Capital Educators vs Dr. Li’s for SAT prep

[Anonymous]

Looking at summer programs for a rising junior. Dr. Li’s looks a lot less expensive but Capital Educators does a lot at our school so I’m more familiar and location is better for us. Anyone have experience at either or both? Any data on results?

[Anonymous]

DC had a very positive experience with Capital Educators. Score went up 250 points (started around 1300). But DC also did work on own. I don't think relying on these classes alone is enough...kid has to study too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC had a very positive experience with Capital Educators. Score went up 250 points (started around 1300). But DC also did work on own. I don't think relying on these classes alone is enough...kid has to study too.

Did DC also work with a private tutor? If so, any recs?

[Anonymous]

Another one here with a kids with a great experience at Capital Educators. Went from a 1000 PSAT freshman year to a 1310 just starting senior year - nothing in between due to Covid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another one here with a kids with a great experience at Capital Educators. Went from a 1000 PSAT freshman year to a 1310 just starting senior year - nothing in between due to Covid.

Part of that is normal progression too.. My kid's PSAT scores were 1300, 1400 and 1500 in 9th, 10th and 11th grades. All with no prep. He ended up with 1600 on the SAT after about a month of prep with a couple of online prep courses - khan academy and prep expert(I think) in the summer before Senior year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC had a very positive experience with Capital Educators. Score went up 250 points (started around 1300). But DC also did work on own. I don't think relying on these classes alone is enough...kid has to study too.

Did DC also work with a private tutor? If so, any recs?

No, Capital Educator group class + self study. DC did not work with a private tutor

[Anonymous]

We found that kids with a rigorous academic background frequently scored well without much prep. As others have said, as the kids advance through their rigorous coursework, their scores naturally increase. It’s not unusual for kids who complete 10+ APs to score well out of the gate, like 1450+, and improve to 1500+ with some focused work. No expensive tutors needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We found that kids with a rigorous academic background frequently scored well without much prep. As others have said, as the kids advance through their rigorous coursework, their scores naturally increase. It’s not unusual for kids who complete 10+ APs to score well out of the gate, like 1450+, and improve to 1500+ with some focused work. No expensive tutors needed.

I think a lot of 10th graders did worse than anticipated on the PSAT this year. Which isn’t surprising given the school situation for 9th grade.

[Anonymous]

OP -- We did that summer program with Capital Educators also between Jr and Sr. year with two kids without any tutors. Both kids did very well on their first SAT shot as juniors (over 1500). This took a lot of pressure off in terms of planning for other standardized tests during the last two years of high school. One of our kids decided to retake and increased a bit, the other decided to stand pat on the first SAT and never took it again.

[Anonymous]

My kid had good experience with Capital Educators. We liked the structure and tailoring (of content), but the kid does need to do some work between sessions.

[Anonymous]

I am a college counselor. My students have consistently not had the same success as mentioned here. This is curious to me. Have they not done the work that the PPs' kids put in? Are the PPs outliers? Either way, based on my experience with multiple students, I can't recommend this group.

[Anonymous]

Does it make more sense to start the summer with the class and then study on own or start by studying on own and then taking the class closer to exam?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a college counselor. My students have consistently not had the same success as mentioned here. This is curious to me. Have they not done the work that the PPs' kids put in? Are the PPs outliers? Either way, based on my experience with multiple students, I can't recommend this group.

Do you have another recommendation, including private tutors?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a college counselor. My students have consistently not had the same success as mentioned here. This is curious to me. Have they not done the work that the PPs' kids put in? Are the PPs outliers? Either way, based on my experience with multiple students, I can't recommend this group.

Which group?

[Anonymous]

My three kids all used Capital Educators and we had good experiences each time. I would recommend them. I am not familiar with the other option asked about.