SAT Testing

SAT and ACT Test Preparation

As parents our ears perk up when standardized testing and college admission scandals become prevalent in the news. Many parents are seeing for the first time how competitive certain colleges and universities have become. Certain Colorado schools are classified as competitive, but this by no means places them into the highly competitive category of Ivy League schools or certain California Universities. The formula for students to secure admission to their first-choice school has not changed. High School students to secure admissions to colleges need to focus on: good grades, strong SAT or ACT scores, extra-curricular activities, and strong recommendation letters. If your student needs assistance in achieving good grades or strong SAT or ACT score, consider enrolling them in Tutoring Excellence Test Prep Program.

What Type of Student Should Take an SAT or ACT Prep Class? 

  • Students who would like to attend a specific or highly competitive school.
  • Students who desire an academic scholarship.
  • Students who do not want to take remedial college classes.
  • Students who’ve struggled with standardized tests in the past.
  • Students who need to achieve a school’s SAT or ACT admissions score and needs to bridge their score gap.
  • Students who have test-taking anxiety or want to improve their test-taking skills.

Test Prep Programs Should be Customized to Fit a Student’s Needs.

Students have too much going on in their lives with school, sports, and activities to spend test prep time focused on what they already know and not on what they don’t know. Therefore, T.E.’s test prep programs are individualized to each student’s specific needs. Our program uses only real practice exams, real test problems, and the best techniques to help students improve their score. No two students follow the exact same path, so our program is 100% customized to fit each student’s needs. Customizing a program for a student starts with taking a practice SAT or ACT test and comparing these results with past performances on standardized tests such as the PSAT. These results will identify areas where a student needs assistance. Throughout our program students will be given a minimum of two practice tests to ensure progress is being made, that test taking techniques are sticking, and that desired score results are being obtained.

A Student Should be Given Homework

Homework is not given to students because we are sadistic, mean, or desire students to struggle or waste their time. Test prep homework is given to insure skills that were taught are retained away from one’s tutor. When a tutor is sitting in front of a student the concepts can appear easy and understandable. Take away the safety net of the tutor and the results can be dramatically different. The key is, the student must perform the skills proficiently on their own on the test day to improve their score. To insure our students do well, a student will be assigned approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour of homework per session. This homework will encompass the skills taught or reviewed with one’s tutor and will reinforce the concepts or strategy.

Realistic Expectations for Score Increase

Parents typically start the process of looking for a test prep company after their child receives their score from the April School SAT test. The first question parents ask when they call any standardized prep company is, “How much will my child’s score improve from tutoring?” This question is in lieu of the fact that the company has never met one’s child, has not seen a SAT score, and has not seen a single school grade. Promising or quoting a point gain at this point is no more than a sales ploy. Any answer does not take into consideration: the individualized nature of learning, prior standardized test performance, school grades and types of high school classes taken. Therefore, TE meets with each student and their family to establish an individualized learning plan. This plan establishes clear, measurable and obtainable expectations at the beginning of the tutoring process, so a student’s progress can be measured.

Tempering any unrealistic score goals is very important, because setting unrealistic score goals can be both demoralizing for students and counterproductive. Being honest and frank from the outset means TE doesn’t sign up every student for our Test Preparation program. Simply if a student comes to us with an SAT Score of 940, desires a 1390 and has performed at the 940 level with past test performances we will tell them right off the bat that a 400-point gain is highly unlikely. Otherwise, the student and TE will consistently fall short of our student’s goals. This only makes the test preparation process a frustrating experience for our students and parents.  All these headaches TE has found are not necessary if reasonable goals are set from the outset.

Students have busy schedules, that is why TE has schedule flexibility, which allows students to work around conflicts with ease.  If one desires more information on SAT or ACT Prep program, please contact one’s local Tutoring Excellence Learning Center.

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