Who writes these guides?

They are written for FunSAT and cover only well-established facts, with links to the official sources for rules that change.

Are the guides official advice?

No. They are general information. Check College Board, ACT and each college for the current policy.

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Guides

SAT, ACT and College Planning Guides

Short, plain-language answers to the questions students and families ask most about testing and applying to college: how superscoring works, whether to retake a test, what test-optional really means, and how to read the numbers colleges publish.

SAT Superscoring Explained: How It Works and Who Uses It: how your best sections from different test dates combine, and what that means for retakes.
Should I Retake the SAT? How to Decide: a short checklist for deciding whether another test date is worth it.
Test-Optional vs Test-Blind vs Test-Required: What Each Means: what each testing policy means and how it changes whether you should send a score.
How Colleges Use the Middle 50% Score Range: what the 25th and 75th percentile scores mean, and why they are not cutoffs.
How to Read College Scorecard Data: what each Scorecard number measures and where it can mislead.
Net Price vs Sticker Price: What You Will Actually Pay: why the published price is often not what students pay, and how to estimate your own.
How the Digital SAT's Adaptive Modules Work: the module layout, timing and what adaptive actually means for you.
SAT Test Day Checklist for the Digital SAT: what to prepare the week before, the night before and on the morning of the test.
When to Take the SAT: A Practical Timeline: a typical plan from first practice test to final score report.
What a Test Score Percentile Means: how to read a percentile, and why a percentile is not the same as a college's range.
ACT Science Is Optional: How the Composite Score Works: how the composite is figured now that Science is optional, and what to check with colleges.
How Many Colleges Should I Apply To? Reach, Target and Likely: a way to build a balanced list across reach, target and likely colleges.
SAT Fee Waivers: What They Are and How to Get One: who can qualify, what a waiver can cover and where to confirm the details.
ACT Superscoring Explained: Best Sections Across Test Dates: how best section scores combine into a composite, and why each college decides for itself.

Tools that go with these guides

Use the superscore calculator to combine several test dates, or the college match tool to sort the colleges in our dataset into reach, target and likely for your score. Both run in your browser.

More from FunSAT

Longer study guides live on the guides page, ranked college lists are on college rankings, and the full practice test is on the free test prep page.

How these guides are written

Each guide sticks to well-established facts and tells you where the rule is set by someone else. When a policy belongs to College Board, ACT or a particular college, the guide says so and points you to the source, because those rules change. If you spot a mistake, tell us on the corrections page.

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