Lifestyle

Things to Keep in Mind before Starting SAT Preps

Published

4 years ago

June 9, 2021

SAT is an entry-level exam used by most colleges and universities to make admission decisions. The SATsare multiple-choice, pencil-and-paper test created and administered by the College Board.

Many high school students take the SAT, ACT, or both during the spring of their junior year or fall of their senior year. You should know that it is important to leave time to re-take the test if you need to raise your score before you apply to college. The SAT exam is held multiple times around the year; in March, May, June, August, October, November, and December.

You can never spend too much time preparing for the SATs. Some students spend months, while others try to finish preps in a couple of weeks. To know how long you need, it’s a good idea to take a free practice test available from the College Board and see how much you score. You can compare the total score and your section scores with to the scores of the schools you plan on applying to. The lower your score is compared to the school scores, the more time you should spend studying and preparing.

Of course, you should know that strategy matters when it comes to making the most of your test preparations. Here are a few tips and tricks to help you get started.

First of all, understand the basics. The SAT length is 3 hours, you get additional plus 50 minutes for taking an optional Essay.

SAT is divided into three sections which are Mathematics, Evidence-Based Reading and Writing, and Essay writing (optional).

SAT costs around $46 and $60 if also choose to take the essay test as well.

Moving forward, many students think that if they experience any test anxiety, then they are doomed to poor test performance. It is very normal to experience some level of anxiety when preparing for SATs. Anxiety is a part of the fight-or-flight response which helps you focusing and thinkingquickly. Instead of trying to get rid of your anxiety, you should keep a more balanced approach and don’t let the anxiety get to the point of panic as there’s no need to overly control your emotions.

Another great tip is that if you’re like most students at the start of their test prep journey, then you have a lot of different areas you could improve in. Anyhow, you should be zeroing in on a few key concepts and mastering them rather than trying to understand little bits of many things. By progressing through concepts one at a time, you’ll see more improvements in your score.

One more tip is that knowing math facts can help you solve questions quickly &efficiently, especially since you’ll likely be using at least some pencil and paper to find answers. It is recommended to students to review and brush up, include exponent rules and the common squares and cubes of numbers.

The Writing & Language Test is not only about testing your knowledge of grammar, but it makes up a big portion of it. The Standard English Conventions sub-score is based on 20 out of 44 questions, or about 5 questions per passage, and it is the canon-calculator sub-score to work on. There are many short books available at public libraries, or you can find grammar lessons online to help you as well.

Back to the mathematics test, many of these tips also apply to the Math with Calculator portion, but because they greatly improve your performance on the no-calculator portion, you should follow them.

Calculators allow you to easily work with decimals, so many of the no-calculator questions use fractions specifically. You should feel comfortable rewriting fractions, finding the least common denominators, and how to divide fractions

You should choose single-digit numbers or numbers like 10. You should not choose 1, because 1 has special mathematical properties that can lead you with two “correct” answers.

The fact that there are concepts and vocabulary terms needed to be memorized, Mathematics mirrors other subjects as well. Along with these, you must often know formulas. It is useful and recommended to make flashcards with the aforementioned terminologies to help remember them.

There are many coaching and classes available that can help you prepare for the SATs if you’re not able to study on your own. One such initiative is taken by the Randolph Foundation.

The Randolph Foundation strives to provide students with a high-quality education so that they can excel in their career paths. The Randolph Learning Center offers students an interactive space to study with all their needs as well.

Lifestyle

Derik Fay: The Strategist Who Built Empires Where Others Saw Limits

Published

2 days ago

June 22, 2025

Michelle Langton

In the ever-changing landscape of entrepreneurship, few names carry the weight of strategic precision like Derik Fay. Behind the scenes of some of the most dynamic, growth-driven companies in America, Fay has become a master at the art of scaling businesses without sacrificing soul.

What makes his journey all the more compelling isn’t just what he’s done — it’s how quietly and deliberately he’s done it. Born in Westerly, Rhode Island, on a cold November day in 1978, Fay didn’t come from connections or capital. He came from resilience. Raised in modest circumstances, he developed a mindset early on that would come to define his success: if a door doesn’t open, build the damn frame yourself.

At 6’1″, Fay’s physical presence is matched only by the magnitude of his vision. Over the past two decades, he’s grown from a solo operator into a force that touches nearly every major sector in American business. He is best known as the founder of 3F Management, a multi-sector venture and private equity firm that acts less like a bank and more like a command center — diagnosing broken business structures, overhauling teams, and rebuilding revenue engines from the inside out.

But 3F is only the beginning. Fay holds active leadership or board roles across a broad range of ventures, including Around the Clock Fitness, SalonPlex, Results Roofing, BIGG Pharma, Tycoon Payments, Eratyc Entertainment, FayMs Films, and even the combat sports disruptor Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships (BKFC). Each of these businesses reflects a different side of his philosophy: high-functioning systems, vertical integration, and zero tolerance for mediocrity.

And while his public persona is often understated, the reach is massive. His online presence alone has generated billions of views, with over 1.4 million followers engaging with his strategic insights, mentorship content, and thought leadership across platforms. He’s not an influencer — he’s an executor with influence.

Yet behind the numbers and headlines is a family man. Since 2021, Fay has shared his life with his partner, Shandra Phillips, whose presence he often credits as grounding his often chaotic, deal-driven world. Together, they raise two daughters, Sophia Elena Fay and Isabella Roslyn Fay — the true north to his professional compass.

Despite his vast portfolio, Fay is not driven by applause. He’s driven by the ripple effect. Every deal, every venture, every mentorship session carries the same intention: to leave people, companies, and communities better than he found them.

He’s also begun exploring a new frontier — film and entertainment. Through FayMs Films and strategic partnerships with entertainment studios, Fay is merging business with storytelling, stepping occasionally into the spotlight as an actor and executive producer. It’s a logical evolution for a man who’s spent his life crafting narratives — only now, some of them play out on screen.

And while many entrepreneurs spend their careers chasing validation, Fay has been repeatedly recognized in major outlets like Forbes, Yahoo Finance, and Maxim, not for buzz but for results. He’s been cited alongside legacy names in global business and continues to operate with the same laser-focus that got him through his first startup, his first failure, and his first million-dollar win.

In a time when founders obsess over being seen, Derik Fay has built something far rarer — he’s become essential. Not just to his companies, but to the evolving definition of what modern leadership looks like: measured, disciplined, people-first, and unapologetically ambitious.

He doesn’t just build businesses.
He builds systems that build people.

Derikfay.com