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Want to know how to get into Harvard? As you might have guessed, it's a fairly common question we hear from our students and their parents. Attending a prestigious Ivy League school is undoubtedly a dream for many. And, while…
Whether it is for the school’s Hogwarts-like residential college system, its Tony Award-winning Repertory Theatre in residence at the David Geffen School of Drama, its countless alumni who lead in politics, the arts, and business, or simply for the fact…
"Which test should I take, the ACT vs SAT?" "Which test test is easier and when is the easiest test date?" We get asked these questions a lot. That makes sense! Why wouldn't students want to make taking the SAT…
Move over, Harvard. Princeton is the best university in the country, according to US News and World. And with that kind of prestige, you can rightly assume it's nearly impossible to get accepted. If you want to know how to…
The confusion of the testing-optional trend has somehow made college admissions even more intense and competitive. With strong schools looking for even stronger scores, we are proud to continue our commitment to our students' success by introducing an offering guaranteed to…
Out of all the Ivy League schools, Cornell University's acceptance rate is the highest, thus earning the reputation that it is “easy” to get into. However, nothing could be farther from the truth. Cornell has proven to be an extremely…
Ivy League admissions statistics paint a very clear picture of how difficult it is to get accepted into a prestigious school. With an average acceptance rate of just above 9%, the Ivy Leagues are among the most selective schools in…
Columbia University was ranked the third best college in the United States by US News in 2021 and consistently ranks in the top 20 by others. It is the oldest institution of higher learning in New York State and the…
UNITED STATES, June 8, 2021 || Higher Ed Dive [...] Matt Larriva, founder of tutoring business Powerful Prep, in an interview rattled off these criticisms. He said it's unfair that most critiques focus on the tests. The SAT and ACT don't…
When do you take the SAT? The first step in understanding when to take the SAT test is identifying a test prep schedule that works best for you. In this article, I will explain why that's the case and share…
The State of the Tests: 2021 This article comes from my presentation at the College Workshop Week (a big thanks to Penny Reeves for hosting!). Consider it your ultimate guide to ACT and SAT prep. Because there is so much…
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, April 7, 2021 || College Express Concierge Tutoring Firm Works with Test-Prep Student to Consistently Increase Score Powerful Prep, a leading concierge tutoring firm dedicated to transparency, massive point gains, and customized curriculum, announced today that…
An average high school GPA matters less throughout high school. The longer you spend in high school, the less your average high school GPA can move. So, as you progress through the years, shift your focus to the part of…
Many students have questions about weighted GPAs vs unweighted GPAs. Once they learn colleges only look at unweighted GPA's, a common follow-up question it how big the difference between a 3.85 GPA and a 3.9 GPA actually is. While there’s…
Why did the University of California stop accepting and using the ACT/SAT scores for admittance? How’ll they gauge student abilities for acceptance and scholarships? How will the best universities connect with the best students? Yikes. There are a lot of…
So, when do you take the ACT? If you're looking for the easiest test date, I have some bad news; there's technically not one test date that's easier than the others. However... There is a way to determine the most…
Many students ask me about SAT essay scores and request an example of an SAT essay with a perfect score. I will share my response below and explain why this SAT essay example fulfills all the scoring requirements. There are…
I was recently asked about the different types of students who typically take the SAT test and/or the ACT test. In my experience prepping countless students for ACT and SAT testing, I think it's safe to say that you'll encounter…
I went to UPenn and graduated from The Wharton School. UPenn does not have the name recognition that the other schools you listed do. If you asked people to write down all the Ivy League schools, I’m fairly confident UPenn…
It’s been a few weeks since you took the PSAT, and by now you’ve probably even forgotten about it. But PSAT and NMSQT scores have been announced, so now it’s time to figure out exactly what it all means. Confused?…
Every year we get inundated with calls asking for help prepping for the PSAT. Our first response is always the same: Why are you taking the PSAT? After a brief pause the conversations go one of four ways: I just want…
Is getting into UPenn a dream of yours? Do you stay up nights dreaming of what it will be like to stroll down Locust Walk as the cherry blossoms are coming into color around May? Do you have a Benjamin…
While you've likely heard of the AP and IB programs, you're probably less familiar with the CLEP, Dual Enrollment or intersession courses. These are just a few of the many avenues available for students looking to accumulate college credit, saving…
Guessing is one of the most important SAT test-taking strategies. But are you doing it right? In a simpler world, you would be able to guess on every SAT question you couldn’t solve, or didn’t have time for. But the…
On the SAT writing section, we are presented with 43 multiple choice questions (there are 49 total, but 6 are paragraph improvement) which ask us to revise a sentence, or to leave it as-is. Over time, students have been conditioned…
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Master Tutor and Powerful Prep founder, Matt Larriva, reviews each student’s progress monthly to provide guidance, tweak study plans, and supplement tutoring approaches.
This second layer of insight and experience is one of the many ways that Powerful Prep ensures the most personalized service and the strongest results for its students.
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