No joke, the local Staples had a Back to School display in June. That’s too early.
How about the last week of July? Is that too early? Target doesn’t think so as it has an entire corner of the store dedicated to school supplies.
Yes, back to school is around the corner. And for rising Seniors, that means time is running out to prepare for the fall tests. 
Late August and early September offer SAT and ACT opportunities respectively. Both tests are administered again October, which may be the last time some Seniors can take the test in order to get scores back in time for some early admission deadlines.
So as much as you may cringe at the back to school advertising in July, it is a good reminder that you have some time to get some test prep done before the upcoming tests.
CROSSWALK is available to help. While more time is ideal, we do work with students on short timeframes to get them ready for test day.
Contact CROSSWALK today to see how we can make your back to school transition, and test prep, a little easier.
CROSSWALK is the Monterey Peninsula’s local resource for tutoring, test prep and academic support.
How to Make Test Day Unlike Kindergarten
Think back to your first day of Kindergarten? Was it stressful?
For many kiddos, the first day of Kindergarten is majorly stressful. Separation anxiety, strange people, and unfamiliarity cause even the most resilient little ones to break out in tears.
Most kiddos stress out on day one of Kindergarten because they don’t know the routine. What is new and different is hard to handle. Learning, or anything for that matter, is impossible when stress is high.
Kindergarten teachers know this too well and use orientations, meet-and-greets or other ways ease the transition.
The same is true for the SAT® or ACT®. If the routine is new and different, you stress out and productivity suffers. Even if you can hide your tears better than a Kindergartner, you are crying (and stressing) on the inside.
So how do you avoid the stress of unfamiliarity of the SAT® or ACT®?
Just like the Kindergarten teachers set up their systems to increase familiarity and comfort for their students, you too can become more familiar and comfortable with the SAT® or ACT® through routine practice before test day.
Take practice tests. Learn the directions. Work on your timing needed to complete all test sections. Above all else, become familiar with the process so it is not new and different.
It doesn’t take much to know the routine, just a little preparation ahead of time.
If you need help with your preparation, contact CROSSWALK. With several summer workshops and ongoing programs, we can help make your test experience less stressful.
Summer Test Prep Options 2019
And just like that, it is summer. Good vibrations are here!
And so is a summer full of test prep options at CROSSWALK. After all, summer is the best time to work on your testing game. With no academic commitments, summer is the time to commit to test prep.
Here is a partial list of the summer test prep options at CROSSWALK:
- SAT® & ACT® Summer Test Prep Series at the Stevenson School starts 6/25. Sign up and get more information right here.
- SAT® Workshop Series with Upward Bound at CSUMB. Contact Upward Bound for more information.
- Summer SSAT® Test Prep at the Stevenson Summer Camp. Contact Stevenson Summer Camp for more information.
- SAT® Boot Camp with CAL-SOAP at Gilroy High School. Contact CAL-SOAP for more information.
CROSSWALK also offers face-to-face or Skype tutoring for those seeking a more personalized approach.
Summer is here and so are the test prep options. Contact CROSSWALK to learn what the best plan is for you!
Summer ACT® & SAT® Prep: Jump In Now!
Register today for CROSSWALK’s highly successful Summer SAT® & ACT® Prep Workshop Series. Spots are limited so be sure to jump in now!
All sessions meet on Tuesday evenings from 6-8pm at the Stevenson School in Pebble Beach. Here is the schedule:
- 6/25: SAT® & ACT® Test Overview and Top Concepts
- 7/2: Reading Strategies for Success
- 7/9: Math Strategies for Success
- 7/16: Writing Strategies for Success
- 7/23: Science Strategies for Success
- 7/30: Essay Strategies for Success + Your Study Plan
Pay by the class or sign up for the whole program and save! Come on in, the water’s fine!
Sign up via the following form.
Questions? Or need further information? Contact CROSSWALK here.
CROSSWALK is the Monterey Peninsula’s local resource for SAT®, ACT®, PSAT®, SSAT® prep and academic tutoring.
Sign up via the following form.
Questions? Or need further information? Contact CROSSWALK here.
CROSSWALK is the Monterey Peninsula’s local resource for SAT®, ACT®, PSAT®, SSAT® prep and academic tutoring.
Successful Test Prep Series at Alisal HS
Last week wrapped up the final session of a seven-session Test Prep Workshop Series at Alisal High School in Salinas, CA.
What a joy to work with such dedicated and motivated students.
Over the course of the series, students learned and practiced the top strategic approaches to each portion of the SAT® and ACT®.
Midway through the program, all students took a practice ACT® and learned how to score the test.
Finally, as the weeks wound down, students could choose to attend Essay, Science, Reading, English, or Math sessions to improve upon any weaknesses identified during practice.
Many thanks to the Alisal Trojans who stuck with the program. And many thanks to all the CROSSWALK teachers for dedicating their time to this special program.
Turns out spring was busy for CROSSWALK! We visited Alisal HS, Gilroy HS, San Benito HS, Anzar HS, The York School and Stevenson School over the past three months. Lots of great test prep all around the area!
If your school is in the Monterey area and you would like to learn how to set up a Test Prep Workshops Series, contact CROSSWALK today.
How Rare is a Perfect ACT® Score?
Perfection on the ACT® is rare. So rare that only 0.2% of all test takers achieve a perfect score.
Over the past year, roughly 1,900,000 students took the ACT®. Of those students, only 3,741 students achieved a perfect score.
And one of the students was a CROSSWALK student!
We at CROSSWALK are humbled to be a part of a perfect score. And truth be told, the student did not set out to achieve a perfect score.
This student had already experienced success on the PSAT so a good score was the goal. After a handful of private sessions at CROSSWALK, the student then took one of our popular small group six-week classes.
The student then followed a consistent study schedule. Note: the schedule was not rigorous or stressful, just a consistent routine. Then, the student took the test.
When scores came out, the student was overjoyed to receive the letter shown here.
Amazing!
We at CROSSWALK can take little credit in this perfect score. It was truly the student who put in the work.
Nevertheless, we are proud to play a small role in this amazing and rare accomplishment.
If you wish to learn how to achieve your goal score, contact CROSSWALK today.
A Mathematical Reason to Choose ACT® Over SAT®
ACT® or SAT®? Which is the best one for you?
All students should try both. Whether you take an official test or a practice one, all students should try both to see which they prefer.
After the SAT® relaunch in 2016, there are now fewer differences between the tests. Nevertheless, some of those differences can be significant for some students.
For example, the ACT® math section is all multiple choice versus the both multiple choice and grid-in sections of the SAT®. The ACT® has a dedicated science section while science passages on the SAT® are in the reading section. The SAT® has fewer questions per section and more time per question as compared to the ACT®. There are also some slight content differences as the ACT® favors more geometry in its math section than the SAT®. Also, the essay prompt on both tests is quite different.
Since all colleges and universities will accept either the SAT® or the ACT®, it is worth the time to try both, determine which is better for you, and focus on preparation for that test.
Then again, there may be a very simple mathematical reason to favor the ACT® over the SAT®. On the ACT®, the final score is a composite, i.e. average, of the four test sections. The SAT®, on the other hand, sums the total of the verbal and math sections for a total score.
Put differently, math on the ACT® is one of four data points (25% of the total) that is then averaged into the composite score. Math on the SAT® is half of the total points (50% of the total). So if math is an area of weakness for you, perhaps the ACT® and its composite score is better for you?
Additionally, since the ACT® is an average of four sections, you might only need to perform well on three of the four sections to get your goal score. For example, say your goal score on the ACT® is a 30. Mathematically, you would need a 30 on three of the four sections and no lower than a 28 on the fourth section. A composite score of a student who scores a 30, 30, 30 and 28 is 29.5 which rounds to a 30.
One of my students scored a 34 on one section and a perfect 36 on the other three sections of the ACT®. His composite was a 36…a perfect score! Even though he did not get a perfect score on each section, he earned a perfect composite score. This would not be possible on the SAT® but mathematically possible on the ACT®.
In the end, each student should figure out which test is better for each student. Even if the mathematical reason is not compelling enough, consider all of the test differences, try them both out and determine the right test for you.
If you need further help navigating this decision, contact CROSSWALK today.
SAT® & ACT® Prep All Over Peninsula!
Spring is a busy time for SAT® and ACT® preparation and CROSSWALK is busy traveling the local area to conduct both group and private classes.
For group classes, you can find CROSSWALK this spring on Saturdays at local schools like Alisal High School, Gilroy High School, Anzar High School and San Benito High School. For more information on how to join these courses, you can contact the college counseling offices of those schools directly.
During the week, CROSSWALK is conducting a six-week workshop series at both The York School on Mondays and The Stevenson School on Thursdays. Contact CROSSWALK for more information on these group classes. And not to be forgotten are the number of private clients we service both in person and via Skype.
If you want to discuss the timing around test preparation, call CROSSWALK today!
CROSSWALK is the Monterey Peninsula’s local resource for SAT® and ACT® preparation as well as academic tutoring for all subjects.
Spring SAT & ACT Prep at The Stevenson School
Spring is here and so is the next six-week SAT & ACT test prep program by Brooke Higgins of CROSSWALK. Register today right here.
Attend in person at the Stevenson School in Pebble Beach or via Skype.
All sessions meet on Thursday evenings from 6-8pm. Here is the schedule:
- 3/21: SAT & ACT Test Overview and Top Concepts
- 3/28: Reading Strategies for Success
- 4/4: Math Strategies for Success
- 4/11: Writing Strategies for Success
- 4/25*: Science Strategies for Success
- 5/2: Essay Strategies for Success
*Note: no class 4/18 due to the holiday weekend.
Drop in for the session you need and pay by the class or sign up for the whole program and save.
Sign up via the following form.
BONUS: Students who sign up for the entire six-week program receive a FREE one-on-one coaching session.
Questions? Or need further information? Contact CROSSWALK here.
CROSSWALK is the Monterey Peninsula’s local resource for SAT, ACT, PSAT, SSAT prep and academic tutoring.
Drop in for the session you need and pay by the class or sign up for the whole program and save.
Sign up via the following form.
BONUS: Students who sign up for the entire six-week program receive a FREE one-on-one coaching session.
Questions? Or need further information? Contact CROSSWALK here.
CROSSWALK is the Monterey Peninsula’s local resource for SAT, ACT, PSAT, SSAT prep and academic tutoring.
It’s February. Do You Know Where Your Test Prep Is?
February is a great month to address your ACT and SAT test prep calendar: it’s the academic midpoint, there is (hopefully) a lull between final exams and the timing is right to plan the rest of the year.
Consider how all students can use the month of February to take account of what they can do for test prep:
- Freshmen: It’s really too early to even consider test prep during freshman year. Nevertheless, savvy student who understand the correlation between reading and higher test scores will use this month to make sure they are reading outside of school. Reading allows students to exercise their comprehension and grammar muscles, both directly and indirectly. All students should be reading 30 minutes a day outside of school. And it doesn’t really matter what you read, as long as you read! Sure, The Wall Street Journal is better than US Weekly, but whatever you read, read lots!
- Sophomores: If you took the PSAT in the fall, February is a good month to dig into your score to analyze strengths and weaknesses. Awareness of what went well and what needs work is a very concrete and useful goal. If your school did not offer a PSAT, you can use the month of February to familiarize yourself with both the SAT and ACT test options. Spend a little time researching the test sections, scoring, content and strategies. Nothing too much, just a little research. And be sure to read, then read some more!
- Juniors: February is THE month for juniors. Find old PSAT scores to analyze. Research test dates. Map out a test prep approach. Once you pick the test date, back plan and put practice tests, study sessions or extra help on your calendar. Getting these things on the calendar is crucial! Don’t procrastinate and don’t stress. Preparation and practice go a long way. Remember: test taking is just like any skill. The more you practice, the better you will become. And also, don’t forget to read outside of school!
- Seniors: For you seniors out there, February is your month to encourage your friends to get started. You may want to make fun of them since you should be mostly done with your college application process, but avoid the sarcasm and help out a friend. Remind them that practice yields improved scores.
As for the parents out there, February is a good time to check in with your student. See what questions they have and see what kind of plan works for them. And be sure to encourage the reading. (Here are three ways to encourage students to read.)
If you need help with this, contact CROSSWALK. We offer private ACT and SAT tutoring along with group test prep classes in Pebble Beach, CA. Contact us today to learn more.
The Path Towards Learning Success 