any advice on test prep services?

[Anonymous]

know my kid is probably an outlier on this forum but after two tries he’s in the 1100 territory - after prepping himself on khan. Thinking of biting the bullet and signing him up for Princeton Review or Prep Scholar, any thoughts or experiences with these services - good or bad? I also think he may have some anxiety as two older siblings are at T20s - separate issue to address I guess

[Anonymous]

if you think it may be anxiety, I suggest finding a test prep service that has them do several practice tests under test-like conditions. Also - if there are particular aspects of math he is not doing well on, consider whether to get individual tutoring in that.

[Anonymous]

We loved Capitol Educators, which has local and online class options. Kids are grouped by ability, teachers are strong - my kids never complained about going - and both had excellent results.

[Anonymous]

Maggie Ronkin in Chevy chase. She’s great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maggie Ronkin in Chevy chase. She’s great.

We did not have a great experience with her- not for test prep but for tutoring. Found her to be very strange and defensive maybe she’s better for test prep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maggie Ronkin in Chevy chase. She’s great.

What makes her so great?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We loved Capitol Educators, which has local and online class options. Kids are grouped by ability, teachers are strong - my kids never complained about going - and both had excellent results.

I would second this if you’re not doing private tutoring.

[Anonymous]

We found PrepMatters to be helpful. Kid had gotten a 1440, then a 1460 with their own effort. PrepMatters helped get over the hump to 1520. Odds are good that kid could have done more on their own to get there, but it was helpful having a tutor working with them one-on-one to target their weaker areas.

[Anonymous]

If student cannot improve on sat. Just go with ap scores. I have a feeling most colleges will be test flexible like Yale , nyu which are saying just report ap scores. I think nyu is just 3 ap scores. It’s easier to get better ap score than. Sat

[Anonymous]

You didn't say where you are located but prep1on1.com, located in Cabin John Mall was great prep for our kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We loved Capitol Educators, which has local and online class options. Kids are grouped by ability, teachers are strong - my kids never complained about going - and both had excellent results.

+1 for Capital Educators. We've tried several and this is the best by far. Mine like the concept of group, in person classes.

[Anonymous]

Top Score Education
https://topscoreedu.com/

[Anonymous]

Prep Matters is the best in the area, but they're very expensive. We used them for my son who had an IEP and severe ADHD with low processing speed. I think his starting score, without his extended time accommodation or any prep, was maybe 29. His final score was 35 out of 36, after a ton of in-depth work. The student needs to put in the work. Tutors can't just magically wave a wand and hand your kid a high score.

[Anonymous]

Kid self studied using the College Panda's SAT Math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Prep Matters is the best in the area, but they're very expensive. We used them for my son who had an IEP and severe ADHD with low processing speed. I think his starting score, without his extended time accommodation or any prep, was maybe 29. His final score was 35 out of 36, after a ton of in-depth work. The student needs to put in the work. Tutors can't just magically wave a wand and hand your kid a high score.

You have to know your kid as you are making these decisions. For my current senior, who does not suffer through "boring" well, we also used Prep Matters and got terrific results. I think the key element was the analysis of the diagnostic test performance. The tutor not only saw that math needed work, but took the time to figure out specifically which topics in math required work, and then directed my student to do a reasonable amount of outside practice focusing on the specific skills. No time was spent on concepts that were already understood. One and done for us. Our younger would probably be better off in a more social environment, so we may look to the class at Capital Educators.