Strategy, tips, and exam guides for the SAT, ACT, and AP® exams — from a Barron's author with 20+ years of experience.
Test anxiety is more common than students realize, and it can be managed with the right tools. Here are practical techniques you can use during prep and on test day for the SAT, ACT, AP exams, and other high-stakes tests — from breathing strategies to free-response tactics.
Desmos is built into the Digital SAT, but defaulting to it on every problem is one of the biggest time-sinks I see in students prepping for the test. Here are 9 specific problem types where doing the work by hand is faster, plus the rule I drill into every student about when to put the calculator down.
Once you've worked through the foundational Desmos techniques (linear regression, sliders, graphing systems, the percent and fraction shortcuts), you've got the core toolkit most students rely on. (If you haven't yet, start with the free Ten Tips for Desmos on…
By Brian Stewart, Barron’s SAT, ACT & PSAT Author & Perfect SAT/ACT Scorer Updated October 21, 2026 AP English Language key terms help you explain how a writer builds an argument. This guide covers 60 useful AP Lang concepts, including…
By Brian Stewart, Barron’s SAT, ACT & PSAT Author & Perfect SAT/ACT Scorer The AP® Biology exam tests how well you understand the way living systems actually work. Memorization alone will not get you there. The course is organized around…
By Brian Stewart, Barron’s SAT, ACT & PSAT Author & Perfect SAT/ACT Scorer The AP® US History exam is less about memorizing isolated facts and more about understanding major developments across time. The course is organized into nine historical periods…
By Brian Stewart, Barron’s SAT, ACT & PSAT Author & Perfect SAT/ACT Scorer AP® African American Studies is an interdisciplinary course that moves from the societies of early Africa through the transatlantic slave trade, Reconstruction, the Harlem Renaissance, and the…
By Brian Stewart, Barron’s SAT, ACT & PSAT Author & Perfect SAT/ACT Scorer Updated August 2026 for the May 2027 AP® World History: Modern Exam AP® World History: Modern covers more than 750 years of global change, from the Song…
By Brian Stewart, Barron’s SAT, ACT & PSAT Author & Perfect SAT/ACT Scorer Updated August 2026 for the May 2027 AP® Psychology Exam The current AP® Psychology course is organized into five units, covering everything from neurons and cognition to…
By Brian Stewart, Barron’s SAT, ACT & PSAT Author & Perfect SAT/ACT ScorerUpdated August 27, 2026 for the 2027 AP® Psychology Exam AP® Psychology has one of the more favorable score distributions among AP exams. In 2025, nearly half of…