The Deep Test Prep journal
Guides to SAT prep and college essays
Guides to SAT study plans, test-day decisions, and the skills behind a good answer, plus help writing your college essay.
14 guides
Test Strategy
Desmos Tricks for SAT Math
Try the Desmos features that turn SAT math questions into a few typed lines: regressions, functions, graphed answer choices, sliders, and lists.
Read the guideAI for Learning
How to Build Your Vocabulary With AI
Have AI read your own conversations and teach you the words you were reaching for, each with an example, a near synonym, and its opposite.
Read the guideAI for Learning
How to Study Any School Subject With AI
Have AI teach a subject you didn't choose through what you already care about, then recall it aloud in voice mode to find the gaps.
Read the guideAI for Learning
How to Use AI to Explore Your Curiosity and Blind Spots
Ask AI what you would find fascinating but haven't learned yet, and where your thinking has blind spots, while the judgment stays yours.
Read the guideTest Strategy
When to Use Desmos on the SAT
Learn which SAT math questions Desmos answers faster and more safely, which ones it can't help with, and how to tell them apart.
Read the guideTest Strategy
Why Desmos Isn't Showing the Answer on an SAT Question
Fix the Desmos screens that hide an SAT answer: a crossing off the screen, a warning triangle, the wrong angle unit, and a decimal that matches no choice.
Read the guideSAT Planning
How to Tell Which SAT Math Skill to Practice Next
Trace each missed SAT math question to the skill behind it, like an algebra slip or an unfamiliar equation, and practice that skill first.
Read the guideAI for Learning
How to Learn SAT Math With AI
Turn ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini into a math tutor that gives you hints instead of answers and checks your reasoning.
Read the guideSAT Planning
Study Habits of Students Who Improve Most in SAT Math
The habits shared by students whose SAT math scores rise, from a steady schedule to solving each question by hand and in Desmos.
Read the guideCollege Essay
Writing a College Essay Only You Could Write
Fix the mistakes that make college essays forgettable, with examples and AI prompts that help you think without writing for you.
Read the guideSAT Planning
Build an SAT study plan that fits your week
A realistic rhythm for school weeks and school breaks: learn a skill, practice it, and return to it before you forget.
Read the guideTest Strategy
Check the reasoning, not the answer-letter pattern
A run of the same letter is a reason to notice your doubt. Use the question’s evidence to decide whether an answer needs changing.
Read the guideVocabulary
When to return to an SAT vocabulary question
Use context, choose your best answer, and flag genuine uncertainty. A practical way to protect your time within each module.
Read the guideVocabulary
Build SAT vocabulary through context and recall
Find the sentence clue, predict the meaning, and test the choices. Practice four words, then return to them from memory.
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