Ep. 328 | Is Paying For An SAT Tutor Worth It?

And here's how it typically plays out.

I'm talking to a student the summer before their junior or senior year, ideally before their junior year, and I ask them how they are preparing for the SAT.

And by the way, for the remainder of this episode, let's just use SAT as the inclusive stand-in for the SAT or the ACT.

It doesn't really matter which test you take these days, so let's just use SAT as shorthand for either test.

The answer to that question often is, I'm using Khan Academy, or my sister's friend down the street is helping me, or I'm using an AI-based app, or I've signed up for classroom tutoring sessions, or I'm not really sure yet.

And then I further ask, What is your baseline SAT score? A baseline SAT score is a recent score on an official SAT or a legitimate practice SAT.

And hopefully that score is from within say a month or so.

Many students don't have such a baseline score.

Either their school didn't offer a PSAT, or they didn't think to take a practice test, or they didn't know where to find a real practice SAT that they could take from home.

Regardless of the reasons, many students don't have a legitimate baseline score.

That's issue number one.

How can you know what type of preparation you should do if you don't even have a starting point? Now, if you rang up a 1520 on a legitimate practice SAT last week, then your preparation will be far different from someone who just got a 1040 on the PSAT last week, obviously.

So, number one, before students even think about a study strategy for the SAT, they need to know their starting point.

As an aside, I'm sure you've heard me say this before, but just in case I'll repeat it.

If your child needs to take a practice SAT from home for free to get a baseline score, please reach out to me and I'll connect you with one of my testing partners.

And here's how it typically plays out.

I'm talking to a student the summer before their junior or senior year, ideally before their junior year, and I ask them how they are preparing for the SAT.

And by the way, for the remainder of this episode, let's just use SAT as the inclusive stand-in for the SAT or the ACT.

It doesn't really matter which test you take these days, so let's just use SAT as shorthand for either test.

The answer to that question often is, I'm using Khan Academy, or my sister's friend down the street is helping me, or I'm using an AI-based app, or I've signed up for classroom tutoring sessions, or I'm not really sure yet.

And then I further ask, What is your baseline SAT score? A baseline SAT score is a recent score on an official SAT or a legitimate practice SAT.

And hopefully that score is from within say a month or so.

Many students don't have such a baseline score.

Either their school didn't offer a PSAT, or they didn't think to take a practice test, or they didn't know where to find a real practice SAT that they could take from home.

Regardless of the reasons, many students don't have a legitimate baseline score.

That's issue number one.

How can you know what type of preparation you should do if you don't even have a starting point? Now, if you rang up a 1520 on a legitimate practice SAT last week, then your preparation will be far different from someone who just got a 1040 on the PSAT last week, obviously.

So, number one, before students even think about a study strategy for the SAT, they need to know their starting point.

As an aside, I'm sure you've heard me say this before, but just in case I'll repeat it.

If your child needs to take a practice SAT from home for free to get a baseline score, please reach out to me and I'll connect you with one of my testing partners.