Strategizing Your Testing and Admissions Timeline, SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: The Gauntlet, and Is ROTC Right For You?
Hello listeners! Listen to this week's episode and learn more about how getting your best test score should align with your college admissions plans.
LAST WEEK
732. STRATEGIZING YOUR TESTING AND ADMISSIONS TIMELINE
A great many tasks need to be accomplished successfully in order to secure a seat at a selective college. Luckily, they don’t all need to be done at once, but proper timing makes a world of difference. Amy and Mike invited educator Eric Greenberg to discuss the finer points of strategizing your testing and admissions timeline.
What are five things you will learn in this episode?
Why is it important for students and parents to assess testing plans by the end of 10th grade?
By when should students strive to earn their best SAT or ACT scores?
What are the dos and don’ts regarding choosing between the SAT and ACT?
How should different rounds of applications (ED1, ED2, Rolling, RD, etc.) impact the “SAT, ACT, or neither” decision?
Why is it crucial for students to understand the short-term and long-term implications of application submission dates?
Did you love this episode?
Buy us a coffee to show that you want more episodes like this!
733. SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: The Gauntlet
The Gauntlet: Harder Questions, Higher Scores
ABOUT THE GAUNTLET
From the very first student he tutored, John McDowell has been on a single mission: get his students the highest scores possible. That obsession exposed a problem he couldn’t ignore—free and official prep materials simply weren’t hard enough. A student returning from test day complaining that the test was “much harder than the practice tests” isn’t just a letdown; it’s a bad rap for a tutor.
So he built the answer himself: The Gauntlet
Today, The Gauntlet offers the most rigorous SAT prep in existence, anchored by The Gauntlet book series on Amazon: a Math Challenge, a Verbal Challenge, and now a Vocabulary Challenge built from the most frequently repeated SAT words. Built on a proprietary pedagogy that has delivered an average gain of over 70 points from a baseline SAT Reading and Writing score of 660, the platform delivers the 300 hardest SAT verbal and math questions available anywhere, full-length and section-only mock tests, Mr. John’s famous high-frequency vocab and must-know math flashcards, and 3,000+ categorized drill questions—every one written and vetted by six published content experts, not AI, with new content added each week.
Now Mr. John’s Test Prep is opening The Gauntlet to private tutors and agencies with its next leap forward: a tutor dashboard that serves as a true command center. Tutors can assign content from the full library—or their own custom drills, quizzes, and practice tests—to individual students or entire cohorts, track performance in real time with at-a-glance metrics like days to test, score deltas, target gaps, and each student’s weakest area, and schedule homework effortlessly with an industry-first drag-and-drop calendar view. Students get automatic inbox reminders on due dates, and with a built-in command palette and persistent messaging, everything tutors need lives in one place.
And the best part is the pricing: industry-first prorated billing per student. Most test dates don’t fall at the end of the month, so why pay for a student’s access for days they’ll never use? It can save tutors thousands compared to other platforms—and tutors can even let students pay for their own access, with account connection still a breeze. Built by an SAT specialist with a transparent record of one-on-one success and an MA in Applied Linguistics, The Gauntlet is for students chasing top percentiles—and the tutors who get them there. Learn more at passthegauntlet.com.
To find out more, please contact support@tutorstack.com.
PRESENTED BY SEELEY TEST PROS/ LEAP
Get ahead on the college application process with our comprehensive College Application Workshop! Designed for rising seniors, this six-session program will guide students step by step through every major component of the college application journey. Students will leave the workshop feeling organized, confident, and prepared for application season. Learn more here.
Have you listened to this gem from our archives?
Many young adults grapple with the decision to either pursue undergraduate education or enter a branch of the U.S. military. Why choose when doing both can pay off in so many different and meaningful ways? Amy and Mike invited college counselor Phil Black to explore answers to the question, “Is ROTC for you?”
Thanks for listening!