ACT Complete Guide

International Students and the SAT/ACT Complete Guide SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Are you an international student aiming to attend college in the United States? Colleges are looking for students with language skills and global competencies more than ever, so you already have several strong assets to draw on in your college applications. One requirement for your applications to most universities is the SAT or ACT. Let's go over the information you need to know about deciding between the SAT and ACT, registering for the tests, and preparing to achieve a high score. First, why are the SAT and ACT important to go to college in the U.S.? Why Are the SAT and ACT Important for College Applications? Almost all four-year colleges and universities require you to take the SAT or ACT, with just a few exceptions. These exams are meant to test all students' knowledge and reasoning skills on an equal playing field, as everyone'scurriculum and learning experiences might differ from school to school. These tests have been used to ensure that you have the critical thinking and reasoning skills you need to do well in college. Putting in the effort to prep and achieve strong scorescan also demonstrate your commitment to studying at university. If your native language is not English, you probably also have to take the TOEFL or IELTS to demonstrate language proficiency. Like the SAT and ACT, these are two equal options as mostcolleges will accept either. While bothoptions are equal, you want to choose the one on which you can perform better. So far, the SAT and TOEFL have been the most popular choices for international students, so you may have heard more about them. In past years, some collegeswaived the TOEFL/IELTS requirement if you got a certain score on the Evidence Based Reading and Writingsection of the SAT or English and Reading section of the ACT. These schools, for example, usedthe following cutoff scores: College VerbalMinimum Score Columbia 700+ on SAT Evidence Based Reading and Writing or 29+ on ACT English or Reading Johns Hopkins 690+ on SAT Evidence Based Reading and Writing or 30+ on both ACT English and Reading University of Michigan 650+ on SAT Evidence Based Reading and Writingor 27+ on both ACT English and Reading Cornell University 35+ on SAT Reading scaled score You can learn more about each college's policy on its website or by calling its admissions office directly. Since most colleges accept either the SAT or ACT, which option is better for international students? How Are the SAT and ACT Different? Just like with students who are U.S. citizens, the "better" test all depends on your educational background, academic strengths, and personal interests.The SAT and the ACT are viewed equally by colleges, so you should choose based on where you can get the higher score. Typically, international students are able to score higher on math sections of standardized exams than on verbal sections, both because of the quality of math education in various countries and the extra language challenges many international students must overcome in reading and writing sections.While the SAT has generally been more popular than the ACT for international students, it might not be the better option for you if you're strong inmath and science. The ACT, unlike the SAT, has a science section, plus it tests more advanced math concepts. Let's break down some of the important information you should know about each test. Ultimately, the best way to choose is to try some sample questions and practice tests and see which one works better for you. What to Know About theSAT The SAT is much more popular internationally, so you might already have more knowledge about the test or resources to study for it. The SAT hasfour sections: one Reading, one Writing, one Math (no calculator), and one Math (with calculator). It also features an optional fifth section, a 50-minute essay. Some colleges will want you to take the SAT with essay; others will leave the choice up to you. Let's consider some features about the SAT that would appeal to international students, followed by some cons of this college admissions test. Pros of the SAT for International Students The SAT might be more appealing to international students than the ACT for a couple of reasons. One is that the verbal sections now count for half the exam score, rather than 2/3 of the total score. For students whose first language is not English, this decrease in emphasis on the Reading and Writing could be a welcome feature. Second, the SAT no longer features obscure vocabulary words. These tough words were challenging for native and non-native English speakers alike, so the elimination of "sentence completion" questions may make the SAT easier for international students. Now, one challenge of the SAT is to glean the meaning of more common words that are being used in unusual ways. Along similar lines, SAT questions now feature straightforward wording, making them easier to understand. All three sections, Reading, Writing, and Math, also feature graphs, charts, and tables. If you're strong at interpreting data, then this feature may appeal to you. Cons of the SATfor International Students There may be a few cons to the SAT for international students. One con is that some selective schools require that you take both the SAT and one or twoSAT Subject Tests. Most of these same schools waive the Subject Test requirement if you take the ACT. So if you chose the ACT, you'd only have to take that one test, whereas if you chose the SAT, you might have to take three separate tests to apply. Another con is the SAT's emphasis onreading comprehension in all its sections. The Reading passages feature evidence-based questions, meaning you'll have to back up your answers with evidence from the text. All of the questions in the Writing and Language section feature longer passages, so you'll need a strong grasp on structure and syntax.Even the math questions feature word problems with what College Board refers to as "real world scenarios." These scenarios may not be a part of everyone's real world experience, and they might pose a challenge for students more accustomed to figures and equations, rather than wordiness, in their math problems. The best way to get a sense of how SAT questions work is to take sample practice tests, as I'll discuss below. First though, let's consider the structure of the ACT, along with its pros and cons for international students applying to college in the U.S. There's no bad or good test for your college applications. Rather, you should choose the one that helps youget the higher score! What to Know About theACT While the ACT was more of a domestic U.S.-based test for a long time, it isactually becoming more popular with international students. As mentioned above, it's not all that different from the SAT, except for the fact thatit features a Science section along with its English, Reading, Math, and optional essay sections. So what are some of the pros and cons of the ACT for international students? Pros of the ACT for International Students While the SAT is only featuring more accessiblequestion types this year, the ACT has always been known for its straightforward wording. Its questions don't seem set out to trick you; instead, they're relatively clear. This characteristic is useful for international students, who won'thave to do double the work to figure out what a question is even asking for in the first place. Another potentially attractive feature of the ACT is its Science section. ACT Science doesn't require you to have a ton of specific scientific knowledge; instead, it's more concerned with testing your scientific skills, like analyzing data and evaluating a hypothesis. Some international studentsfind they do better on this section than Reading and English, so its inclusion makes it a compelling reason to choose the ACT over the SAT. Another feature of the ACT, which may be a pro or a con depending on your math level, is its incorporation of higher level math concepts. Its math questions feature more geometry and trigonometry than the SAT, and you can use a calculator on all of them.If you're strong in math and science and/or considering going into a STEM field, you might demonstrate your skills and interests best by taking the ACT. Finally, some students have said that the ACT is more in line with IB curriculum. So if you're in an IB school, you might look over the test to see if it aligns well with what you've learned in school. Cons of the ACTfor International Students As mentioned above, the ACT features more advanced math, as well as a science section. If you're less strong in these areas, then they may be a reason not to take the ACT. Depending on your academic preparation and skills, these sections may be a major determining factor in whether you can do better on the SAT or the ACT. Another potential con is simply its lack of popularity internationally. You may have grown up learning a lot more about the SAT, and you might be able to form study groups with friends who are taking the SAT. If few people around you are taking the ACT, then you might not have the same study and support network that you would for the SAT. Like the SAT, the ACT has a large emphasis on reading comprehension and evaluating structure and syntax of passages. The verbal section is worth half your score, so you'll want to try both SAT and ACT verbal sections (Reading and Writing for the SAT, Reading and English for the ACT)to see which one is more appealing to you. Trying out practice questions will be very useful in helping you decide between the SAT and ACT. Read on to learn where you can find these practice questions andhow to register for an examonce you make your choice. How Can You Decide Between the SAT and ACT? As I mentioned above, the best way to decide whether you should take the SAT or the ACT (or the TOEFL or IELTS, for that matter) is to learn all about the content and format of the tests and then take a practice test to see which one you can do better on. You want your test score to strengthen your overall application, so get familiar with the content, format, and question types of the tests and then make your best choice. Once you've decided, commit yourself to prepping for that test, and don't worry about the other one! To fully commit, you need to register for the test. Want to learn more about the SAT but tired of reading blog articles? Then you'll love our free, SAT prep livestreams. Designed and led by PrepScholar SAT experts, these live video events are a great resource for students and parents looking to learn more about the SAT and SAT prep. Click on the button below to register for one of our livestreams today! How Do You Register for the SAT or ACT? Both tests have an online registration process and charge a fee. You'll have to find your testing center, choose your test date, and then enter your personal and payment information. You can check out the exam websites to find testing dates and more information. Register for the SAT You'll register to take the SAT at the College Board website. You want to start early, like in sophomore or junior year, to give yourself time to take it again if you want to improve your score.Youalso should register at least a month before your desired exam date so you don't have to pay any additional late registration fees. There might be some additional requirements if you're from Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Macau, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. For more information, check out our complete step-by-step guide to SAT registration. Register for the ACT If you choose to take the ACT, then you'll register through ACT, Inc.You can register and learn about your country's ACT test dates on the ACT website. Test dates are generally in September, October, December, April, and June. If there's no testing center nearby, you might be able to arrange special testing for yourself. Finally, make sure you're familiar what to bring and what to leave home on test day and have a sense of how many times you plan to take the ACT. For more information, check out our step-by-step guide to ACT registration. As you can imagine, all of this prepping and planning requires a significant amount of time. Since the college process starts at least a year before you actually send your applications, what should your timeline for test prep be? When Should You Begin Preparing for the SAT or ACT? When do you need to register for the SAT/ACT, and when should you start studying for the exam? In this section, we go over all the important steps to take when you prepare for the SAT or ACT, as well as when you need to take them. Many studentsstart preppinga year or more in advance, and some take the SAT or ACT early in high school to get testing experience. You want to give yourselfat least six months to prep intensively, but more is ideal, especially if you're a non-native English speaker and have to put in extra study time to improve your language skills. You need to sign up for the SAT or ACT at least a month before your actual testing date. You also need about three to four weeks for your test to be scored and the score reports sent to colleges, so you want to take it ahead of your deadlines.That means you should know exactly what colleges you're applying to by that time, so you can list them as score recipients when you register for the tests. This means that the colleges you indicate will receive your SAT or ACT score reports. Your entire high school experience is part of your college application - the classes you take, the clubs and sports you join, and the work and volunteer experience you have. You also will likely include teacher recommendations. So apart from the SAT and ACT, your college preparation is something that you can work on throughout all four years of high school. How Can You Study for the SAT or ACT? Test prep is very important to do well on these tests, as they probably don't resemble tests you normally take in school. Prep will both reinforce the material and get you familiar with how the questions are worded and how to manage your time. Strategy plays a big role in how well you do, so learning strategies and applying them as your practice is also key for the SAT and ACT. You can prep online with practice questions at College Board, the ACT, Khan Academy, or other sites, or through PrepScholar's customizable online prep programs. You can also purchase SAT and ACT prepbooks and get full-length practice tests, along with detailed explanations, content review, and key strategies. Coming up with a study schedule and setting target scores is the best way to stay on track, overcome your weaknesses, and get ready for the SAT/ACT. How Can Online Prep Help International Students? PrepScholar's online prep is a great tool for international students who want to succeed on the SAT/ACT and get into their top choice universities. Because it's online and can be accessed anywhere with internet, it's extremely convenient for students all over the world. PrepScholar has high-quality practice questions and tracks your progress, letting you know what content you've mastered and what concepts you still need to work on. You can also choose to get tutoring as part of your online program. While some prep books might cater to American students and assume you're more familiar with the tests than you are, yourtutor will answer any questions you have, as well as motivate you and help keep you accountable to your goals. There are lots of resources to help you master the SAT/ACT and achieve your post-high school goals. As long as you do your research, set aside time to prepare, andask for help when you can, you'll get into a school that's the best fit for you. What's Next? Taking the TOEFL?Get all the info you need to succeed on the test, including sample questions and strategy guides, at our TOEFL blog. Besides the SAT/ACT, what other key components are part of your college application? Read all about how to build a versatile college application. Are you worriedabout the Reading section? This article tells you exactly how to read the passages to maximize your understanding and not waste time. How is the SAT scored? What about the ACT? Understanding the scoring process will help you determine exactly how well you need to do in each section to achieve your target scores. Want to improve your SAT score by 160points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

How to Hire Freelance Writers to Scale Your Content Marketing

How to Hire Freelance Writers to Scale Your Content Marketing You’ve started a content marketing program. You’ve followed the best practices. You’ve done customer research, and you’re writing 10x content  targeted  at your ideal buyer personas. And you’re getting results! Shares on social are up. You’re seeing a boost in organic traffic. Everyone in the organization is psyched. At the same time, while you’re excited, you may be overwhelmed by the amount of work that went into getting those results. Instead of just publishing a blog post, you’re also writing a downloadable checklist, setting up an evergreen series of social posts, adding in click-to-tweets and reaching out to influencers about the blog post. You’d be forgiven for wondering whether this process is sustainable when resourced with a single marketing manager. That’s where building out a plan for hiring freelance writers can help you. When you write yourself, youre limited by your time and energy. When you hire others, youre only limited by the return you can demonstrate on your content marketing investment. In this article, we’ll look at how you can build a repeatable system for: Finding the best talent online for your content marketing program. Convincing talent to work for you, rather than your competition. Keeping track of all the applications. Selecting the best talent from your pool of applications. Qualifying potential writers. Onboarding your writers so they hit the ground running. By the end of this article, you’ll be able to identify and find the best writers for your business with confidence. You’ll feel able to increase your content production safe in the knowledge that you have the systems for scaling up reliably. How to Hire Freelance Writers to Scale Your Content MarketingDownload Your Free Content Writer Job Description Template If youre going to hire the best freelancers, youll need to start with a good job ad. And the easiest way to write a good job ad is with this free template. Snag it quick, then read the post to learn how to use it.Looking to hire freelance writers to scale your content marketing? Start by writing the perfect job...Outbounding Recruiting: Reach Out Directly to Writers You Admire While you’re researching blog topics, you’ll undoubtedly stumble across some excellent writers in your field. These writers are a great place to start. You can reach out via email or a direct message to ask whether they’re interested in freelance work. You might find that many of these writers don’t have availability right now, so it can be worth keeping them on a list of potential fits. For example, I was following a great writer on Twitter for some time. Then, one day she tweeted that she was looking for freelance work, so I swooped in. Another option is to look on Twitter for who is popular within your field. You can use industry-specific hashtags to find heavily shared writers. Here’s one way you can find the most popular hashtags in your industry: 1 ) Search for your niche on Twitter - i.e. search for "project management" or "human resources"; 2 ) Browse through the tweets looking for common industry specific hashtags such as "#PMOT", which stands for project management on Twitter or "#HRtech" for human resource technology; 3 ) Use these industry-specific hashtags to find writers who routinely pop up in the top results. You can use date operators in Twitter to find the most popular Tweets with in a specific date range such as the last month via a search such as â€Å"#pmot since:2017-10-01 until:2017-10-14†. [Tweet "Here are three ways to use Twitter to find great writers (who can write great content for your brand).:] You can also use a tool such as BuzzSumo to find the most popular posts for a specific keyword. Here I searched for â€Å"project management† on BuzzSumo, and you can see a list of writers, some of whom may be worth reaching out to: Action Steps: Make a Twitter list of writers you admire in your industry, so you can keep an eye on them for availability. Search via hashtags for popular writers in your industry Use tools such as BuzzSumo to find the most shared writers for a particular topic Inbound Recruiting You also need a steady stream of incoming applications from potential writers. The reason is that you’ll find you’ll lose some freelance writers over time, as they move on to other opportunities. Secondly, if you want to scale aggressively, you’ll need more writers than you can reach out to manually. These inbound â€Å"leads† present a different challenge than the outbound recruiting, however. A large proportion of the applicants will not be suitable, so you’ll have to figure out how to qualify the applicants to focus on the ones that are a good fit. We’ll dig into how you can qualify applicants, but first let’s focus on your job ad, as it will help you reduce the number of unqualified applicants in the first place. Recommended Reading: How to Structure Your Content Marketing Team to Get the Best Results Write an Amazing Job Ad that Focuses on the Writer You want to find freelance writers who write amazing pieces of content that generate qualified traffic for years at a price you can justify. But you can’t write a job ad about what you want. First, you have to tap into the hopes, fears, and dreams of the best freelance writers want. A good job advert should push the very best to get in touch, while gently deterring applicants will little chance of success. To give an example, here is a job ad I found on Problogger: To put it mildly, they are looking for a â€Å"unicorn† writer who has experience working in an Agile software development team, yet can also write superb copy and wants to work as a freelance writer. And prior experience doing so is required. I think it’s great that this company has a clear idea of what they need, but I think that they could sell the opportunity better. The only line about benefits was one line on the price they were willing to pay: Those job ads will get you a large list of unqualified candidates, and a much smaller list of qualified ones. You’ll get a better quality of candidate if you include a section on the benefits that your writers will get from working with you. These benefits might be obvious to you, but they won’t be obvious to your writers. Include examples of benefits you could offer: Creative freedom to write evergreen pieces of content that will stand the test of time, particularly if your business doesn’t have an established blog Reach and impact, particularly if you do have an established blog Insights into how well their writing does Opportunities to network with other writers Input into content strategy Here’s a job ad that I wrote that attracted a huge number  of highly qualified writers: In terms of a template, here’s what I’d include: A short introduction about your company and product or service offering; A line on the ideal client persona; A paragraph on the types of content you need written, including links to existing content if available; A list of the benefits of working with you; A list of the bonus items that you might be looking for (industry experience or access to audience in the industry); and Next steps. This would translate into a job ad that looks like this: ACME corp is an performance feedback SaaS tool that's used daily by thousands of people in Fortune 500 companies worldwide to them improve in their career. A key persona is the VP Human Resources in a Fortune 500 corporation We want you to write articles aimed at pain points in rolling out new HR processes in Fortune 500 organizations, new trends in employee performance evaluation as well as product marketing pieces for new releases. The long term goal is to increase awareness of our product as well as generate new customers for ACME corp. How you'll benefit from working with us: 1) Full credit and bio on our website (no ghostwritten articles) 2) Scope to write high quality, original work that will be an asset i n your portfolio for years to come 3) Experience working for a B2B SaaS startup (high career potential) 4) High production values thanks to beautiful custom illustrations for your work from our designers 5) Competitive remuneration on a per-article basis How you can grab our attention 1) Show how you can bring your article to a wider audience in the HR space after it's published 2) Willingness to learn about and understand our product 3) Attention to detail in following our processes Next Steps Fill out this google form and we'll get in touch if we think you might be a good fit: [Link to Form] Use this template to write an awesome job ad that attracts the best freelance content writers.Put Your Job Ad in Front of a Qualified Audience A small investment to get great applicants is worth every cent. For example, if a job advert costs $100 and results in 100 total applicants and 10 highly qualified ones, you’re paying $10 for a qualified applicant. An ad your own site might net you ten total applicants and one highly qualified applicant. At the same time, you have to spend further time qualifying and testing out new applicants, so the investment of $100 will pay off. Sites I’ve found good for advertising: Problogger  ($100); AngelList  (free); WeWorkRemotely  ($299 for 30 days). Sites like UpWork, Fiverr  or Craigslist  might be a good fit, depending on the type or quality of content you’re working with. You are unlikely to find excellent B2B writers with industry experience on these sites, but you may find writers for lightweight, consumer-oriented content. DID YOU KNOW: makes it easy to share social content (including your freelance job listings page) across all the most popular networks? See how it works. Ask Qualifying Questions via a Survey When it comes to hiring freelance designers, it’s a good rule of thumb that you should expect their work for you to be fairly similar to what you find in their portfolios. In the same vein, when you’re hiring freelance writers, you’ll be frequently disappointed in my experience if you expect an entirely different style of writing than what you found in the past work. Therefore, I’d ask for samples of writing in line with the type of work you want them to do. If you want in-depth case studies with clients, ask them to submit examples of case studies. When you’re looking for industry-specific thought leadership articles, you’ll need a writer who has some experience writing thought leadership style articles. And if you need product marketing style posts outlining how to use your product, I’d look for similar pieces in their portfolio. Here are a few questions I’ve asked in surveys for applications: These questions give me: a feel for their past portfolio, but not so many articles that I don’t have time to read them all; their understanding of what makes an article successful. If they’ll list article reach or generation of qualified leads, they’ll be a good fit for content marketing; an idea of how they write their articles in terms of the research process, time length and input required. Action Step: Test out setting up your first Google Form by following this step-by-step guide. Keep Track of Your Applicants Perhaps you have an applicant tracking system (ATS) in place. In that case, use it! Otherwise, feeding the applications into a Google sheet will do the trick with minimal effort, and you’ll be able to see all the applications in one place. My process for assessing the applications is to go through each one, assigning that application a score between 1 and 10 based on whether they’re a good fit or not. I look for candidates who demonstrate that they have put a little thought into their answers. Relevancy is a crucial part of being a great content writer, so if I see someone has submitted irrelevant content examples, I'll automatically put them at 4 or 5. Then, I'll add on points for each bonus item I'm looking for. For example, if I'm looking for a writer with a large audience, relevant industry experience and experience in long-form content, I'll give an applicant who has two of those bonuses as well as relevant responses a "9" on the scale. Once I’m done, I’ll filter the applications to get the applications with the highest score. Usually, I’m looking for 10-20 applications with a score above 7. These are the application I’ll proceed with to the next stage. Hiring freelance writers for your content marketing team? Read this post first.How Do You Know If Someone Will Be a Good Writer? Now that you’ve gotten a collection of writers who seem promising, the next task is to assess who will be a good fit for your content program. Some applicants who are great on paper won’t work out in practice. At this point, there’s only one way to find out: get them to write a test piece. Provide Editorial Guidelines At this stage, you’ll have a good idea of the type of content you expect from your writers. Scaling your content productions means putting these ideas into words in your editorial guidelines for writers. You can handle the trivialities that keep your content consistent: US or UK English, title case or sentence case for headings, size of images, etc. But you should also demonstrate the type of content you are looking for with examples from your own content or articles from around the web, detailing what makes them special. By giving your freelance writers this information upfront, you’re maximizing their chances of success. Now, you can give your writers this information along with a request to write a single post and see how they do with the challenge. Recommended Reading: How to Build Social Media Branding Guidelines That Will Make Your Brand Memorable Judging the Test Piece Your standards for the test piece should be very high. After all, the test piece is probably the best writing you’ll see from them because the writers want to make a good impression. If the writer returns the piece late or doesn’t follow your style guide, I’d move immediately onto the next candidate. Secondly, if the writing itself isn’t up to scratch, I’d also move on quickly. You’re unlikely to have much success coaching a poor writer. Your time is better off spent helping an â€Å"A† writer move to an â€Å"A+† writer. This is also the reason why it’s important to have a steady stream of inbound candidates. Follow this process to attract tons of qualified freelance content writer candidates to your...Onboarding Your Writers Once you have writers who produce amazing content, you want to keep them onboard. One of the big pieces of information any writer wants to know is how their writing went down. Therefore, sharing stats such as Google analytics reports about how many people read their content is a great way to give them an insight into what’s working and what’s not. Secondly, giving them input and ownership of the content schedule will not only help them feel empowered but also take some of the work off your shoulders. Finally, some writers enjoy putting a face to a name and networking with your peers. You can consider having monthly Google hangouts where you discuss what happened last month, go over analytics reports and share ideas for the upcoming content calendar. DID YOU KNOW: is the industry's leading interactive marketing calendar software platform? See how we can make managing your marketing team all in one place easy. Plus, see how to easily onboard your freelance writing team and turn them into power users in no time. Creating Systems Instead of Campaigns Putting in place the systems for hiring writers takes time and effort. You’ll have to make adjustments over time to suit your individual situation. The payoff, however, is that you’re building a system that can be scaled on demand. Instead of randomly hiring writers, you’ll be able to find the best writers repeatedly, no matter your industry or content style. If leadership asks whether you can hit aggressive goals for your content marketing, you’ll have a system you can trust in, rather than just aspirations of â€Å"working harder†. Have you hired writers? What went well? What didn’t?