Civil Movements Discrimination and Its Consequences

Civil Movements Discrimination and Its Consequences Introduction Since time in memorial, different groups of people in human history have received varied treatment based on their gender, race and ethnicity. This means that some injustices and inequalities exist in various parts of the world. In this regard, human rights groups and civil movements have emerged to challenge the existing social structure and social arrangements that segregate some members of society.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Civil Movements: Discrimination and Its Consequences specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More By definition, civil liberties are those rights that a person should be allowed to exercise without restriction. In other words, they are natural and granted naturally. The UN charter states that individuals must exercise their rights without state intervention. Conversely, state sovereignty is incompatible with individual freedoms and rights. In the United States, the constitution a llows people to participate in public activities without discrimination based on either race or gender. The constitution was amended to suit the desires and wishes of the majority. After the American Civil War, the US government came up with laws that would bar some states from exercising political injustices as regards to voting and electioneering process in general. Various groups have stood up firmly to demand for their rights, including the 1960s civil groups. Even though the US constitution and various acts of congress condemn discrimination and injustice, various groups are still faced with a problem of domination and sub-ordination in key sectors of the economy. Few people control the means of production while men own the majority of societal wealth. Some groups such as women and the youths are not incorporated in political processes as equal partners. Their roles are not clearly defined, which leaves something to be desired. This article addresses the problem of discriminati on and its consequences. This would be an attempt to explain the existing injustices in various sectors of the economy and in the society generally. Synopsis of the Problem The main problems that breed injustices in the American society are male patriarchy, unequal economic relations (capitalism), political participation and racial discrimination. The three problems are closely related in that one affects the other. The black race and women are more affected because their culture is never respected.Advertising Looking for research paper on public administration? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Furthermore, they are the proletariat meaning that the bourgeoisie uses them in acquiring power and material possessions. Women are always relegated to the private domain of the home while the black race is forced to work for the white race in order to make a living (Azevedo 54). The unequal relation between men and women and b etween the blacks and whites is a major problem that concerns the civil movements. In fact, the majority of civil groups are formed to address the problem of unequal distribution of wealth and the position of women and the blacks in society. It is noted that the blacks were shipped from Africa in the 16th to 19th centuries to work for the white race. This implies that they were treated in the same way as stocks. Human beings were elements that could be used in trade, just as gold, silver and coffee. Slaves went through unpalatable conditions while in the hands of white masters. They could be beaten, overworked, harassed sexually and in extreme cases, exterminated. Africans could not tolerate these conditions, which forced them to engage whites and the government in conflicts in order to free themselves. They formed various civil groups that would liberate them from the house of bondage. The civil movements were formed in various places within the country but the major ones were crea ted in 1960s. The civil groups gave Africans and other neglected groups a chance to articulate their issues. Through the groups, various reforms were made, including constitutional amendments. The civil organizations were first controlled by the government but were later on allowed to operate as private entities. Most groups were controlled by religious organizations and faiths. Maulana Karenga observes that the major aim of civil groups was to break down impediments that affected socio-political and economic participation within the US society (185). The organizations intended to remove penalties and societal barriers that segregated people based on race and gender. Africans in America had tried to gain political and economic freedom for over a century, being traced back to the Civil War. This means that in American history, blacks have never enjoyed their freedoms as regards to political participation such as voting for preferred candidates, being voted for, being appointed to key government positions and being involved in governmental decision-making. In the economic front, they were included in the financial system as underdogs.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Civil Movements: Discrimination and Its Consequences specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Though Africans were making some progress pertaining to their rights and freedoms, the southerners had formulated stricter rules and regulations that could not allow blacks to interact freely in society. The southerners perpetually subjugated and oppressed the civil society. This means that people were not allowed to assemble or move freely. In the south, Africans could not access equal opportunities in terms of education and social interaction. Public services such as schools, hospitals and other recreational facilities were not available to Africans. Racial discrimination was practiced in all parts of the country. For instance, those indi viduals who escaped from the south encountered similar problems elsewhere. The society had an issue with the black race because no one appreciated the fact that each person has an equal opportunity in life. The south implemented unpopular laws, which were oppressive in nature. They were referred to as Crow’s laws. It is evident that the society disliked the black race. The police implemented the law separately. Strict measures were applied to Africans while the whites were favored in many occasions. In the labor market, blacks never feared any better. They were allocated inferior jobs and were subjected to poor working conditions, without proper housing policies. White citizens harassed blacks but the law enforcement agencies never acted to avert the situation. Blacks were subjected to public beating or were arrested without proper reason in case found intermingling with the whites. Achievements of Civil Movements Africans in America managed to change some policies that infri nged on their rights and freedoms. Unity is one of the factors that helped Africans since they would act as an entity but not as individuals. This ensured that they were not victimized and harassed. The first break through was witnessed in 1909 when the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was formed. The organization was formed in response to the 1908 riots that occurred in Illinois State. The organization aimed at improving the lifestyles of Africans by condemning racial segregation. However, as Maulana Karenga puts it, the movement was ineffective because it was controlled by the white race. This means that it could not apply techniques such as violent rioting meaning that it was not militant. To some extent, the movement managed to put off repressive Crow’s laws that permitted the lynching of Africans in public places. The activities of blacks were boosted in 1950s when the high court decided that laws discriminating blacks be put off.Adverti sing Looking for research paper on public administration? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In the education front, the court rejected the south’s move to have a separate educational curriculum for white and black students. It can be concluded that NAACP managed to convince the government to allow Africans to vote. This played a key role in abolishing segregation and racial violence. Another important achievement was witnessed in 1956 when rioters stormed the streets demanding for equal representation and freedom of movement. The protests took place at Montgomery Bus station where the blacks decided to change the seating arrangements, which was also racially segregated. For a long time, the rights of blacks had been infringed because they were not allowed to decide where to seat when travelling. Africans decided not to use bus services and opted for other means of transportation for over a year. This was a blow to the whites. Whites had no option but to grant independence to black passengers. The achievements at Montgomery encouraged other blacks to take part in the same inconsistencies hence granting Africans more powers all over the country. Civil movements were transformed with the emergency of leaders such as Martin Luther king Jr. The leader was very dynamic as regards to political activities in the entire US. Luther King ensured that blacks made a progress in the political field. The activist was involved in the Montgomery bus strike and other important activities that followed. In particular, he contributed in the establishment of the southern Christian Leadership. In 1963, he participated in a peaceful demonstration that serves as an icon to the activities of the civil groups. It was at the same time that he gave a famous speech titled ‘I have a dream’. The contents of the speech inspired so many people in the entire US. Luther King was one of the best orators since he commanded a high respect among both whites and blacks. During the Washington demonstration, he led a group that consisted of over 250, 0000 people. The 1963 demonstration wanted the government to check on police brutality, segregation in public schools and provision of an effective job program. Africans had no jobs, apart from being harassed by the police. It is unfair to mention civil movements in the US without describing the efforts of Martin Luther King Jr. He was rewarded with a noble peace prize due to his incomparable contributions to the activities of civil organizations. Martin Luther King ensured that each person was allowed to exercise his or her right without state intervention. Problems Encountered One of the major problems was resistance from whites and government. The activities of blacks were interpreted as a direct violation of law. The police could frequently corner African leaders and harass them thoroughly. Whites ridiculed Africans, terming them as failures. It was very difficult for Africans to convince other races that each person had a right and a role to play in society. During the development of the movement, Africans were perpetually denied services such as shopping. This implies that whites could not sell anything to Africans. In other words, the civil movements had no government support. They had to fight it alone, which proved to be tricky. Furthermore, Africans had no resources to be utilized in coordinating their activities. Calling for mass action demands capital. However, Africans soldiered on with their efforts despite lacking enough capital (Jacob 90). For feminist civil movements, the major problem was unity. Women were not united because their objectives were not uniform. Black women were much concerned about living standards and improvement of social services such as healthcare, medication, childcare services and food security. On the other hand, academic feminists wanted the state to recognize academic literature formulated by women. They proposed that feminist courses should be incorporated in the national curricula. In this field, feminine courses are currently offered in various institutions of higher learning. White feminism wanted the government to institute laws that could provide them with equal opportunities. They were also concerned about domestic violence where women were forced to have sex with their male counterparts. Conflict of interests could be singled out as the major problem encountered by women in their quest to freedom (McPherson 89). Conclusion Overall, the civil rights movements have helped black people and other minorities achieve their dreams and goals. The civil groups insist that an individual has the right to do as he or she wishes as long as he or she does not violate the law. In this regard, each person has the potential to fulfill his or her wishes. The state should only act as a means to individual fulfillment. This has seen many blacks participate in elections actively. It is not surprising that the current US president is a black. This is highly attributable to the activities of civil movements since independence. Howe ver, racial and gender discrimination is still eminent in society. However, more needs to be done to eliminate the problem. Azevedo, Joaquim. Africana studies: a survey of Africa and the African Diaspora. 3rd ed. Carolina: Carolina Academic Press, 2005. Web. Jacob, Harriet. Incidents in the life of a slave girl. Harvard: Harvard University Press, 2007. Print. Karenga, Maulana. Introduction to Black studies. 2nd ed. Michigan: University of Sankore Press, 2010. Web. McPherson, James. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. Oxford: Pulitzer Prize, 2003. Print.

ACT Prep Methods Pros and Cons of Each

Secret Truths of SAT / ACT Prep Methods Pros and Cons of Each SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips You know it's a great idea to prep for the SAT and ACT. After all, for most students it's the most time-efficient way to increase their college admission chances. However, there are so many ways to prep for the test out there what's the best way for you? Obviously, some methods will be better than others, but it's also the case that some methods are overall not very good. Quite frankly, every single SAT / ACT prep method has certain strengths. For some students, tutoring is by far the best while, for others, self-study is clearly optimal. Which one to choose depends on your circumstances and budget, but it’s quite simple to figure out. Pay careful attention because finding the right prep method for you is by far the highest leverage choice you can make to improve your SAT / ACT score. If you choose correctly, you may never again have to worry about test scores. The follow through will be easy, and the point improvements will be quick. Some say half the work is just getting started. I disagree half the work is getting started correctly. Introduction I’ve had personal experience in helping thousands of students study for the SAT. This means that I have a lot of experience and exposure to both the best and the worst prep methods. Name any test prep method, and I’ve probably mentored at least a dozen students who’ve tried it. For each method, I can tell you exactly what worked and didn’t. The â€Å"all iPhone ACT prep† method? The â€Å"binge SAT practice tests† method? The â€Å"six separate private tutors† method? I’ve seen them all, both the success and the carnage, and I can tell you exactly which methods work for which students. To top that off, I’ve developed many test prep methods myself. The first test prep method I made was back in 2003 for myself. When I got 200 points lower than I wanted on the SAT, I sat down and carefully developeda strategy that eventually got me a perfect score and admissions into Harvard. Today, as cofounder of PrepScholar, I’ve written ACT and SAT prep methods for my students, helping them improve their scores sometimes as much as 300 points on the SAT and 5 points on the ACT, or more. All this has taught me the importance of one single point: If you are going to actually improve your ACT and SAT scores, you need to choose the method that best fits your style! You see, like a boat setting sail, a small correction at the start means a big difference in where you end up. If you head in the right direction now, it can save you weeks of agony later on. Prepping the wrong way will totally waste your time and money. You’ll be hosed if you self-study but have no insight on how to improve. You’re also sunk if what you really need is to focus on a couple of areas, but you make the mistake of taking a small group class. The wrong prep can make you feel hopeless and doubt whether you can ever improve your SAT and ACT scores. That’s the bad news. The good news is you really can learn what method is best for you if you have an expert like me (or anyone else with as muchexperience) willing to debunk the topic and take the mystery out of it for you. Students, parents†¦ start your engines! You are, as promised, going to learn the real pros and cons of the different prep methods. Tutoring Is tutoring the best prep method across the board? After all, it costs the most usually running into three or four digits the same cost as a year of tuition at many good public universities! At that price, tutoring must be good, right? I’ve worked with hundreds of tutoring students as well as tutored many students myself in ACT and SAT prep, and I can debunk the myths for you. Pros If all goes well, tutoring is indeed the very best prep you can get. When things go well, your tutor will not only be a great scorer on the SAT / ACT, but your tutor will also be vetted to be a great teacher. It's not enough to have a tutor who only scores well on standardized tests; they also must be able to explain their methods in a way that helps you perform well too. When things go well, tutors will sit with you one-on-one and actively diagnose your errors. They’ll look at your specific errors, ask you specific questions, and use their expertise to figure out customized strategies. Imagine an expert mechanic asking exactly the right question to find which screw in your car needs tightening and then going in and tightening it the right amount. This is what the best tutors will do for you. There’s also a definite emotional advantage to tutoring. The tutor pays close, specific attention to the student and provides emotional support as well as psychological assurance. If you let the test get inside your head, then tutoring can help. The tutor will build a personal connection and soften the anxiety the student feels in taking the test. Cons But, truth be told, most real cases of tutoring fall short of this ideal. The major issue is finding the right tutor. I’ve seen so many tutors who score less than 1400 on the SAT or less than 32 on the ACT. When you’re scoring this low as a tutor, it reveals serious gaps in base skill content. The tutor probably doesn’t understand the most sophisticated idioms or doesn't know how to answer non-routine math problems quickly. This affects not only students who are aiming for above 1400 out of 1600 on the SAT or 32 out of 36 on the ACT, but alsostudents who are aiming for a more modest score like 1000 or 20. You want a tutor who is much better than you, not just a bit better. If you’re learning to drive, you don’t want to learn from someone who just passed their exam last month you want a professional with years of on-the-road experience. Is score all that matters then? Is the solution to hire a college freshman with a perfect score for $50/hour? No. Even if you find a high scorer, there is still the question of whether the tutor can teach. Tom Brady is one of the best football players but is he the best guy to coach a middle school student who is just getting started with the sport? You might think that a decent professional football player who really understands the struggle of middle-school players would make a better coach and you’d be absolutely right. Teaching is hard. You have to understand each student’s way of thinking and then fix the student’s mistakes. However, many purely high scorers suffer from the curse of knowledge. Doing well on the ACT / SAT is so second nature to many high scorers that they have no idea what it’s like not to understand. These suffering tutors explain the same strategies that worked for them over and over again. Unsurprisingly, on the day scores come out, there’s no increase and everyone is disappointed. Here’s a fact that’ll blow your mind: 75% of tutors are not fully effective for their students. Usually, this is more because they don’t know how to teach and notbecause their score is too low. How to Make It Effective The best way to fight against this is to get a good reference. Like lawyers and doctors, the best way to find a good tutoris to get a close friend to tell you who worked for them. Make sure that your referrer’s situation is the same as yours: if your student is scoring high, you don’t want a reference from a low-scorer with a learning disability who may have had different struggles than your student If you don’t have a close reference, an equally good option is to hire a tutor through a company. A reputable company itself acts as the best reference possible. A company like ours has incredibly high standards. We select our tutors through rigorous mock sessions. Our interviewers are tutoring stars themselves. Finally, we keep on grading our tutors monthly to ensure continuing quality, and we match each student to the best tutor for them. We’re not the only company that provides tutors out there, but you definitely want to get a match from a high-quality company. Here’s a list of questions you must ask the tutoring company: Do you require each tutoring candidate to mock tutor before you hire them? Do you only hire tutors who scored 95%tile or above? Do you only have tutors with previous experience improving scores? Do you screen more than a dozen applicants for each tutor you hire? For us, the answers are all yes, and you’d want any company doing tutoring for you to answer yes to everything above too. I can tell you right now, the top two oldest big names in test prep don’t qualify they’ve grown so old and convoluted that the left hand barely knows what the right hand is doing. Summary Cons of tutoring: Hard to select the right tutor Most expensive test prep option Pros of tutoring: If you choose the right tutor, it’s the most effective prep possible Great tutors can give you personalized diagnosis of your issues as well as emotional attention and enforcement Classes Oh boy, classes are going to be a fun topic for me to talk about. There are just so many stories that you wouldn’t believe! But I’ll get to that in just a moment. First, let me be clear. When I say classes, I mean a physical room (or worse, a Skype virtual room) where one teacher stands at the front and talks to many students at a time. Cons Where did classes go wrong? After all, don’t most students in school learn in classes? Doesn’t it combine the best of all worlds? After all, don’t you get a live person without the cost of a tutor? But when it comes to test prep, classes are a recipe for failure like none other. They’re the perfect storm of two ingredients that create destruction. On the one hand, students come into test prep with vastly different skills. Some students will be scoring 20th percentile; other students will be scoring 80th percentile. Some students really need vocab help; others need to make fewer careless mistakes. On the other hand, classrooms have a fixed curriculum. They teach every student the same sequence of lessons and spend the same amount of time on each topic. Mix them together, and you have the perfect recipe for the least effective way to test prep. What will you be doing in a test prep class? Half the time, you’ll be going over stuff you already know. Already know all of Algebra I? Don’t be surprised if you waste multiple hours getting lectured on how to isolate variables and solve for x. On the opposite front, are you having problems with careless mistakes? Don’t be surprised if your course only spends a couple of minutes talking about how to attack careless mistakes and instead devotes a bunch of time to strategies that couldn’t possibly apply to you. But why do classes work well for school? In school, everyone is up to the same speed. When you took Literature II, everyone in your class had already taken Literature I. When all students are at the same point, the same lessons make sense. With test prep, the exact opposite is true: students come in at vastly different levels and don’t have enough time to catch up during the short course. Trust us, many of us at PrepScholar took classes back in high school (when we were naive), and each one of us hasregretted it. One horror story revolved around a big-name test prep company. The teacher spent three hours reading dictionary definitions of vocab words: â€Å"Timmy do you know what the definition of plethora is?† †¦ â€Å"No, Timmy, that is not right. Katie, do you have an answer?† Imagine that exchange repeated about 90 times and you can imagine how that 3-hour class went. To add insult to injury, many of the biggest names don’t have particularly high standards when it comes to hiring class teachers. Anyone who has a passable resume will get hired. We were literally told this directly by a hiring manager of one of the big-two tutoring company branches. Oh, and did I mention classes still aren't that cheap? They're only slightly cheaper than tutoring but lack many benefits. Classes don’t offer customization and still cost up to $2000. Compare that to our tutoring program that costs less than $2000, and you'll scratch your head wondering why you don't either upgrade to tutoring or save money with a more automated program. Pros I should be fair to classes at this point. There is one type of student classes do work on: If your student has huge motivational issues, and only motivational issues, classes can work. If your student just needs someone to stand over them to get work done, and the qualifications and teaching ability of the person standing over them don't matter, then classes can boost that student’s score. Self Study Self study is the original form of test preparation, and it has some very distinct advantages. First, it’s incredibly cheap free if you do it right and use library books. Students essentially create their own programs and find out what to study and when. Self study can work, and you can find success stories all over the Internet. The first step of a self study program is to identify the right resources. Princeton Review books tend to work best for fast studiers who only want to improve a little, especially by working on test tricks instead of underlying skills. Kaplan is good if you’re mid-range, and Barron’s is the best if you’re at the top and willing to really sink time into getting an even higher score. You then need to self-diagnose your issues by analyzing questions you got wrong on practice tests and training questions. Divide these issues into content holes versus strategy holes. Then, design a study plan to figure out exactly how you will improve up until test day. You absolutely must stick to putting in the hours you promised yourself and revise your study plan as you get more data about what is working and what isn’t. Pros As you can probably see, self studyworks best for a certain set of students. It’s important that you’re self-motivated. If you’ve had a history of being able to plop down hundreds of hours of time to concentrate on a singular goal, then self study might be the right choice for you. If you’re the type of student who gets distracted from time to time or benefits from some external encouragement, you should be careful. Self study also works best for students who are already doing well on the test. They understand enough of the test, and how they have improved in the past, to self-diagnose their issues correctly. Cons It’s very easy, especially if you don’t fit the profile above, to fall by the wayside if you choose to self study. The number one most common mistake is running out of motivation. Like going on a diet, students are a lot more enthusiastic at the start. After tenhours of pounding away at questions, reality sets in. Some students browse YouTube, others skip study days, and still some students grab at any other reason (â€Å"I gotta finish this homework!†) to not study. The second most common reason for self study failing badly is not self-diagnosing correctly. We’ve seen so many self studiers go through a book cover to cover. Most of the material the student probably knows already, and the few pages that really hit upon a weak spot the student glosses over. Other students become obsessed with ways to â€Å"trick† the test and get really into test-taking tactics that don’t actually work for them. Summary on Self Study The end conclusion is that self study can work,and it has producedsome stellar cases you can read about on the Internet. And it is absolutely the cheapest way to study, especially when paired with a library. However, the student does need to be very insightful and self-motivated, and even then there is still a lot of risk involved. Many parents we’ve encountered are confident of their student’s ability to self study. However, often they still invest in help just to be safe after all, it’s their student’s education, their student’s future we're talkingabout here. Some students take pride in self studying, but it’s instructive to ask yourself whether pride or getting the highest score is more important. In the end, for well-qualified students, the decision is a personal one. Online Prep Programs The Internet is more popular now than ever. Budding Internet technologies that were just wisps of ideas in the 1990s are now functional, tested realities. If you’re a parent, you may remember decades ago when we would wait hours to download a tiny file over a noisy modem. Today videos can be streamed live to teach lessons anywhere. I know exactly what you’re thinking. Is online prep for real? The promise of instant access to hundreds and thousands of hours of lessons right in front of you sounds too good to be true. The idea that a machine can pick and choose lessons based on your exact skill level seems too much like science fiction. Can online test prep be the holy grail, or is it just catering to the hype, taking advantage of buzz words? Lucky for you, we at PrepScholar have an exceptional online prep program. What that means is that, in order to develop our product, we’ve done thorough research on every single program out there. We’re here to tell you what works and what doesn’t. First, I want to debunk some myths for you. Online test prep can provide a much better learning experience than usual, but it is not magical learning. If you’re picturing instant, effortless understanding, that’s NOT what online test prep is. Let’s debunk the myths. Here is what online test prep CANNOT do for you: Improve your score without you putting in time Make learning as relaxing as watching a TV show Allow you to learn passively, putting in no effort Improve your score substantially if you have no motivation Eliminate your careless mistakes without you thinking hard about them In fact, no test prep can pull off the magic above! Online test prep is not magic; it can’t get you a 4x improvement (in either efficiency or raw point increase) over the best traditional test prep methods. Anyone claiming revolutionary effortlessness should be seriously examined for whether they’re telling the truth. For quantitative types, a good estimate is that online prep isabout TWICE as good as traditional test prep. In that sense, online test prep can work better! A good online test prep program will: Be comprehensive Diagnose the student’s strengths and weaknesses Assign content lessons based on this diagnosis Keep updating the diagnostics based on student progress Assign strategy lessons based on student performance Let the student know at every single point in time what to work on, whether it’s practice tests, quizzes, lessons, drills, or even taking a break Have exact measures of the student’s skill in every category Motivate the student using progress bars, reminders, and regular parental progress reports If you’ve been following other blog posts about how we recommend students prep for the SAT, you'll have seen that these strategies are strongly recommended even if you are studying on your own. Look around on the Internet and do your own research: You’ll find every high scorer, every high point improver, has used a close variation of the above strategy to achieve their goal. Pros What online test prep does is make the above customization process totally automated so you can put all your hard work into learning and not into stressing about what to do next.It is our strong opinion that the best online prep programs are indeed effective. Another advantage is cost. By letting a computer monitor you and help you, online prep programs are generally a lot more affordable than classroom programs and tutoring. Most online prep programs are twice as affordable (if not more) than classes, and online programs are more effective as well. Finally, another fringe benefit of online prep is you can study anywhere. Students are busy, and studying from a car before soccer practice, or at home if you live away from city center, is very important in encouraging students to put in the right hours. Cons One strong warning about online test prep programs though: You absolutely must choose the right one. Many online test programs are just riding on hype and haven’t invested much in their program. One online prep program by a big-name test prep company costs hundreds of dollars. You take a one-time diagnostic, and then you get an e-book with certain sections highlighted. Here’s the kicker: The e-book is the same as the $20 book they sell at Barnes and Nobles. I personally asked this program’s saleslady about whether this method was good, and she frankly told me, â€Å"Yeah, almost no students finish this program.† I was shocked they would market such a program. Another â€Å"boutique test prep company† started by a celebrity tutor had an online test prep program that was literally just a PDF. No customization, no progress reports. You pay a few hundred bucks, and all you get is access to a site with a PDF. My jaw dropped. Bad online test prep programs offer only token customization, no guidance, and no motivation. They’re no better than e-books. In fact, many programs are actually literally that: an e-book! Note From Our Experience: At PrepScholar, we’ve created a prep program that succeeds in all the ways we described above. It’s based on our founders’ own study methods from when they got their perfect SAT scores and 99th percentile ACT scores. These methods have been improved over time with the thousands of students they’ve taught. Our complete online prep program guides you through a structured study plan from beginning to end. You start by taking adiagnostic exam, and we automatically determine your strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics. Next, we create a customized study plan for you, assigning you the right lessons and practice questions to work on every week. For example, if you always ace the math section but need help with tricky grammar, your study plan will explain grammar rules carefully and won’t waste your time with math problems you already understand. We track your progress and automatically adjust your schedule so that you’re always workin g on what’s best for you. We also integrate real practice tests into your program, so you get training for the real exam. We also go above and beyond the teaching by caring about student motivation. We know that it’s easy for you to get distracted, even if you know that SAT / ACT prep is important. That’s why we send out progress reports every week to you and your parent, so you know you’re on track. We also help you fit prep into your schedule and commit to your study times. These features have been proven to increase study time by over 200%, leading to better score results. What's Next? You have many choices when it comes to test prep, and each methodhasspecific strengths and weaknesses. Tutoring is great for it’s effectiveness, although you can face problems finding theright tutor and affordingits high cost. Classes are generally not very effective, but they can be good for students who need just monitoring. Self-study is very effective when done right, but it requires motivation, insight, and getting it right. While each method has strong and weak points, that doesn’t mean the methods are created equal for example classes are usually a bad deal, whereas self-study often works. And, of course, everyone today should be seriously considering online prep. It’s an affordable method that can lead to better results than self-study and textbooks. However, only some online programs are actually effective. At PrepScholar, we avoid the mistakes that other programs make and deliver a comprehensive prep program specifically designed to maximize your score. Further Reading Thinking about tutoring? Check out our guide to learn if online tutoring is right for you. Want to get started on your test prep?We have great tips to help you boost your SAT score orACT score. Are you aiming for a top score?Read our guides to getting a perfect score on the SAT or a perfect score on the ACT, written by a full-scorer of both exams.