SAT Prep Tutoring
Without question, standardized test scores (usually SAT scores) are an important tool in college admissions. Although there is a great deal of controversy about the fairness and effectiveness of this practice, there is also little doubt that most selective colleges will continue to use the SAT for the foreseeable future. For students, this leads to one simple question: what can you do to get the best score that you possibly can?
At New York Academics, we believe that there are three prongs to successful SAT test preparation:
Content
The SAT tests a wide variety of real skills, such as reading comprehension and the ability to solve algebraic equations. If a student is not proficient in these academic skills, he or she simply won't be able to achieve a high score. Our tutors carefully evaluate our students to determine what skills they need to improve. We then offer targeted instruction in those areas.
Strategy
The SAT is unlike any "normal" test given in high school. On the down side, it's almost four hours long and it contains material that you may not have seen since 5th grade right next to other material that may not be in your high school's curriculum until next year. On the up side, the test is highly predictable. Specific question types are repeated on every test and this allows you to use a variety of highly effective short-cuts and test-taking strategies. We'll show you how to use educated guessing, back-solving, plugging in and more to turn the test format to your advantage.
Practice
Practice. Repetition. Familiarity. It's not fun or exciting, but it works. One of the most important aspects of preparing for the SAT is getting enough practice to become extremely familiar with the test. At New York Academics, we make sure our students get two kinds of practice with the SAT. First, we carefully dissect problems with students and provide appropriate test-taking tools to quickly and accurately answer different types of questions and avoid falling into traps. Second, we make sure that our students take timed practice tests simulating the actual SAT.
When to prepare for the SAT
The amount of time it takes for any particular student to get ready for the SAT depends on a variety of factors, and we will offer specific recommendations when we know more about your particular situation. However, in general, we have found that there are two strategies that work well for most students.
The first (and often preferred) strategy prepares a student to take the test October of his or her junior year. With this strategy, the student uses the summer before junior year to study intensively and continues with SAT practice during the first month of the new school year. There are several advantages to this approach. First, it almost completely eliminates the stress of juggling SAT prep with schoolwork. Second, it allows students to focus on important subject tests such as APs and SAT IIs during the spring of junior year. Last but not least, it gives students an important psychological tool to manage test taking anxiety- by preparing for and taking the test early, they know that they will have a second chance if needed, and the test date no longer has to loom as a one-chance-only make-or-break occasion.
The second, more traditional, strategy prepares students to take the test in the spring of their junior year. With this strategy, students begin studying for the test during their junior year (ideally beginning in the fall). Because students must balance SAT preparation with their school work and extracurricular, we recommend that students studying during the school year maintain a modest but consistent study schedule with bursts of more intense study during school vacations.
Our tutors
Our tutors are all professional educators (either full-time tutors or classroom teachers who also tutor) and experts in their field. In order to be an SAT tutor with New York Academics, a tutor must be able to score in the 95th percentile or better on the section(s) of the test that he or she teaches.
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Other Tests that we tutor include:
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