Online SAT & ACT Course

Making the decision to attend college is one of the most important decisions you will ever make, and your performance on college entrance exams is instrumental in determining your college choice. Universities and colleges throughout the U.S. require applicants to take the SAT or ACT as part of their evaluation package. This course will prepare you for both tests.

Both the ACT and the SAT contain verbal and math question types. SAT/ACT Preparation Part I will give you all the information you need to do well on the verbal questions of the ACT and the new SAT. The ACT verbal sections are called the Reading Test, the English Test, and the Science Test. The Reading Test and the English Test assess your knowledge of English usage, grammar, and reading comprehension.

In 2005, the ACT began offering an optional essay test. If you choose to take the essay test, this course will show you how to do your best writing in a short period of time you will be given. Beginning in March 2016, the SAT verbal questions also changed. The lessons in this course will prepare you for those changes. The new verbal sections are called Writing and Language and Reading. The Reading section consists of Information & Ideas, Rhetoric, and Synthesis questions based on reading passages and quantitative information.

The SAT also contains a Writing and Language section, which includes multiple-choice questions about rhetoric, grammar, and English usage. The essay on the SAT is now optional and administered in its own section. This course will prepare you to write the type of essays that grading officials are looking for and will provide you with grammar and usage.

In addition to preparing you for specific question types on both exams, this course will give you pointers in time management, anxiety relief, scoring, and general standardized test-taking.

What you will learn

• Learn about each question type on both the ACT and SAT
• Discover the most effective ways to read through passages and ways to extract the most information from them
• Review only the grammar rules that are the most commonly tested on the tests
• Learn to put your thoughts together to write a cohesive essay
• Learn how to extract information without wasting time
• Obtain numerous tips and strategies to do your best on the test

How you will benefit

• Have strategies for time management, eliminating wrong answers, and how to relax during the test
• Be familiar and feel confident with the test format and types of questions
• Get practice and feedback from your instructor and peers after writing a sample essay
• Be prepared, relaxed and ready to do your best on the ACT/SAT

Outline

Know Yourself; Know the Tests

Some say you can't study for the ACT or SAT, but that's just not true. There are many ways to prepare for the test, and your scores will be better the more you prepare. This first lesson introduces the general makeup of both tests, so you will know what to expect on test day. You will also learn how to relax if you panic, how to eliminate wrong answers, and how much time to spend on each question.

Master the Reading Questions

You may have been reading since the first grade, but that's not enough experience to get you ready for the ACT and SAT passage-based reading questions. After this lesson, you will have the tools you need to develop your own personal reading strategy.

Practice on the ACT Reading Questions

Knowledge is power, but practice makes perfect. In this lesson, you will navigate the ACT reading comprehension passages that appeared on past tests. This will provide a step-by-step approach for gathering the most information from reading passages in the least amount of time.

SAT Passage-Based Reading Formats and Additional Question Types

This lesson explores the format of the SAT reading passages, as well as the most efficient way to read through them. You will get an overview of the new SAT reading question types, so you will understand exactly what a question is looking for and how to weed through all of the possible answers.

Review the SAT Rhetoric and Synthesis Questions

The new SAT includes two new question types: one tests your understanding of the structure of a text and the other focuses on assimilating information from multiple sources. This lesson also teaches you how to approach Rhetoric questions and analyze an author's choice of words, overall text structure, point of view, purpose, and argument.

Learn the Grammar You Need for the SAT and ACT

You need to know grammar for both the ACT and the SAT. This lesson focuses on commonly-tested grammar rules and their subsequent errors. Often, these grammar errors are the ones you might be least familiar with. But by the end of this lesson, you will know how to spot and correct them.

Learn How to Ace the ACT English Usage Section

It's not enough to know the rules of grammar, you also need to how the English language works. This lesson provides detailed explanations on how to approach ACT English questions. You will find out what you need to pay attention to and what you can disregard when you're examining paragraphs for errors.

Thrive on the SAT Writing and Language Questions

The SAT has two main multiple-choice question types to test your grammar, editing, and English usage skills. In this lesson, you will get a detailed strategy for tackling both of these question types. You will also learn what errors appear most commonly, so you can focus your attention on what's important.

Prepare the Student-Written Essay

For years, colleges and universities have complained that freshmen don't know how to write. So now, through the ACT and SAT, they're going to get a sample of the way potential students write. In this lesson, you will learn how to maximize your time, so you can prove to college admissions committee that you know how to write your ideas in a cohesive way.

Practice for the Student-Written Essay

Before you impress the ACT and SAT essay readers, you will need to compose a sample essay. In this lesson, you will practice your essay writing skills.

Excel on the ACT Science Test

The science questions on the ACT involve more reading than calculating, so it's important to know how to analyze the scientific passages. This lesson will teach you learn how to accurately read graphs and charts.

Wrap Up the Course

Your final lesson reviews all of the tips and strategies needed to do your best on the ACT and SAT. In this lesson, you will review the elements of each question type and show learn how to best prepare up until test day.

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course.