Vocabulary study is very important for the critical reading section of the SAT. There are 19 sentence completion questions requiring students to know word meanings. Additionally, there are a number of questions on the reading passages that also require word knowledge. The problem, of course, is that there are many words that that need to …
For both the SAT and ACT I recommend review books from the companies that make up the tests. For the SAT, you’ll find that information at www.collegeboard.com and for the ACT, www.act.org. In my classes I provide the Official SAT Study Guide, the college board review book that includes 10 practice tests. Some of these …
Classes are offered twice a year, in September and April.
A class can help a student in many ways. Many students (or their parents) buy review books and rarely if ever open them. It’s difficult for students to have the motivation to read through the material in the large, daunting books and also take practice tests. Even if they are able to do this, most …
The SAT is, of course, a very important test in determining college admission, but what exactly is it and what does it measure? In my workshops I tell students that the test doesn’t really measure “intelligence” or necessarily predict how successful one will be in college. There is no test that can do that. On …
Parents sometimes ask me what the difference is between my class and some other class (usually the name of a big company). I say the difference is me. I’m often surprised how adults can forget their own experiences in school. By far the most important element in the success of a class is the teacher. …
Most of the time in a prep class is spent going over techniques to solve math and reading questions. We go over previous questions and when solving them we learn the content required for the test as well as the best approach to the questions. In math, there are a number of questions requiring Alg …
The ACT is written in Iowa and the SAT in New Jersey. Philosophically, they reflect the regions they are from. The ACT is more straightforward, following closely to high school math in the math portion of the test. In reading, there’s less interpreting and more just remembering what you’ve read. The SAT requires more problem …
This is a question that many parents ask. Unfortunately it is impossible to predict. Many test prep companies include in their advertising: “guaranteed 100 (or 200?) point improvement!” I put a similar statement on my first class brochure. A student came up to me the first day of class and asked if I could really …