[The information on this page is for our Feb. 2020 class. We will run a similar class in February 2021 for the March 2021 SAT – please contact me if you are interested – Nick]

Prep for the March 14 SAT over February vacation!

If your student will be around over the break, this could be a great chance to make some headway preparing for the SAT.  Sign-up deadline is Friday 2/14.

Prep means learning:

• What to do with word-in-context questions – about 20% of SAT reading. These have a predictable fake-out answer. Does your student know what that looks like?
• What to do with evidence-based questions – about 40% of SAT reading. Without help, most students get about half of these wrong. Yet, they can be mastered with a sound approach.
• That on the SAT, students are often prone to select answers that sound “intelligent” but are wrong over answers that seem mundane but are right.
• How to apply the semicolon rules. The SAT test writers love to play with semicolons (and colons and commas). After having worked with hundreds of kids, I have not had a single one who came to me knowing the semicolon rules, but they are not hard to learn.
• What to do with transition words (e.g., “nevertheless”) – quite common on SAT writing. Most kids don’t “get” what to do with these until they are shown a logical approach that makes them quite manageable.
• What do do with linear equations – nearly half of the SAT math questions. Some of these – system of equations questions – perplex most student yet are not actually difficult if you learn how they work.
• How to handle word problems — about 25% of SAT math. The test writers love to construct these in ways that are sublty different from what students have previously seen, leading to their making mistakes even though they understand the math.
• How to solve elementary statistics questions – recently about 10% of SAT math. Many students have not had statistics and flub these even though the questions usually are not hard.

Based on our 30 years of combined SAT / ACT prep experience (Linda and Nick), we know where the most accessible points are. We know the stumbling blocks, and we know how to help students get past them. The result: 50, 100, or more extra SAT points. A student in a recent class came in and announced that she had gone up 250 points.

We also know students – especially juniors – are extremely busy. SAT prep homework might overwhelm – too little time, and more urgent priorities (that Chemistry test next Tuesday) are everywhere. We’ve structured our class to minimize outside work (though we offer plenty of supplemental information and material for students who have the appetite and the time).

This is not a generic, cookie-cutter class with 30 kids nodding off as an instructor lectures on.

• Our class has no more than 4 students per tutor, and there are two of us available.
• We mix short presentations with abundant in-class practice answering specific question types that we focus on for their point scoring benefit.
• We call on students, so they know they have to be able to justify their answers – no “hiding out!”
• We get to know each student.
• A secret weapon: if a student gets hung up on a particular kind of question, we offer up to 2 hours of our 1-1 private tutoring to help get unstuck. This is at no extra cost. Most students won’t need this help, but it’s there for those who do. We know of no other class that offers this.
• All materials are supplied
• We work with official SAT practice tests. This includes two self-administered full mock SATs – we provide a full score report just like you get on the real SAT, and we provide a custom video review of your results with suggestions for improvement.
• We provide supplemental worksheets, quizzes, guides, web pages, etc.

We’ve helped hundreds of kids prepare for the SAT.

BTW, two of those were our own kids, both of whom have since graduated from college. We got both their scores up hundreds of SAT points.

Though it is not typical, we’ve had some perfect scores from our classroom-style prep. Here are some comments about our range of tutoring help, from families we’ve worked with:

“Linda is an unbelievable math tutor and has been for years.  When her students were in a pinch for an English tutor, her husband [Nick] would help out on the side from his regular job. He is an equally unbelievable English tutor.  He is now also helping students with their essays.  He was a savior for our daughter :).  They care so much about the kids they tutor – it has been a real goal of theirs to help these poor kids make it through the SATs.” – a mother whose children we have worked with, in an email to a friend

We so appreciate your helping Claire with her math – for many years now, and even into college. Thank you.

You helped Bill increase his SAT scores by 200 points, and that made all the difference in his getting accepted.

I never would have made it through the last two years without your help. I can’t thank you enough!

Kelly got into two of the best grad schools in the country, and her GRE scores surely helped. Awesome!

We were very pleased – and frankly, surprised – by Steve’s 36 on his ACT – he was, too!

Who this is best for (and who should not sign up):

The class tends to work very well with average or above average students who personally want to improve and who do the work to their best ability.

A student who is “forced” to attend but who does not particularly care about getting a good score probably won’t get much benefit.

A student who has already achieved high scores – say, 1425+ SAT / 32 ACT – will likely benefit but may get more from 1-1 private tutoring where it’s feasible to focus on the few very difficult kinds of questions the student has not yet mastered.

A student who is really struggling in, say, math, may be hindered in the class setting and not get full value.

If you are unsure, text me – Nick – ( 1-781-258-0004 ) to set up a phone call to discuss.

Requirements:

A typical laptop/notebook computer with audio and video (nearly all students seem to have Mac computers, which work very well for this purpose) and a stable network/wi-fi connection. A pad of paper and a pencil. A math calculator.

Have questions?

Text me – Nick – ( 1-781-258-0004 ) to set up a phone call and we’ll figure it out.

Time: 9-12 am Monday 2/17 through Friday 2/21

Sign-up deadline is Friday 2/14

Cost: $880. First day is free if you are not satisfied.

Attend the first class day. If it does not seem right for your student, let us know before the second day’s class meeting and we will refund your entire payment.

Above we’ve provided the usual information about the class, times, etc., etc.

But maybe you just want to talk to someone!

If so, text me – Nick – at 1-781-258-0004 and we’ll set up a time for a conversation.

Apply here:

Planning to take the test on a later date? Get on our list to be notified when we set up later 2020 classes: