The Definitive Guide to the Xiggi Method for SAT Prep

The Definitive Guide to the Xiggi Method for SAT Prep SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The Xiggi Method was written by a popular member of the forum CollegeConfidential. After scoring well on the SAT, he wrote 10 pages of his top tips for SAT prep. The value in the Xiggi Method, however, is not just in reading the guide, but in understanding how to put it into action in your own study plan. As he notes himself, "there are no earth-shattering secrets...it's mostly based on common sense." Therefore, to get the most out of the Xiggi Method, you need to understand critical ways that it may not apply to you and know how to move forward to guide your own SAT prep. Read on for our detailed guide to the Xiggi Method and how to use it. If you don't already have the Xiggi Method document, click here to download it. Note that all these points work equally well for the ACT. Instead of the Official SAT Study Guide mentioned below, you'll need to buy The Real ACT. The 7 Major Points of the Xiggi Method Let's start with the key points from this SAT study guide: Why prep for the SAT? Because the SAT is unlike anything you've ever taken in school. The questions are different, and the skills tested are different from what you've learned. Brilliant students can do poorly on the SAT, and weak students can do extremely well on the SAT. Therefore, familiarizing yourself with the test will dramatically raise your score - if you study the right way. When taking full-length practice tests, use only official tests published by the College Board. No other company publishes tests as realistic as the College Board. Take your first practice tests without a time limit. Spend 30 minutes taking a section, then spend 30 minutes reviewing your answers. Review both correct and incorrect answers - try hard to understand every question in detail! Most other books not published by the College Board aren't very good. They give "strategies" that seem like they'll help on the test, but actually aren't very effective. They're mostly helpful for people scoring in the lower ranges who don't have a good grasp of the underlying content. Vocab studying isn't as important as it used to be. Don't memorize giant lists of thousands of words - your time is better spent elsewhere, like in getting better at passage questions. If you want to study vocab, study it over a long period of time so that the words stick in your memory. Most nationwide test prep chains like Princeton Review and Kaplan are way more expensive than they're worth. At $800-1600, you'll sit in a class with an inexperienced instructor who's just rehashing the $30 book you can buy on Amazon. When you've learned more of the underlying content and understand the SAT in more detail, then you can schedule timed,full-length exams to get familiar with the endurance and energy needed for the 4-hour test. You'll need to face timing pressureto know how the real test will feel. In his SAT guide, Xiggi goes into more detail in each of these points. His main points are sound advice, and we agree with them on a high level. However, there are a few critical ways that the Xiggi Method may not work well for you... 5 Warnings about the Xiggi Method and You (Important) If You're Not Motivated The Xiggi Method is most applicable for highly motivated students driving for a top score. If you find it hard to motivate yourself to study, you will benefit from having more structure in your prep. You may need someone else to remind you to study and to hold you accountable, or a study program that gives you clear step by step instructions on what to do. If You Find it Hard to Learn From Your Mistakes If you find it hard to learn from your mistakes, you'll need someone who can teach you. The most important part of SAT prep is understanding where you're going wrong and how to avoid those mistakes in the future. If an answer explanation on a page often doesn't help you understand your mistakes, you need to find a person who can guide you. Do NOT "Buy As Many Books As You Can" Even though Xiggi suggests it, you should NOT buy 'as many books as you can.' In fact, this will waste a lot of time and money as you spread yourself too thin. Focus on the Official SAT Study Guide published by the College Board, and one or two supplemental books that teach you underlying content and strategies. When I was studying for the SAT, I used three main books: The Official SAT Study Guide, Barron's SAT, and another book of practice questions. I went through all of them and scored a 2400. It was my quality of studying, not the number of books, that earned my full score. Look out soon for our comprehensive guide to the best SAT/ACT books. You Need to Schedule Enough Time to Study You need to schedule time to study. There's no way around it. The SAT is so expansive and covers so many types of questions that to get familiar with all of them, you need to encounter them over and over again. We recommend that you study at least 40 hours to have the best chance of raising your score. If You're on a Tight Budget The method relies on buying books, which can amount to $100 or more. If this is out of your budget, here are two methods to find those books so you can study. 1) Visit your local library or school library and see if they have the books. Check them out and work on paper so you can return the books. 2) Visit your local bookstore, which is very likely to have the books mentioned in this article. You can sit in the bookstore and work from the books without buying it (just don't spill coffee or make marks in the book!) What To Do Next: Following the main points of the Xiggi Method is a great way to get your feet wet in SAT prep. Here's a step by step guide on what to do: Buy the Official SAT Study Guide by the College Board, if you haven't already. Take Test 1, section by section, without a timer. After each section, review all your answers, even the questions you got right. Aim for equal times taking the test and reviewing: about 30 minutes for each section, and 30 minutes reviewing. Reflect on your progress. Were you able to finish Step 2 within one or two weeks? If not, you likely need more motivation to put in enough study time. Were you able to understand every single answer choice, correct and incorrect? If not, you'll need clear answer explanations, or a tutor who can guide you through your mistakes. Adapt your study plan according to your reflection. Keep reading to learn even more SAT prep strategies. Read More: Month-by-Month; A one-year study schedule for serious extended SAT study. What is a good score on the SAT? Start Improving Your SAT Score Today:

Product Development Process Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Product Development Process - Assignment Example The new vision of product development is that of an extremely disaggregated process with people and organisations spread throughout the world (Holmes 1999). At the same time, products are becoming increasingly intricate and multifaceted with typical electro-mechanical products requiring close to a million engineering decisions to bring them to market (Eppinger 1998). Even software products like Microsoft Word or Netscape require disaggregated, but coordinated processes involving hundreds of developers (Cusumano and Yoffie 1998). Competitive pressures mean that time to market has been projected as essential to new product success as has marketing's direction towards customer needs and customer satisfaction (Smith and Reinertsen 1998). Because products are marketed throughout the world, firms face the tradeoff between standardisation for cost reduction and variety for satisfying an extensive set of customers. This has stretched the need for marketing to look beyond the single product t o focus on the product platform (Moore, Louviere and Verma 1999). The Product Products are often referred to as anything -- object or service -- that can be offered to a market in order to satisfy a customer's want or need (Kotler et al. 1996; ENDREA 2001) and product development is made up of a wide-ranging and distinctive continuum of activities, which need to be cohesive and interrelated so as to achieve an adequate and an acceptable process. Ulrich & Eppinger (2003) stated it as the set of activities beginning with the perception of a market opportunity and ending in the production, sale, and delivery of a product. Aside from the activities, there are several components, such as design engineers or other practitioners, management and goal system, working means, tools and equipment, information system and environment, identified by Hubka & Eder (1992), which influence the product development process. However, product development work is even more complex, since there also are external aspects, facets that are not intrinsic in the organisation, to consider, like the market), legislation and society that affect the product development process (Blessing 2002). To support coordination and planning of all these activities and components, guarantee quality, identify possible problem areas or improvements, a suitable, well-defined product development process is needed (Ulrich & Eppinger 2003). Andreasen & Hein (1986) have inferred an ideal model for product development activities (Illustration 1). The Integrated Product Development model is based on the three elements -- market, design and production, and the results of their activities need to be unified. The market should be investigated and defined, and a product, which is intended to satisfy the market, should be designed and eventually manufactured by the second and third elements. Illustration 1 -- Model of Integrated Product Development (Andreasen & Hein, 1987) Ulrich & Eppinger (2003) likewise offered a model of integrated product development - a generic development process, which depicted the progression of activities or steps that marketing, design and

International expansion proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International expansion proposal - Essay Example The company is wholly owned by publicly traded Limited Brands Company; operating 1,017 company-owned stores and 18 independently owned stores, with annual sales of $6 billion and an operating cost of $1 billion as of 2012. The company has hierarchic system of governance with Sharen, Jester Turney as the CEO and President of Victoria’s Secret Megabrand and Intimate Apparel while Lori Greely as the CEO of Victoria’s Secret stores. (Website:www.victoriassecret.com/victorias-secret-sport). Victoria’s Secret intends to diversify its market by opening new branches in China; the world’s most populous country with population of over 1.35 billion people, second largest country in the world by land area after Russia and a socialist country espousing communism (Meng, 2011). Economically, it is the second-largest economy in terms of nominal Growth Domestic Product [GDP] totalling approximately $8.227 trillion by 2013 as per International Monetary Fund [IMF]. Reasons f or expansion to China To tap into the growing market of the China’s women population 48.73%, and demographic distribution of 13.3% and 42.8% on 0-14 years and 15-59 years respectively. Tap into the industrialization advantage in China to reduce cost of production Maximize profitability with the competitive exchange rate To maintain the competitive standards of Victoria’s Secret and brand image as a global outfit To tap into China’s skilled and multi-talented fashion designers, workforce, view point and knowledge to ensure growth as a company To tap into China’s economic wellbeing and favourable trading environment Tap into China’s favourable climatic environment and Sporting culture of basketball, tennis, swimming and martial arts Internal Analysis Value Victoria’s Secrets has with time strengthened value on its products starting with lingerie to diversify to sporting attires, swimming costumes, bras, panties, sleeping gowns, clothing and sh oes. The launch of â€Å"PINK†, a new lingerie line targeting 15-22 years old with products such as underwear, sleepwear, loungewear, beauty products and accessories; will create value in the new Chinese market more so through their product lines such as Angels, Very Sexy and Body by Victoria, intended to transition buyers into more adult product lines. The competitive exchange rate of the dollar and the Chinese Yuan, gives the company a competitive advantage of price and cost leadership giving the company capability to mitigate threats in the market (Barney & Hersterly, 2010). Rarity The uniqueness of design and the PINK product line creates the competitive advantage in the Chinese market coupled with the new accessories and fragrance lines which will match with the economies age distribution. The company’s customer service experience coupled with loyalty cards promotions and effective marketing strategies such as their catalogue, sporadic arts in fashion publications and referrals/word of mouth will help conquer the new market. In addition the company has employed social media marketing with incorporation of sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest account; expanding its website to feature behind-the-scene contents of its catalogue, in the Victoria’s Secret Direct, which are the strategies we can apply in the new market to lure the youthful and techno-savvy population. Imitability Most of the products by the

Barthes vs Kipnis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Barthes vs Kipnis - Essay Example There are different strategies of marriage interpretation in the books of these two authors. Currently, the issues of love discourse have not been properly covered in the sudies of modern scholars. Barthes marked his narration by a vivid tone, lyrical descriptions, and emotional appeal for reader’s feelings. Consequently, his main concepts presented throughout his book, are more emotional than dewless considerations of Kipnis. Barthes and Kipnis about love A lover’s Discourse by Roland Barthes is focused on different aspects of communication between two beloved people. He discusses different lingual peculiarities of communication between two beloved individuals. For example, he says: â€Å"As a jealous man, I suffer four times over: because I am jealous, because I blame myself for being so, because I fear that my jealousy will wound the other, because I allow myself to be subject to a banality: I suffer from being excluded, from being aggressive, from being crazy, and from being common† (Barthes). To be the one who waits, or to be in love means a lot for people. During all our lives we are striving for a feeling of love and it is very difficult for us to realize that our beloved persons do not understand us etc. These things are challenging and we come across these difficulties every day, but we do not pay a proper attention to these considerations. There are many mishaps between beloved ones, but their commonality and ability to find a common decision cannot be underestimated for sure. Barthes devoted himself to explorations in the fields of sociology and lexicology. This unique writing opens our eyes on peculiarities and specific features of our daily communication with our beloved people. The basic feature of a beloved person, as it is outlined by Barthes, is ability and a strong desire to wait: â€Å"Am I in love? --yes, since I am waiting. †¦ Whatever I do, I find myself there, with nothing to do, punctual, even ahead of time. Th e lover's fatal identity is precisely this: I am the one who waits† (Barthes). At this point it is very easy to restore in our memories the way we want to suffer and to wait for our beloved; to live their lives etc. Barthes is marked by his romantic considerations and his lyrical narration.    When we read the book by Barthes, we are enchanted by gentle and sympathetic expressions. A soft tone of his book entertains the readers and they are impressed by a direct nature of the writer’s narration. Though relationship between two beloved people is often imperfect, they are attracted to each other and it is very important for them to find a mutual understanding. Barthes often talks about irrationality of lover’s behavior. Constant controversies and arguing between two beloved persons cannot be denied. He claims: "I encounter millions of bodies in my life; of these millions, I may desire some hundreds; but of these hundreds, I love only one. The other with whom I am in love designates for me the specialty of my desire† (Barthes, p. 19). Love objects may suffer from inconsistencies with their partners or beloved people. They find it very difficult to find a common understanding. The author does not implement social, economic or any other external factors. Beloved persons are focused on their own feelings, as Barthes claims. Unlike Barthes, Kipnis’s book â€Å"Against Love† is written from a different perspective. The author talks about

The character of the 21st century Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The character of the 21st century - Essay Example If the previous century gave birth to many companies, institutions, and allies, it also gave birth to several conflicts, rivalries and mass destruction. Will the 21st century serve as a continuation of the violence and sufferings of the previous 100 years or will it be a dawn of a better world that awaits children of the future generation? The United States of America (USA) has proven in the 20th century that they are the dominating force. It made the country and its colonies in some kind of untouchable stature. There is that sense of pride and supremacy that envelope the whole state even its name. It is an undeniable fact that if there is a force that any unstable country would like to be in alliance with it will be the USA (Walt 6-7). Yet as it has been stated in the 2002 movie Spiderman, Peter Parker expressed a realization that can be applied with the existing American Force, â€Å"With great power comes great responsibility.† Such power became a liability for the whole st ate. As they gained more allies, they also gained more rivals. The United States have been the answer to the prayers of those who were being traumatized by the Second World War. They were the saving power against those who were unfurling terror in different countries and continents. However, what will happen if this very powerful force be attacked on its very own territory? This was the event that happened during the first decade of the 21st century. With the heroic acts that the United States showcased during the previous century, they have exhibited the greatest human relation that any other country has showed towards their fellows. What is human relations? According to Jackson (p. 2): â€Å"human relations involve people other than ourselves, who are never anything less than human and must always be treated accordingly. These others may be individuals or they may be groups, perhaps organized as independent nations or states, which have long been the preeminent political formatio ns of world affairs.† Human relation became the strongest weapon of the United States in their aim to gain worldwide power and influence. However, there are states that had different perspective against the US. For these states to prove other countries that the United States is not as powerful as they seem, â€Å"terrorists† attacked the heart of the US’ economy and defense without the country’s people and leaders knowing what is awaiting them. Many Americans were killed during the attack and the once strong, powerful and untouchable stature was replaced by a helpless, fragile and vulnerable America. Though human relations was been perfected by the state throughout the past century, it was not a guarantee that all nations will be an ally to them. If there was one thing that the September 11 Attack has given the state that would be fear. With such stature that the United States had in International Relation (IR), it brought not just the whole state but the whole world in shock with all the events that have happened within the territory of the most powerful nation known worldwide. As noted by Robert Jervis (cited by Tang 2008): â€Å"[Fear] once aroused as a function of uncertainty about others’ intentions, can acquire a life of its own and become a powerful driver of the security dilemma and spiral. Fear †¦ leads a state to discount another state’ conciliatory gestures and adopt unnecessary hard-lined policies. As such, a spiral

The use of isotopes in medicine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The use of isotopes in medicine - Essay Example This physical difference explains why a process like fractional distillation can be used to separate isotopes. According to Van der Merwe (2002), due to the difference, a single element has the capability of existing in many forms for instance oxygen can exist as oxygen- 15, oxygen- 16 or oxygen- 17. This paper aims having a comprehensive discussion of isotopes, outlying their uses in archeology as well as looking at the future of isotopes in this area of interest. Isotopes are categorized into two main groups; stable and unstable. White (1998) asserts that stable isotopes are those that do not decay over time, while the unstable ones undergo through an ionizing radiation referred to as radioactivity. Isotopes that give off this ionizing radiation are called radioisotopes, for example, carbon- 14 is a carbon radioisotope. In fact, the radioactive process differs from one isotope to the other hence some isotopes have a higher radioactive rate than others. The difference in the radioac tivity rate depends on the ratio between neutrons number and proton number. The higher the ratio the faster the rate and vise versa. Ambrose (2003) explains that the decay rate of isotopes can easily be predicted and determined, thus has widely been used in determining age mostly in archeology. Uses in Archeology Carbon Dating Carbon dating is the most common use of isotopes in archeology where age of organisms is determined in the process (McKinney, et al, 1995). The isotope used in this case is carbon- 14. Normally carbon exists in the C- 12 form, but in few occasions it also exists as C- 14. C- 14 are radioisotopes hence can undergo a radioactive process at a specified rate of the half-life. According to the half-life rate, the proportion of decay is in such a way that the C- 14 to C-12 proportion is always constant. However, this is an unproven assumption that archeology attach to this theory of dating in order to assign ages to their discoveries (Van der Merwe, 2002). The theor y is based on the changes that occur to a living organism when it dies and the process of decay starts. According to the theory, during the living period of an organism, the carbon (C-12 and C-14) proportion in the organisms’ body and that in the environment is equal (White, 1998). This is so because the organism exists in an equilibrium environment as different metabolic processes take place within the organism, causing exchanges between the organism and its environment. In the process organisms are constantly replacing body molecules, a process that is faster in some tissues (skin), and slow in others (bone). However, upon death, the unstable form of carbon (C- 14) will start decaying without being replaced from the environment through radioactivity. Consequently, if some parts of the organism such as bones are found by an archeologist, the ratio of C-12: C- 14 at the time can be used to ascertain when the organism died (Van der Merwe, 2002). An organism that died recently will have a lower ration than the one that died ages ago. Material Classification The isotopes used in this process are mainly those of oxygen through a closer analysis of the ratio of O- 18: O- 16. Ambrose (2003) contends that archeologists use this method in the classification of the different types of glasses as well as in the analysis of mollusk shells as they try to determine their origins and sources. In

The character of the 21st century Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The character of the 21st century - Essay Example If the previous century gave birth to many companies, institutions, and allies, it also gave birth to several conflicts, rivalries and mass destruction. Will the 21st century serve as a continuation of the violence and sufferings of the previous 100 years or will it be a dawn of a better world that awaits children of the future generation? The United States of America (USA) has proven in the 20th century that they are the dominating force. It made the country and its colonies in some kind of untouchable stature. There is that sense of pride and supremacy that envelope the whole state even its name. It is an undeniable fact that if there is a force that any unstable country would like to be in alliance with it will be the USA (Walt 6-7). Yet as it has been stated in the 2002 movie Spiderman, Peter Parker expressed a realization that can be applied with the existing American Force, â€Å"With great power comes great responsibility.† Such power became a liability for the whole st ate. As they gained more allies, they also gained more rivals. The United States have been the answer to the prayers of those who were being traumatized by the Second World War. They were the saving power against those who were unfurling terror in different countries and continents. However, what will happen if this very powerful force be attacked on its very own territory? This was the event that happened during the first decade of the 21st century. With the heroic acts that the United States showcased during the previous century, they have exhibited the greatest human relation that any other country has showed towards their fellows. What is human relations? According to Jackson (p. 2): â€Å"human relations involve people other than ourselves, who are never anything less than human and must always be treated accordingly. These others may be individuals or they may be groups, perhaps organized as independent nations or states, which have long been the preeminent political formatio ns of world affairs.† Human relation became the strongest weapon of the United States in their aim to gain worldwide power and influence. However, there are states that had different perspective against the US. For these states to prove other countries that the United States is not as powerful as they seem, â€Å"terrorists† attacked the heart of the US’ economy and defense without the country’s people and leaders knowing what is awaiting them. Many Americans were killed during the attack and the once strong, powerful and untouchable stature was replaced by a helpless, fragile and vulnerable America. Though human relations was been perfected by the state throughout the past century, it was not a guarantee that all nations will be an ally to them. If there was one thing that the September 11 Attack has given the state that would be fear. With such stature that the United States had in International Relation (IR), it brought not just the whole state but the whole world in shock with all the events that have happened within the territory of the most powerful nation known worldwide. As noted by Robert Jervis (cited by Tang 2008): â€Å"[Fear] once aroused as a function of uncertainty about others’ intentions, can acquire a life of its own and become a powerful driver of the security dilemma and spiral. Fear †¦ leads a state to discount another state’ conciliatory gestures and adopt unnecessary hard-lined policies. As such, a spiral