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

Good & Bad News About SAT Smartphone Vocabulary Apps

Lamentably, flashcards are now passé.

Call me old-school, but in my day I spent a lot of time writing vocabulary words on one side of an index card and their definitions on the other side. I would tote around stacks of cards to class, the library and home. 

Nowadays, it is all about using your smartphone to study. And why not? Smartphones are portable, easy to use, and fun. A good smartphone app for learning SAT vocabulary can mean no more lugging around flashcards all over the place.

The good news is that there are many very useful SAT Vocabulary apps, some of which are free. The bad news is that few of them mirror the context vs. content approach crucial to the SAT. 

First the good news: with so many useful apps available for both iPhones and Androids, students have many portable vocabulary-building options. While I have explored several, including SAT Vocabulary by Du Nguyen and Virtual SAT Tutor by Ivy Standard, my favorite is SAT Vocabulary by Magoosh. 

Magoosh offers several test prep applications that all share the same clean layout and easy-to-use interface. The SAT Vocabulary app offers different levels of study: Basic, Intermediate and Advanced. Each level cycles through a series of words that you define by multiple choice. If you get a word wrong, or don’t know it, the words will cycle back several times until you master the definition through repetition. Most importantly, you can track your progress. 

Despite the multitude of smartphone apps, there is bad news: none of the apps I researched provide vocabulary questions in context like those found on the SAT. The Sentence Completion questions on the SAT don’t simply task students with defining a word or uncovering the definition via multiple choice. Instead, they are presented with a sentence that has a blank or two blanks. Based on the information in the sentence, students must figure out the missing vocabulary words(s). 

Since none of the apps I found offer this style of questioning, something is definitely missing. Even Magoosh, which ultimately provides the vocabulary words in a sentence, does not display this contextual information until after you answer the question. 

All in all, there is good news for SAT preparation on the go: many apps will help build vocabulary. The bad news is that few capture the context-based questions that students need to practice for the test. 

If you know of any helpful apps, particularly ones that leverage the context-based approach, by all means contact me and let me know or simply post a comment to this blog. 

For more SAT tips, read 2400 SCORES by Brooke Higgins available at Amazon. Contact Brooke Higgins and CROSSWALK to schedule your private tutoring or Boot Camp for SAT, ACT and more. 
Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

SAT Prep Success Stories

Walt Whitman is credited with saying, “It you done it, it ain’t bragging.” 

With that in mind, I share some of our recent success stories at CROSSWALK. Both of these stories deal with SAT prep and both deal with private students at CROSSWALK. 

Walt Whitman


The first story is about a senior in high school taking the SAT for the last time. After doing little preparation before the first time he took the test, this student scored well on the math and critical reading sections. However, he faltered on the writing and was disappointed in his score of 560. 

After just four laser sessions with specific practice on writing, he raised his score to a 700. This is what the father sent us in an email: 

“He did well on his writing section–he increased his score from a 560 to a 700. Combined his SAT is now in the 2200+ range. He is awaiting answers from colleges. Thanks. Your tutor did well.” 

The second story is even more interesting. It is about a young woman who had already started in college but decided to transfer to another school. Tasked with taking the SAT again, she had a goal of increasing her score by 200 points. Making matters more difficult, she only had a couple of weeks to prepare for the exam so she crammed in four private sessions in just one week. 

Despite the challenges, the results were excellent. Her mother called us to share the following: 

“We are so happy. She increased her score by 250 points. You did a great job! Thanks so much. I wish we would have contacted you years ago!” 

So forgive the bragging, but someone has to toot CROSSWALK‘s horn. And after all, per Mr. Whitman, “if you done it, it ain’t bragging.” 

Brag about your score increase with private SAT and ACT prep, or an ACT or SAT Boot Camp from CROSSWALK. Contact us today to learn more. 


Download “2400 SCORES” from Amazon and learn 24 life skills to demystify the SAT and boost your score. 


Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

The Olympics of SAT and ACT Prep

Few things on television deliver goosebumps like the Olympics do. Politics aside, the stories of these elite athletes are as remarkable as their achievements. 

Undoubtedly, Olympic athletes have incredible skill. More importantly, they train hard. 10,000 Hours hard. 

What if you trained 10,000 hours for the SAT or ACT? How would you perform? 

I always find it curious when I come across students that call themselves bad test takers. As I talk to these students more, I find out that they play a musical instrument, practice a sport and/or maintain long term personal relationships. Basically, they are skilled in something that has required time, dedication and persistence. 

Test taking is a skill that can be learned through time, dedication and persistence. Even if you think you are a bad test taker. 

Not every athlete is going to win a medal at Sochi, and not every test taker is going to achieve a perfect score. But those that train hard to master a skill will be rewarded with achievement. 

The Olympians of Sochi are an inspiration to us all. They show us that it takes hard work to overcome obstacles, perfect a skill and accomplish goals. 

Achieve your test taking goals with help from CROSSWALK, the Monterey Peninsula’s resource for test prep and academic tutoring. Contact CROSSWALK for more information about Boot Camps, Skype sessions and other test prep services. Learn more SAT test prep tips by reading 2400 Scores.