Courses, Tutors, Independent Study: How Should You Prepare for the SAT?
It’s no secret that standardized test prep is big business. National education companies like Kaplan and Princeton Review offer classes in cities and towns across the country. Their books are the most popular test prep materials in the United States. Online, websites like PrepScholar and Khan Academy offer digital resources that allow students to work through material on their own terms, at their own pace. Then there are the hundreds of private tutors posting flyers and Facebook ads, trying to convince you that individualized tutoring is the key to student success on the exam. Students and parents have a lot of options. It can be overwhelming.
So how do you know which of these options is right? How do you know when to pursue a course, a tutor, or independent study?
Tutoring Service of New York is, of course, a private tutoring company. We would be the first, however, to tell you that private tutoring isn’t always the best option for a student-- at least not at first.
In this post, we’re going to breakdown the pros and cons of each test prep path, so that you can make the most informed decisions possible about your or your child’s studies. If you have any questions about this post, our services, or about test prep in general, feel free to reach out to us, or to schedule a free phone consultation. We are always happy to offer advice to students and parents, even those who aren’t interested in private tutoring at this time.
Online Resources and Independent Study
Every student’s study process should start here. Online resources are an easy way for students to learn about the structure of the exam, the material the exam tests, and the types of questions that appear on it. Before beginning a course or private tutoring regimen, students should explore the free resources they can find online, like Khan Academy, a PrepScholar free trial, Ivy Global’s online test prep materials, and the College Board’s free practice exams.
The SAT is a pattern-based exam. Questions are similar from test to test. Its format is always the same: each section lasts the same amount of time and the same number of questions across exams. Its directions and instructions are always the same. Building a base familiarity with the exam’s structure and material allows students to focus on more challenging elements of the test once they begin a course or private tutoring regimen.
Khan Academy, in particular, offers a wide range of prep materials made in direct partnership with the College Board-- the organization that designs and administers the SAT. Whereas private companies do their best to imitate the College Board, Khan Academy works with them to provide accurate review materials and practice questions. And, unlike Prep Scholar, Khan Academy is always free.
Though all students should start their prop process here, it should only constitute the whole of one’s prep process for a very select number of students.
The biggest challenge facing students who do all of their exam prep by themselves is structure. Without a course or tutor to assign homework and demand attendance, time and attention, it is easy for students to take their eye of the test-prep ball. Students who work independently need to be extremely disciplined and self-motivated, otherwise they run the risk of letting their studies fall by the wayside, especially if they are in their junior year, or the fall of their senior year, when schoolwork and the college application process is at their most demanding.
Students who work independently also need to be able to teach themselves unfamiliar material, which is no easy task. In a course or with a tutor, students can ask instructors to clarify concepts or walk through practice problems. Students who work independently have no such luxuries. There are, of course, ways to use online resources, friends, and teachers to address these issues, but that’s much easier said than done. In addition to being difficult, teaching oneself can also be unnecessarily time consuming. Tutors and SAT instructors have a lot of experience teaching exam concepts to students-- they know the efficient and effective ways to approaching studying for the exam. It can be wise to take advantage of their expertise.
In short: all students should start their test prep process by working online, using free resources. In doing so, they can become familiar with the test, and have a better sense of what they want to work on in a course or with a tutor. Students can even buy a prep book and work through it alone prior to working with anyone. Students who do so should almost always work with a private tutor rather than enrolling in a course, however, as most courses simply offer a general survey of the contents of a review book.
Only very few students should do their entire test prep process independently. Students who become familiar with the exam and find they want to work through a wide array of material with someone can be well served enrolling in a course. Students who have more specific areas of concern are more likely to benefit from a private tutor than a course.
Test Prep Courses
Perhaps the most useful part of taking an SAT prep class is the simple fact that it forces students to sit down for multiple hours every week and engage with the material on the exam. It’s no secret that studying for the SAT is not exactly exhilarating. Even the most disciplined students can find it difficult to make time to study for the exam when one has schoolwork, extracurriculars, and friends to juggle at the same time. It can be useful, as a result, to have a designated time every week to sit in a room with other students and do practice problems, learn new concepts, and take practice tests. The students themselves can also be a real resource. As SAT instructors get more experienced, they can sometimes lose sight of the perspective of their students. They can forget what it’s like not to know how to factor polynomials, or answer Words in Context questions. Other students often provide useful techniques and methods for learning material and answering questions that are intuitive to other students. They can even be potential study partners.
Test prep courses-- such as those provided by Kaplan, Princeton Review, and Ivy Global-- can also be useful for students who have limited familiarity with the test. If you’re looking for an overview of the exam’s structure, test-taking techniques, and the basic material of the exam, a course is a great option. Especially useful is that courses can mimic exam-day very effectively by asking students to leave home and take a proctored practice test surrounded by other students.
Courses can be a mixed bag for students who are somewhat familiar with the exam, but find the test to be challenging overall. On the one hand, courses cover a wide range of material, meaning that they are guaranteed to hit on a wide array of concepts efficiently and clearly, according to a syllabus refined by hours of implementation. On the other hand, courses offer few opportunities for individualized support. Students who want to ask a lot of questions will find themselves competing with other students-- and with the constraints of the syllabus. Moreover, students who want to work through things at their own pace will find themselves beholden to the pace of the class. Students who work slowly may feel rushed along. Students who work quickly often feel stymied and frustrated.
In fact, we would generally recommend that high achieving students avoid courses, unless they have trouble maintaining a disciplined study schedule. For students taking advanced classes, or getting strong grades, there tends to be little material on the exam with which they are unfamiliar. The key to success for these students is to become familiar with the exam itself-- how to take it, its structure, and so on. Generally, as a result, we recommend that these students focus on independent study, and work sparingly with a private tutor who can address their specific questions or difficulties.
Perhaps the biggest problem with most courses is the limited range of materials they tend to use. Princeton Review only uses Princeton Review materials in their classes. The same goes for Ivy Global and Kaplan. Despite the strength of their materials, this isn’t always a great situation for students. Princeton Review’s math materials don’t sufficiently explain concepts. Kaplan’s reading comprehension practice questions are notoriously wonky (though effective nonetheless). Teachers shouldn’t be beholden to protecting a brand or steering students to the materials that make them the most money.
In short: for many, courses are a great way to prepare for the exam. They cover all the exam’s material, they force students to do their work, and they offer opportunities for students to take proctored practice exams. For many students, they are enough in themselves. Those who still feel unprepared can then work with a tutor on the specific elements of the test they still find challenging.
For students who really struggle with the exam, we recommend working immediately with a private tutor over an extended period of time. For students performing at an advanced level in their other schoolwork, a limited number of sessions with a tutor can be useful.
Private Tutoring
Realistically, every student benefits from working with a private tutor. That doesn’t mean, however, that it should be the first option for every student.
As said above, students should try to become familiar with the exam independently before enrolling in a course or working with a tutor. Doing so will allow them to better understand which path is right for them. If working with a private tutor, this independent work will allow a tutor to better tailor their lesson plans to their student.
For students who feel they simply need an overview of the exam and some devoted time to study, a course is the way to go. Students can then work with a tutor to shore up any problem areas.
Students who perform strongly in their schoolwork and in their independent SAT study will find private tutoring more useful than a course, but rarely need, say, the sixteen session course we offer. A more limited number of lessons tends to be enough.
Extended private tutoring tends to be best for students who simply don’t get along with the exam. Students who have trouble focusing in classes, who don’t find the exam engaging, or find that they prefer to work through material at their own pace, benefit the most from a long term relationship with a private tutor.