feel anxious may actually perform better.” 

Turns out the test group that was given the encouragement about anxiety helping performance actually performed better. Results were replicated months later when students turned in their real GRE scores: those that felt stress would help them had scores 65 points higher than those that did not. 

There is a lot more science to this study, including things like biomarkers that indicate the level of one’s anxiety. For example, students with hunched shoulders may appear “threatened” by the test while those with open shoulders may seem “challenged” by the test. Both threatened and challenged students feel anxious and stressed, but those that feel challenged perform better. 

Overall, the message is clear. As long as you have to face a stressful situation, embrace the stress of it. Use the stress of the experience to challenge you. Approach test day with a positive attitude of “I look forward to this challenge” and not “I am threatened by this and I hate this.” 


After all, as this study shows, if your attitude is in the right mindset, your aptitude will shine. 

Learn more useful test day tips by reading 2400 SCORES: 24 Life Lessons to Demystify the SAT and Boost Your Score. Contact Brooke Higgins today to schedule your ACT or SAT prep or visit CROSSWALK to learn more about tutoring options. 

Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

Incredible SAT Prep Success Story

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 in the water. From a GPA perspective, she was not an average student. However, her test scores indicated she was below average. 

This result can mentally derail any student. But not this one. 

Fast forward six months later, and this is what the mother emailed CROSSWALK: 

“She increased her score by 720 points including an 800 in Math!!! 700 in Writing and a 620 in Critical Reading. Thank you for setting us up with tutor Dan. He has changed her life by making her competitive for Ivy, the academies, and other highly ranked schools.”

What was the secret? How did she turn it around? 

While I would like to believe this success was solely due to Dan’s work as a tutor, the real success started with the student’s desire to improve. Put bluntly, this student put in the time to get better. When you put in quality time to learn a new skill, the results speak for themselves. 

The student took it upon herself to maximize her time with the tutor. She spent many hours working on problem sets. She made test preparation a major priority in her life. She learned and practiced the strategies frequently. And now she relishes the results. 


Congratulations to the student. A 720-point increase is truly remarkable!

Do you want to increase your SAT or ACT score? Contact CROSSWALK today. We offer private tutoring for SAT and ACT preparation in person or via Skype. CROSSWALK is Monterey Peninsula’s resource for tutoring and test prep. 

Prefer to learn on your own? Start your SAT prep by reading 2400 SCORES: 24 Life Lessons to Demystify the SAT and Boost Your Score. 



Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

How to Really Read Your PSAT Score

Now that PSAT scores have been received by students around the country, it is worth a moment to really understand what these numbers mean.


First and foremost, unless you are pursuing a National Merit Scholarship, PSAT scores should be taken with a grain of salt. Since most students do not qualify for the National Merit Scholarship, there should be little stress or anxiety over PSAT scores. 

Unfortunately, many students and parents view PSAT scores negatively. They place great emphasis on student performance and subsequently find areas of concern. This pessimistic view is the wrong lens to use for PSAT scores. 

Instead of a pessimistic lens, parents and students should view the scores with a lens of opportunity. Much like a doctor would use a diagnostic test to identify a health plan, parents and students should use PSAT scores to determine a plan of attack for the SAT. 

For example, consider Dylan’s recent score of 54 on the PSAT Critical Reading. This would translate to a 540 on SAT Critical Reading which is a score just above average. Instead of being concerned with an average score, Dylan can look under the hood of this score and get to the details. Specifically, Dylan’s score report shows that he was strong on the Sentence Completion questions but weak on the Passage-Based Reading questions. 

Instead of doom and gloom for Dylan, there is great opportunity. Dylan now knows that he needs to work on his Passage-Based Reading. Instead of being negative about his performance, Dylan has a specific area that requires dedicated focus. Armed with a plan to improve his reading, Dylan has months to work on it. 

PSAT scores represent evidence of what you can do to get a better SAT score. They are not an indication of concern for a student, but rather an indication of opportunity. 

Learn more about PSAT, SAT and ACT prep from CROSSWALK. Read 2400 SCORES: 24 Life Lessons to Demystify the SAT and Boost Your Score by Brooke Higgins. 

Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

Another SAT Prep Success Story

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 Luis Opisbo. She and Dan started SAT prep sessions last May. After a break in the summer, Dan and Morgan met regularly throughout the fall. 

Morgan’s diligence, coupled with Dan’s guidance, yielded strong results. This is a direct quote from the mother in an email she sent to Dan:

“I’m super proud to tell you that all her hard work has paid off, as Morgan was accepted Early Decision at Cal Poly! This was her first choice college and all we’ve been working towards for the past couple years. Thank you for being such an integral part of her success.”

But wait, there’s more:

“She raised her last SAT by 300 points overall. We appreciate the hard work you put in with Morgan, she truly feels that you were a huge part in her raising her test scores overall. She felt confident in her ability to tackle the tests with an organized plan, and obviously she was prepared and ultimately successful.”

Early Decision to the college of her choice? Awesome!

Congratulations, Morgan! On behalf of everyone at CROSSWALK, we wish you continued success.

If you want to be one of CROSSWALK’s success story, contact us here to learn about SAT prep, ACT prep and other tutoring options.

Also, read “2400 SCORES: 24 Life Lessons to Demystify the SAT and Boost Your Score” by Brooke Higgins to learn how to approach life and the SAT.
 
Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

ACT & SAT Math: Show What You Know

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 skills. 


So how do you tackle word problems? How do you sift through the cornucopia of words to drill down to the important math equation? 

The answer is quite simple: use your pencil to draw and show what you know. Often by drawing the information you know, you can create an easy shortcut to the correct answer. 

For example, let’s say you are given the following question (taken directly from the College Board website): 

A special lottery is to be held to select the student who will live in the only deluxe room in a dormitory. There are 100 seniors, 150 juniors, and 200 sophomores who applied. Each senior’s name is placed in the lottery 3 times; each junior’s name, 2 times; and each sophomore’s name, 1 time. What is the probability that a senior’s name will be chosen?

A) 1/8
B) 2/9
C) 2/7
D) 3/8
E) 1/2

So many words here! But don’t freak out. Take it slow and start with your pencil: 

Draw one block to represent 100 seniors, another block to represent 150 juniors and one more block to represent 200 sophomores. Now, you also know that the senior’s names are placed in the lottery 3 times. So draw two more blocks next to the senior’s block, each identical to the block representing 100 names. Draw two blocks for the juniors, each representing 150 names. Finally, sophomores don’t need an extra block. 

Once you have your drawing, now comes the easy part. Probability, you might recall, is nothing more than a fraction. The numerator is the number of desired outcomes and the denominator is the number of total outcomes. By using your blocks, you can see that the total desired outcomes (senior’s names) is 3 blocks of 100, or 300. The total outcomes is all of the blocks added together: (3 x 100) + (2 x 150) + 200 = 800. In other words, the probability is 300/800 or 3/8. The correct answer is D. 

Even though this is a hard question according to the College Board, it becomes quite easy when you draw things out. 

When you are faced with math problems that seem to have no solution, start drawing! Getting your pencil to paper will help you organize what you know and guide you towards finding out what you don’t know. 

Learn more test prep tips by contacting CROSSWALK, the Monterey Peninsula’s resource for test prep and tutoring. Also, read 2400 SCORES: 24 Life Lessons to Demystify the SAT and Boost Your Score by Brooke Higgins for SAT-specific tips. 
Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

Why You Don’t Need an SAT Tutor

How important is an SAT tutor? Is it necessary to hire someone to get a student prepared for test day?


Truth be told, you don’t need to hire an SAT tutor. There is a lot you can do by yourself. Even better, the DIY method is easier than ever with free SAT prep available from Khan Academy.

I’ve long been a proponent of the free resources available at Khan Academy, but after digging through the free SAT materials that are available on their site, I am more convinced that all students can do their own SAT prep.

The latest resources are boosted by a partnership with the College Board, the makers of the SAT. Perhaps the most useful tool is the full-length SAT practice test available to download. Also helpful are the numerous tutorial videos for math, reading and writing.

Per the video of Khan Academy founder Sal Khan and College Board CEO David Coleman, this free resource exists to disprove the theory that SAT preparation requires expensive courses and tutors. Performing well on the test requires diligence, attention to detail and practice. With the resources from Khan, anyone can do that, not just those families that can afford private tutoring.

Now, just in case a student needs to navigate these materials with a seasoned professional, a good tutor can certainly offer great assistance. Tutors, while not totally necessary, can offer tremendous support and guided practice. A tutor can inspire, motivate and point students in the right direction.

If you need a tutor, whether you live on the Monterey Peninsula or can Skype from anywhere, CROSSWALK should be your first stop.

But if the DIY approach is more your speed, check out Khan Academy and don’t forget to read 2400 SCORES: 24 Life Lessons to Demystify the SAT and Boost Your Score.

Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

If ACT and SAT Scores Were GPAs

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 questions you need to answer correctly and how many you can get wrong, skip or guess (note: even if you skip questions on the ACT, be sure to get an answer in the bubbles as there is no punishment for wrong answers).

This activity really demystifies things for students. Most students quickly learn that they don’t need a perfect score on the test to get into the school of their choice. In fact, the score many students need is actually quite achievable.

Take Trevor for example. Trevor is interested in attending the University of Puget Sound. In our first session, we got onto the school’s website and found out that most students that get accepted by the university score an 1800 or so on the SAT and a 27 on the ACT.

What boggled Trevor’s mind is what the score would mean in terms of a GPA. An 1800 on the SAT expressed as a percentage would mean a 75% (1800/2400). Scoring a 27 on the ACT, when expressed as a percentage, means Trevor would also need a 75% (27/36) to get into the school of his choice.

In other words, Trevor needs to get a C on both tests. That’s right, a C! Trevor is a normally a B+/A- student. When we went through the simple exercise of expressing his goal test score in terms of a percentage or in terms of a GPA, a big smile crossed his face.

“You don’t need an A on this test,” I told him. “You just need a C!”

This little nugget made the test preparation experience more enjoyable for Trevor. It was our first chance to get his attitude in the right mindset to let his aptitude shine.


No stress for Trevor. Just a clear direction and a focused approach to accomplish an achievable goal.

Try it for yourself: if the ACT or SAT were scored like your GPA, what would you need to get? A C average? B average? Something totally doable? I would like to think so.

Learn more SAT test preparation tips by reading 2400 SCORES: 24 Life Lessons to Demystify the SAT and Boost Your Score. Contact CROSSWALK here for personal test preparation on the Monterey Peninsula or for Skype sessions on your time and schedule.

Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

How to Keep Up with CROSSWALK

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” button. Input your email and all of our biweekly blog posts will be delivered directly to your inbox.

You can also keep up with CROSSWALK by liking our Facebook page. Blog posts, interesting educational articles and other content is posted there regularly. 

But wait, there’s more! You can follow me personally on Twitter @brookewhiggins or post a review of CROSSWALK on our Yelp page. In fact, the first one to post a review on Yelp can qualify to win a free CROSSWALK t-shirt. How is that for incentive! 

And when in doubt, contact CROSSWALK via our contact page right here. 

Yes, things are moving fast but we can keep you up to speed when you subscribe to our blog, like us on Facebook or otherwise keep in touch. 

Remember, CROSSWALK is the Monterey Peninsula’s local resource for ACT/SAT Boot Camps, test prep and tutoring. 

Read 2400 SCORES: 24 Life Lessons to Demystify the SAT and Boost Your Score right here. 

Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

FREE and FAST Prep for the ACT

With the ACT just around the corner, some students are in stress mode. How can you prepare for the test with only a week to go? What can you do on the cheap? 

The bad news is that test prep takes some time. If you really want to move your score, you need to put in several weeks if not months. Test-taking is like any skill: the more time you have to practice, the better you can get. 

However, not everyone has the benefit of time. Especially those that will take the test in about a week. Further, not everyone can afford to hire a private tutor. 


So what can you do? 

First, don’t stress. Stress out and watch your score plummet. Stress is your number one enemy. So take a deep breath and get into the mindset that test day is a fun challenge. Tests are just puzzles to solve, riddles to figure out or games to play. 

Now that you have the right mindset, download the free “Preparing for the ACT” right here. This is a free study guide that includes a full length practice test. 

Use this guide and do the following: 

  • Read everything cover to cover
  • Read the directions for each section so that you don’t have to waste time on test day doing the same
  • Try some of the practice questions
  • Make note of how much time you have per section and how much time you have per question
All told, this should take about two or three hours. Doing more than that with a week left before the test will only stress you out. (Bad idea because remember, stress is the enemy.)

Reviewing the free study guide with only a week before a test is not the ideal plan, but it can help a lot. Again, the ideal scenario is when you have lots of time to prepare. Nevertheless, you can gain a good understanding of test strategy and content by reviewing the “Preparing for the ACT” study guide. It’s fast, and more importantly, FREE! 

Learn more ACT and SAT study tips by contacting CROSSWALK, the Monterey Peninsula’s local resource for private tutoring, test prep and SAT/ACT Boot Camps. 

Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

How Long Do You Prep for ACT and SAT?

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 good. 
Parent: What do you mean?
Me: Test-taking is a skill that takes time. It is hard to learn a new skill overnight.
Parent: Oh (awkward pause follows) 

The moral of the story is that learning to improve your SAT or ACT score is like learning a new skill. Standardized test-taking is not a skill frequently practiced in schools. Most tests in school require you to memorize content and spit it out the next day. But the SAT is not a content-based test. Even the ACT relies less on content memorization and more on problem-solving. 

And since you don’t frequently practice the skills to manage contextual problem-solving in school, you must put in the requisite practice time in order to get better. 

All told, getting better at the ACT and SAT takes time. Lots of time. You can’t do it in one week and you probably can’t even do it in one month. 

The CROSSWALK students that move their scores the most work on it for months at a time. Ideally, you have all of junior year to hone your craft. Spending a year to learn a new skill should be a realistic goal. 

So avoid the frantic call days before the test. Put together a study plan that covers at least three months. Even better, plan on prepping for a whole year. 

This doesn’t mean you need to meet with a tutor for a whole year. There are plenty of things you can do on your own. 

But the most important thing is to schedule the time. When time is on your side, you can vastly improve your score. 

Learn more SAT and ACT study tips by contacting Brooke Higgins and CROSSWALK, the Monterey Peninsula’s local resource for test prep and academic tutoring. Brooke Higgins is the founder and lead instructor at CROSSWALK as well as the author of 2400 SCORES: 24 Life Lessons to Demystify the SAT and Boost Your Score.