Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

Winter 2018 Test Prep Series

Kick off 2018 with a focused and individualized SAT and ACT test prep program by Brooke Higgins of CROSSWALK.


Starting Tuesday, January 9, CROSSWALK is hosting a six-week winter ACT and SAT test prep series.

Attend in person at the Stevenson School in Pebble Beach or via Skype.

All sessions meet on Tuesday evenings from 6-7:30pm. Here is the schedule:

  • 1/9: SAT and ACT Test Overview and General Strategies
  • 1/16: Reading Strategies for Success
  • 1/23: Math Strategies for Success
  • 1/30: Writing Strategies for Success
  • 2/6: Science Strategies for Success
  • 2/13: Essay Strategies for Success
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.

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. 

Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

Parents Struggling to Understand Teens Need to Read This

This may not be entirely test prep related but certainly applicable and valuable to anyone with a teenager or anyone working with a teenager:

Why Is Your Teenage Acting So Weird? 

Some good food for thought particularly as it relates to how to best support your teen during their prime learning years. 

The path towards learning success has much to do with understanding how the brain develops and works.

For study advice, test prep help or any other learning suggestions, contact CROSSWALK. We offer tutoring, boot camps and academic support in just about any subject. 

Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

How The Odd Couple Helps SAT and ACT Prep

Originally a Broadway play by Neil Simon in 1965, The Odd Couple was a television show I remember watching as a kid.


The premise is comedic genius: an uptight neat freak and an easygoing slob live together in one apartment. Hilarity ensues as polar opposites struggle to coexist. 

While The Odd Couple has been remade on both the big and small screens, “the odd couple” is also a viable test-taking strategy. 

Consider the following odd couple: the test booklet is the easygoing slob and the answer sheet is the uptight neat freak. 

On your test booklet, you should make notes, annotate passages, draw pictures and cross out wrong answers. In other words, use all of the space and sloppiness necessary to understand questions, make calculations and write notes to help you uncover the correct answer. 

Your answer sheet, on the other hand, should be neat, tidy and free of any stray marks. A computer will ultimately read your answer sheet so it should be precise and accurate. 

Getting sloppy with your test booklet can help you pick apart the test to get to the right answer. Once your messiness leads you to the correct answer, get very neat and tidy with the bubbles on your answer sheet. 

The Odd Couple isn’t just a famous play, movie or television show. It is a way to ensure you maximize your score on just about any standardized test.

If you are preparing for the ACT, SAT, PSAT, SSAT or another standardized test, contact CROSSWALK and learn how we can help you achieve the score you desire. 

Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

The Whats and Whens of College Planning

When working with a new SAT or ACT prep student, I frequently initiate a session with the following question: what score do you need to get into the school of your choice? 


The answer to this question generally results in two lessons, the first to determine the ideal schools for a student and the second to figure out what SAT or ACT score the ideal schools require for a student. 

Armed with a specific score, I then work with the student to show him or her how to achieve the desired score. This is the basic concept of planning by beginning with the end in mind. 

Nevertheless, in the pursuit of college admission, test scores are only part of the equation. There is much more to college planning than booking a good test score. 

With this in mind, a valuable college planning resource was recently recommended to me: The Complete College Planning Calendar. This infographic is an excellent timeline for students and their families to chart out what is needed and when for college planning. 

Whether or not you will have or use a college planner in your process, this timeline is an excellent way to stay on task and on target. It is a useful resource to plan with the end in mind for the college application process. 

If you find you need test prep advice along the way, contact CROSSWALK. We specialize in ACT/SAT test prep for high schoolers but also offer academic tutoring and learning support for students of all ages. We offer face-to-face tutoring on the Monterey Peninsula and Skype tutors anywhere. Determine your path to learning success here. 

Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

What is the Best Time of Day to Take the SAT or ACT?

Unfortunately, the time of day to take the SAT and ACT is not something a student can decide. Test days and times are predetermined by the test administrators.

If a perfect testing world existed, students could elect to take their standardized tests when they are most on their game. According to a study done in Denmark, this would means taking tests earlier in the day. The study shows that test performance decreases as the day wears on.

The study cites “cognitive fatigue” as a factor in lower test performance later in the day. While this may be just common sense, researchers have data to quantify the effect of “cognitive fatigue.” 

A deeper dive into the study reveals something even more interesting: students that take breaks during tests can see improvements in performance. In other words, if a student is offered a break during a test, they should always take it. No matter what. 

Students may have little control over the time of day the test is administered, but they can certainly advocate for more breaks. Even a quick stretch, some breathing exercises, a snack or a drink of water can help improve test performance. 

Additionally, most students should understand that their test prep will be most productive in the morning before “cognitive fatigue” sets in. So when planning on a time of day to do a practice set or review content, plan for morning sessions if possible. 

For more test taking tips and ways to improve SAT and ACT scores, contact CROSSWALK, the Monterey Peninsula’s local resource for tutoring and test prep. 

Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

The Best Test Prep Gifts are FREE

The holidays are here. Time for giving, loving and spending time with those that are special to you. 


This is also the time that many high school juniors start to turn their attention towards college. As students enter the second half of their junior year, they should start to consider which school or schools might be a good fit. 

Inherent to the college search is research into what test scores are needed to get into the school(s) of choice. The best test prep starts with the end in mind: figure out what score you need and map out your strategy to get there. 

Since this a fairly involved process, most every student needs support along the way. And in the spirit of giving, here are three gifts that you can give to your student or child as they embark on this journey:

A Stress-Free Environment: As I tell my students, stress is the enemy of performance. If there is stress in your life, it will manifest itself on your test score. Stress reduces ones ability to focus which makes problem solving and logical thought more difficult. The ability to solve problems and think logically is what will determine success on a test, so the student that is stress-free will indubitably score better. Support the student through any challenges (i.e. not just test prep) and remove as much stress as possible particularly as test day approaches. 

Achievable Goals: Getting the best score you can on the SAT or ACT can be a long process. Test-taking, for many, is a new skill and learning a new skill can be overwhelming. Avoid the overwhelming feeling by setting manageable goals. For example, set a goal to complete at least three full-length practice tests before you take an official test. Or, set a goal to master graphing functions by March. Set and achieve small goals along the way and get to your end goal easier. 

Resources: Every student needs some resources for test prep. The good news is that there are two key free resources for test prep: the downloadable ACT test prep guide and SAT prep resources via the Khan Academy. You can also subscribe to this blog for study tips and hints directly to your inbox for free! These gifts cost nothing and are highly valuable. Nowadays, it is not totally necessary to hire a tutor or take a course. Many things students can do on their own. 

Yes, the holidays are here. If you know a student about to embark on the test prep journey, give them resources, goals and a stress-free environment and watch them soar.

If you have any questions about test prep and academic tutoring, contact CROSSWALK. 

Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

Have a Laugh with SAT Prep for Halloween

In honor of Halloween and this day of tricks or treats, click here for a funny trick and treat about test prep courtesy of The Onion. 


Just be sure you DON’T do what The Onion suggests. The Onion is great about getting a good laugh but not so great about recommending test prep tips.

For some real test prep tips with no tricks, contact CROSSWALK today. 

CROSSWALK specializes in one-on-one tutoring, SAT/ACT Boot Camps and academic tutoring for the Monterey Peninsula and beyond. 

Happy Halloween! 

Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

PSAT Prep for FREE

The PSAT is approaching quickly. In fact, there is likely less than a month to prepare for the PSAT since schools that administer the test will do so on October 14 or 28.  


That the test is on the horizon should not create any stress for test takers. As my students and readers of this blog can attest, stress should not be part of any test preparation. 

First and foremost, the PSAT is an opportunity to understand how a student performs on standardized tests. Scores can be used to qualify students for scholarships or national recognition, but are generally used as just a pulse check for the SAT. 

With this in mind, students should approach test day free of worry, concern or stress. 

Should a student want to get a sense of what is on the test, the College Board provides a couple of free resources. And since the PSAT has a new format, it may behoove students to take a gander at either of the following links before test day: 

  • Practice Test: click here for full-length practice test. Download the test and get a feel for the directions, timing, question types, format, etc. 
  • Practice Sets: click here for some practice sets and practice quizzes. You will have to sign in via Google or Khan Academy but that should stop you since the practice sets are very helpful. 

Above all, be sure to get plenty of rest leading up to the test. Cramming a bunch of test prep the night before, or even the weekend before, will actually hurt your score. 

Best of luck, PSAT test-takers. Should you need some support, don’t be afraid to contact CROSSWALK, Monterey Peninsula’s local resource for test prep and private tutoring. 

Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

Another ACT Success Story!

Success stories never get old so let’s tell another one from CROSSWALK. The following was emailed to me:

“We were very pleased with Dan’s tutoring. He worked very well with Nicole and Nicole has improved in her practice tests consistently over the weeks. Her overall score has improved by six points and we are very impressed. Overall he was a wonderful tutor.”

Go Dan! Go Nicole! A six-point increase on the ACT is exceptional. 

While there is no doubt that Dan helped create this success story, the biggest impact on score improvement comes from Nicole’s willingness to put in the practice time and improve. 

Time on task is crucial to improving a score. The more dedicated and diligent practice time you commit to the SAT or ACT, the higher your score will go. Couple this with the guidance of one of our outstanding tutors–like Dan–and you have a guaranteed recipe for score improvement. 

To learn how to boost your ACT, SAT or GPA, contact CROSSWALK today. 

Brooke Higgins Uncategorized

The Most Important Math Subscore

The newly redesigned SAT rolls out in March 2016. With it comes a whole new scoring system and various levels of scoring. 

For example, instead of just one math score, a student will also get several math subscores that indicate how the student performed in certain content areas like algebra or data analysis.

While these subscores could prove very valuable, there is a simpler math subscore that is more important: total content errors vs total careless errors. 

You see, when I work with a student in math, we complete a math section and then analyze it. In our analysis, we categorize incorrect answers into two groups: content errors or careless errors.

Content errors are those errors a student would make because he or she has not seen the content yet. A trigonometry problem on the ACT, for example, might be a difficult problem for someone not yet exposed to trigonometry. Charting out content errors shows the student what content they need to learn to tackle this type of question in the future.

Careless errors represent those errors made when a student misreads the question, miscalculates something, fills in a bubble incorrectly or otherwise commits some error that was totally controllable if not for carelessness.

Careless errors are the best kind of errors because these can easily be fixed! 

In my experiences, careless errors make up about 80% of all errors while content errors are only 20% of total errors. These figures are based on my anecdotal experiences but the 80/20 grouping seems to hold true of most of my students.

The solution? Ignore the various levels of subscores you might receive on a future test and instead drill down into the most important subscore: how many of your incorrect errors are due to carelessness and how many are due to unfamiliar content? 

Content errors just take a bit of learning. Careless errors are easily fixed. 

Avoid careless errors by recognizing them. Learn from your mistakes so you don’t misread questions, fall into avoidable traps or miscalculate something. 

Learn more study tips for ACT, SAT and all academic subjects by contacting CROSSWALK today.