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ISEE/SSAT Preparation
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Anonymous
| My son went to DCPS and we hired a tutor for him, since test prep isn't offered in DCPS. He did very well on both tests, as well as St. Anselm's test. I don't know if the tutor made the difference, but I think like any standardized test, there are ways of preparing that can increase your scores. |
Anonymous
I used Lisa for my daughter. We did sessions once a week for two months before she was scheduled to take the test. Two weeks before the test we did 2 sessions a week. Her prices for private tutoring are good compared to others in the area. |
Anonymous
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Besides Lisa McMurtrie, do parents have other recommendations for tutors?
Also, just to be blunt. What should we expect per hour for private tutoring? Thank you. |
Anonymous
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We are currently paying $150/hour for PSAT/SAT tutoring. They recommend 10 sessions (with work in between) for that. So it will be $1500. That's just for verbal. If you are really serious you probably need seprate math and verbal even for the SSATs.
Harriet Broder's group in Potomac offers SSAT prep. Interesting note on the Georgetown Prep website - they indicate that most of their successful applicants have SSATs over 90% on the national norms. |
Anonymous
| Can anyone recommend a good SSAT tutor in NOVA, esp. Mclean/Great Falls/Vienna areas? Thanks. |
Anonymous
| It appears from DCUM that prepping for SSAT and ISEE is a big time activity amongst the DC elite but the same elite do not prep for all the WPSSI 99.9 percentiles these same kids racked up. I wonder where the truth lies? |
Anonymous
| I am totally against prepping for the WIPPSI but did do some prep for the SSAT. Part of the reason was to lower my DC's anxiety about the SSAT -- something that wasn't an issue for the WIPPSI. But the other reason is because a child doesn't need to know "how" to take the WIPPSI, but the process for the SSAT does need to be learned. You probably can get that from books (and even the SSAT people themselves will send you the book, they know there has to be some prep), but I felt the one on one helped my DC avoid test-taking anxiety. |
Anonymous
Stir that pot! Stir! Stir! |
Anonymous
|
my DC just took the dec ssat. Bought the $28 official book and worked way through that (2 sample tests) but did NOTHING else.
Got the scores back right before Christmas, what a present -- scored 99% overall, 99 percentile for quantitative (perfect actually at 800), 98th percentile for verbal and 99th percentile for reading. We expected a good score but not that high. You need to be familiar with the questions, especially the analogies and understand the math concepts (all of which should be known). Otherwise tutoring is not going to help you with reading/vocabulary as it is a total crap shoot what words you get/what subject matter in the reading passages. Just my 2 cents. |
Anonymous
| Thanks. How long did it take to "go through" the book? Something that should be done over the summer or just prior to the test? |
Anonymous
I love your rationale here. I can just see you in front of a Judge! |
Anonymous
"....but did NIOTHING else..." I guess this makes DC purer or cleaner! |
Anonymous
Only if you are among the DCUM pretenders and liars. |
Anonymous
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I am the PP about using the official SSAT book only. I am not saying our child is "purer or cleaner" than those who use a tutor. I am $1500 richer though for not paying for that service which we happily found out was not needed. The official book arrived about 10 days before the test. Our DC read the intro sections one night, and then did the sample tests over the weekend before the real SSAT.
There are also Kaplan and Barron and other thicker books available too if you child is independent to work through them that give strategies and frequently used words etc. our friends went that route. All I was trying to say was that we did not use a tutor or any outside help and were shocked at the great score actually. Until we received the scores we were even thinking about retaking it in january. You know your own kid. If they need the discipline and help, then maybe a tutor would be the way to go. I am sure mine would have benefited from one, but it turns out we gambled a bit and won. Thankfully. |
Anonymous
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We also used the books (the official SSAT book and one from another name brand). Did a little bit each day. Child did well on the tests.
It really bothered me that test prepping is big biz and when I called Kaplan, etc., they couldn't tell me about their trainers' qualifications and tried to see packages. There are kids who definitely need a professional, but if yours is smart, spending some time with the books is really all you need. |