Great minds think alike: shopping cart and burger menu design
Our engineering team went out to lunch at a burger place we all love: The Counter. Why do we love it? Because it's personalized.
As we sat down to order, one of our engineers noticed how similar The Counter's system for placing an order and PrepMe's new shopping cart are. Try out our new course enrollment process and judge for yourself.
Fewer than 40% of U.S. Students are Proficient in Mathematics
Another day, another set of articles (CNN: Report card shows U.S. students need to improve math skills; WSJ: U.S. Math Scores Hit a Wall) about how our students are failing and falling behind their classmates around the world.
We can publish study after study with the same conclusion, and politicians can point fingers at each other all they want, but in the meantime our students will continue to suffer. Our children may not vote or pay taxes, but they are our future and we must invest in them. As trite as that sounds, we as a nation need to care - and do - more about education.
We have already proven that, in many situations, online learning is better than classroom learning. Let's use online learning to help more students in a hybrid environment that combines the benefits of both kinds of learning.
Those of us who are online educators must become even more vocal advocates for improving student outcomes. We must also remind others that this is not an "us vs. them" contest; this is about helping our students. Let's remember why we decided to pursue careers in education in the first place - to help students learn.
Best,
Karan Goel
CEO & Co-Founder
Last-minute PSAT Tips From PrepMe
You've studied. You've practiced. You've worked hard. Now it's time to show the PSAT who's boss. But don't let up now. A few small things just before the test can make a world of difference. Presenting PrepMe's last-minute tips for acing the PSAT!
1. Get a good night's sleep and eat a proper breakfast.
First, the basics. Sleep 8 - 10 hours the night before your test and make sure to eat a real breakfast the morning of the test. The best breakfast is one with a variety of foods that have carbohydrates, protein, and fat.
2. Be prepared.
Assemble all of your materials for the next day and have them ready to go right by your door or in your backpack. You'll need your picture ID, sharpened pencils, eraser, calculator, extra batteries, test registration form, and driving directions. It's a good idea to pack some healthy snacks for extra energy, as well.
3. Read and write something before you leave home the morning of the test.
This one can make a huge difference in the first hour of the test. Read a newspaper article, a short magazine article, or a blog entry and write a paragraph summarizing what you've learned. This will ensure your brain is warmed up and functioning well before you take the test. You don't want the PSAT to be the first thing you read or write that morning!
4. Keep your momentum.
Try to keep a good pace to avoid running out of time on the final questions. Remember, each question has the same value. If a certain question holds you up, it's better to leave it for later than to get bogged down in one tough question. As a rule of thumb, try to get through the first 10 questions in each section within the first 7 minutes.
5. The PrepMe Slogan: Prepare. Relax. Ace.
You've already prepared with the best. Now relax a little: make sure to watch some TV, read a book, or talk to your friends online. Do something that relaxes you. Then walk into that test and demolish it. The PSAT will be over sooner than you realize; stay calm and focused and you'll ace the test!
Now you're officially ready. Make us proud! Call us at 1-877-PREPME-4 or email your PrepMe tutor and let us know how you did and how we can help you with your upcoming SAT.
P.S. If you still need a little more practice, take a free practice test, play our vocabulary building game, or download our free calculator tools which are permitted on the PSAT!
New Shopping Cart Experience
We've just launched a brand new shopping cart experience for our users. This is a big launch because it synthesizes much of what we've learned over the last year from our users, including how they think about PrepMe's products and services, and how difficult it can be to understand how different features fit into a PrepMe subscription.
To this end, we've simplified how someone can enroll with PrepMe with the following and many more improvements
- Modularity - We clearly call out the features of our subscription and what the costs are for each feature you can add-on
- Contextual Help - We've made it much simpler to know what information we need from you at any time with big green arrows that point out what information you need to enter
- Multipay - We now let you pay in multiple payments rather than paying up front, all at once. We know the economy is tough and we want to help families attain their educational goals.
We're constantly iterating on all parts of our site and product that require significant user interaction. If you have suggestions or feedback, please let us know: support@prepme.com. Check out our new shopping cart and enroll in an SAT, ACT, or PSAT course today!
Search Engine Ranking Script
Like many companies PrepMe tries to keep its eye on how we rank on search engines for various phrases. I tried to find a simple script to help us gather this data quickly and easily, but unfortunately there wasn't much out there (that didn't cost an arm and a leg).
I threw together this command line php script and class to do just that and it's free to download. It will spit out the rank for each of your keywords on Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Modify checkRank.php with the keywords you care about and your website's URL and then run the script. We're releasing this under the open source GPL 2.0 license so do with it as you see fit!