GuidesWritten by Rick, one reader at a time
The guides.
Each one answers a question a real family or applicant asked, for one kind of reader, with numbers and a plan for this week. Pick your test.
SAT
ACT
PSAT
- Does PSAT prep help with the SAT? Finishing testing a year early
- Is National Merit worth money? Texas schools' automatic awards
- The PSAT mistake that costs families six figures: treating October as practice
- The PSAT Selection Index, explained: why Reading and Writing counts double
- PSAT tutoring in Austin: what Eanes, Lake Travis and Round Rock families ask
GRE
- Relearning math for the GRE when you haven't done algebra in ten years
- GRE quantitative comparison: four traps you can spot in 20 seconds
- GRE text completion without flashcards: the clue and the pivot
- Is the GRE still required in 2026? And why optional helps you
- GRE or GMAT for an MBA: who should pick the GRE
GMAT
- GMAT critical reasoning: the nine argument structures
- Data Insights is a third of your score. Here is the method.
- Data sufficiency moved to Data Insights. The logic didn't change.
- GMAT Focus scores explained: 655, 705, 745, and the old-score conversion
- A GMAT Focus study plan for 60-hour weeks: 10 weeks, 8 hours a week
LSAT
- LSAT tutor cost in 2026: $160 to $600 an hour, and what you get at each price
- Stuck at 161: the five misses that separate 161 from 170
- The 12 logical reasoning argument structures
- LSAT reading comprehension: structure-mapping instead of comprehension
- Logic Games are gone. Here is how that changes your study plan.
MCAT
- Is an MCAT tutor worth it? The $400,000 question without a sales pitch
- MCAT tutor cost in 2026: $40 to $480 an hour, and why the range is so wide
- CARS is a structure-reading test: a method for pre-meds
- The content-review trap: why three months of books plateau at 505
- How to take a 7.5-hour MCAT full-length: schedule, food, breaks