Top Tier Admissions
Every fall, our families often ask some version of the same question: “Should my student take the SAT or the ACT?” Colleges do not award extra credit for choosing the ‘harder’ test, and institutions such as Penn, Yale, and Stanford explicitly say they do not prefer one exam over the other. The real question is […]
Preparing for the SAT or ACT starts with knowing which college entrance exam best matches your strengths, and that begins with a solid SAT vs. ACT diagnostic test. Once you’ve identified the right exam for your testing strategy, the key to meaningful score improvement is learning how to evaluate your practice tests effectively. High-quality practice […]
In my years as a classroom teacher and school counselor, I spent a morning every October proctoring the PSAT. I passed out test booklets, answer sheets, and No. 2 pencils while reading a script of directions and reminding students to fill in bubbles completely so that scores would be accurate. In more recent years, I […]
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many colleges and universities suspended their requirements for applicants to submit standardized test scores. Post-pandemic, standardized testing requirements have gradually returned. As we enter the 2025-2026 admissions cycle, many of the most selective colleges in the country, including Cornell, Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown, and the University of Pennsylvania, will […]
With the launch of the digital SAT in March 2024 and the more recent updates to the ACT in April 2025 (both of which introduced significant changes to test formats) the standardized testing landscape is more uncertain than ever. At Top Tier Admissions, we’ve received a steady stream of questions about these shifts, so we’re […]
The Senior Year Roadmap
Every deadline from August to May – test dates, applications. decisions – in one place. Signup to download the full 9-page Senior Year Roadmap (PDF)