More than three million American students stress over the SAT and ACT college admissions tests every year. Tens of millions more take annual accountability tests in their public schools as required by federal law. These students now have a new tool in their arsenal to take on standardized tests. Piqosity,Read More

The summer break is an excellent time for rising juniors to begin serious preparations for the SAT and ACT, as well as the PSAT. With schoolwork out of the picture, students have more time to prepare for these tests—outside of summer activities, of course. However, with the PSAT changing thisRead More

The holiday season is in full swing, and many want their holiday party to be both enjoyable and unique. At General Academic, we always make room for trivia at our parties–have to keep our people on their toes, after all! This year, I’ve decided to share that trivia with you,Read More

Computer Science Education Week and Code.org’s “Hour of Code” are in full swing, reaching out to millions of people worldwide. Code.org hopes to demystify computer science for the masses and establish computer science as part of the core curriculum for all schools. This is particularly important for students in theRead More

On Friday 3/14, thousands of Houston area students will receive notifications of whether or not they were admitted to the private school of their choice. Schools time the mailings to coincide with spring break so that parents have time to “chill” over drinks at the beach. Two weeks later, HISDRead More

Redesigning the SAT for 2016 Big changes are coming to the SAT in the spring of 2016.  On March 5th, College Board President David Coleman revealed his organization’s plans to shift the SAT from superficially testing a broad selection of concepts to more focused testing on a select few concepts. Read More

Houston tutors have an answer to your student’s problems: online homework help service blasts off from Texas. It’s a too common occurrence when a teenage child comes home and asks for help with his Algebra II homework. Unsurprisingly, not many adults remember how to translate a parabola. It’s of noRead More

The High School Placement Test (HSPT) Scholastic Testing Service’s HSPT is an admissions test for entry into Catholic High Schools.  The HSPT contains five multiple-choice sections: Verbal, Quantitative Skills, Reading, Mathematics, and Language Skills.  Depending on the school, the HSPT might also feature an optional section covering Science, Mechanical AptitudeRead More

The Education Records Bureau’s (ERB) ISEE features three levels: Lower Level (Applicants to 5th and 6th grade), Middle Level (Applicants to 7th and 8th grade), and Upper Level (Applicants to 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade).  The structure of each test is the same.  However, time limitations and the difficultyRead More

The market for Private Schools in Houston is very competitive and the Independent School Entrance Exam, the ISEE, is an important part of the application process.  By excelling on the ISEE, the student achieves an edge over the other students applying to the same school, very much like the SAT,Read More

There are essentially three aspects to language acquisition: writing skills, verbal skills and listening comprehension skills.  When learning a foreign language, the written component is comprised of producing written material, while verbal is, of course, speaking.  Both of these components form their own separate challenges due to the fact thatRead More

Time management is a skill that everybody seems to think is important and few people seem to have mastered.  As a student, it’s one of the most important improvements you can make not only to increase your current academic performance, but also to become more effective in your extracurricular activities,Read More

Learning to take notes correctly is a simple but necessary step to becoming a successful student.  Not only do taking good notes allow you to study for tests more effectively, the act of taking notes actually helps you to learn the material in class, as you write it down.  TakingRead More

Completing one year in school is always an exciting moment for students, but it can also be quite stressful when peering into the near future.  Advancing to the next grade can present many challenges, including how to adapt to changes in learning strategies.  We recommend that students learn how toRead More

Public speaking is an activity that inspires fear in nearly every student.  Developing public speaking skills, however, does not require you to be active in the theatre department, committed to the debate team, or interested in a future of politics and speech crafting.  In this guide we discuss a fewRead More

If your room is a complete mess, a mess that hasn’t been straightened in weeks, cleaning it can feel like a scary task.  You look at the mess and just think “I don’t even know where to begin.”  Getting your grades to improve in school can feel the same way.Read More