You may be disheartened by the extensive fuss made over SAT / ACT test scores. We were when we put our three children through.
But let’s not kid ourselves: a good test score can provide a meaningful benefit. A student who has managed to elevate his or her SAT score by a couple of hundred points has a much larger list of colleges to consider. In general, more options = better. So yes, we do take great pleasure from helping a student bump up her score.
More school choice is the obvious point. But this one is even bigger: 99% of the population, probably including you, your child, your child’s friends, the teachers, guidance counselors, etc., etc., equate test score and “intelligence.” Having worked with hundreds of kids on test prep, we know better: test score is highly flawed as an indicator of “intelligence.” But given the cultural reality, we also take great pleasure from helping a student bump up his or her score so that he/she thinks of herself as “smarter” and more able. If you believe a door is open to you, your chances of making it through that door are better.
But here is the real reward for the student and for us as tutors: the kinds of things one has to learn to do well to get high scores on the tests will be valuable in college and well beyond. Even excellent schools do not teach all of these things. We get to do it.