Vocabulary Building

It's finally test day, and you're feeling great. You got a full night's sleep last night, you had Wheaties for breakfast this morning, and you've just written a killer essay on the assigned topic that would bring your English teacher to tears. You are just a few short sections away from your ideal test score, and you can already taste victory.

And then it hits you.

"Fetid." The word looks familiar. You know you've seen it before. Maybe you even used once it in a paper for school. But in this pressure-filled situation, the precise definition escapes you. You scan the other questions, and many of their answer choices are also loaded with vocabulary words you just can't quite remember. "Prodigal." "Serene." "Trepidation." Why didn't I study harder? you ask yourself.

The Rules of the Game: Early Action and Early Decision

What high school senior would not like to know where she is going to college well before her peers do?

Both Early Decision and Early Action--admissions policies that allow students to apply months before regular admissions deadlines--can be good options for well-prepared high school seniors who know what they want in a college. These early options offer students the opportunity to get a jump on the college admissions process.

Coping With The Adolescent Brain

When you think of teenagers, a lot of words might come to mind--moody, rebellious, self-involved, impulsive, irrational.... We used to think all these traits were the result of teens' "raging hormones." We used to think that most brain development was done by the time kids hit adolescence. New research tells us that there's a lot more to it than that