The 2021 AP exams are right around the corner. After a year’s worth of learning and absorbing complex topics, it’s time to start preparing for the big exam. The math AP exams cover a vast amount of material, so you might be wondering: where the heck do I start?!

All students can benefit from stronger study habits – especially after an unusual year of distance learning. We’re here to explain how study skills and executive function coaching can help your student reach their potential.

The College Board and ACT are rolling out computer-based versions of their exams for all US students. Mastering the digital tools they provide will be the key to success on these online tests.

Even with the prospect of a return to the live classroom on the horizon, many students are continuing distance learning into 2021. These strategies can help your student get the most out of this season.

The 2020 Advanced Placement exams were altered significantly – and on a very tight schedule – due to the Covid-19 pandemic. So what should we expect for 2021?

Meet Emma.We welcomed a new tutor to the team this year, and this Princeton graduate has been using her exceptional experience to help students navigate distance learning, overcome challenges and reach their academic goals. Now that she’s got some more North Avenue experience under her belt, we asked her a few questions about her work so far.

No one enjoys spending hours practicing the same skill over and over. By diversifying your study routine and interchanging multiple skills, you can learn more effectively.

Online learning is tough. From digital access equity to reduced accountability, the challenges surrounding distance learning amid the Covid-19 pandemic are troubling educators and students alike. 

You might have heard that practice makes perfect, but repetition with variation is a more effective strategy to reinforce new ideas.

We need to rethink failure, because mistakes always present opportunities for growth.

As a majority of universities implement test-optional policies for this year’s admissions cycle, students have been asking us whether it’s worth it to take the SAT or ACT. Our expert tutors weighed in on the most common questions we’ve received from parents and students this fall.

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, most local schools canceled the PSAT, which is typically offered to all sophomores and juniors during a school day in the fall semester. The good news is that your student can still access the benefits of the PSAT.

To ensure your student is ready for a private high school, you should be thinking about their entrance exam.

Instead of canceling tests en masse, as it did with the May and June SATs, the College Board is now allowing individual testing centers to determine whether or not they’ll hold the tests as planned. Many sites have already canceled the November 7 test. So if you’re registered for an upcoming SAT, be sure to check the College Board’s website for updates.

According to FairTest, roughly two-thirds of U.S. universities are now test-optional or test-blind in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Across the country, school districts converted grading systems to pass/fail while students had extracurriculars and volunteer opportunities cancelled.

As a result, colleges will have to rely on only a handful of application components for admissions decisions. The dreaded college essay holds more weight than ever before.

Successful online learning involves personal interaction, ease of access, and a suite of integrated, digital tools.

As the various players in graduate admissions testing respond to ongoing developments surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, testing platforms and policies have evolved at a dizzying rate.

Despite sensationalist headlines, the at-home 2020 AP exams were a success, and average scores fluctuated within expected ranges.

Taking into account the current COVID-19 crisis, where students will have been out of school from March to September (and potentially longer), summer break may seem less like leisure time and more like a scholastic drought. In fact, the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), a non-profit that assess academic proficiency, estimates that students may return to school with only 70 percent of yearly gains in reading and less than 50 percent of gains in math.

Taking AP classes seems obvious for admissions, but many students don’t realize that AP develops soft skills for college preparedness, too.

Great minds don’t think alike, and these noetic differences are especially evident in the ways we learn. For students with learning differences (LD), the path to cultivating successful study habits begins with analyzing and identifying how you effectively absorb and retain information. Such metacognition involves self-monitoring, strategic planning, and objective assessments of strengths and weaknesses.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic and nationwide test-site closures, testing agencies are being forced to adapt to a new and ever-changing landscape, including offering new formats of the tests.

However, for ACT the shift to online standardized testing has been in the works for some time now—the ACT has been offering online testing domestically for district- and statewide school-day tests since 2016, and in international test centers since 2018. However, as of September 2020, they will finally expand this option to include national test dates across the United States. 

As an elite athlete working towards the Tokyo Summer Olympics, Kate Grace is the embodiment of growth mentality. Kate recently spoke to the Yale Club of Oregon on “Practicing Excellence: Mastering Mind and Body on the Road to the Olympics.” We saw parallels between her training, college admissions, and SAT or ACT test prep, so we asked her to sit down with us and share more about her dedication to continued improvement.

LSAC’s answer to closed test sites, LSAT-Flex may not be right for all applicants. But for those who’ve been prepping, it’s better than not testing at all.