If you had private SAT tutoring for your kid - how long did he/she do the prep?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do colleges really care if a person "only" gets a 1510 vs a 1600?

from admission standpoint? no. from merit scholarship standpoint from 2nd tier schools (like UMCP), yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS studied with Silverman as well - scored 1520 - he's amazing and aside from the 2x per week classes he tells the kids not to prep at all.

How much does Silverman charge?

It was a reasonable $800 for 8 weeks of classes which met twice a week. His classes are entertaining according to my hard to please daughter. He doesn't only teach TJ kids but he does teach quite a few due to his solid reputation of producing results.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We followed the US News guidelines with a semiprivate tutor and they said that in total, students should plan to spend 12-15 hours a week on prep starting six to eight weeks before they plan to take the final test. The study course should offer practice at least once a week for four weeks.

DS did it with his girlfriend and DS got a 1540. Girlfriend got a 1500.

15 hours per week for 8 weeks? Crazy.

+1 Those 120 hours could have been spent doing something meaningful. It explains a lot about why so many high SAT scorers get rejected by good schools. The opportunity cost for those extra couple points is tremendous. I can understand a student wanting a little test prep, but I can't imagine more than an hour a week, if they have a substantive high school course load.

It effectively cheapens the value of a really high score. Colleges can just assume (perhaps unfairly) that the kid who got the perfect score is a drone who devoted their life to test prep.

It really doesn't because I dont think that all of that prepping makes any difference.
He's teaching TJ kids? How much help do you think they need?

Your scores mostly come from your education and also taking the test again

I would tend to agree with you. My point is more about how these scores are perceived. A perfect score on the SATs is impressive. A perfect score from a kid who studied 15 hrs/week for 8 weeks prior to the test? Not so much. When colleges see a 1600, if they think they might be getting the latter rather than the former, it cheapens the value of the achievement.

How would they know?

They don't know for sure. But they can assume based on what they see in the rest of the application.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We followed the US News guidelines with a semiprivate tutor and they said that in total, students should plan to spend 12-15 hours a week on prep starting six to eight weeks before they plan to take the final test. The study course should offer practice at least once a week for four weeks.

DS did it with his girlfriend and DS got a 1540. Girlfriend got a 1500.

15 hours per week for 8 weeks? Crazy.

+1 Those 120 hours could have been spent doing something meaningful. It explains a lot about why so many high SAT scorers get rejected by good schools. The opportunity cost for those extra couple points is tremendous. I can understand a student wanting a little test prep, but I can't imagine more than an hour a week, if they have a substantive high school course load.

It effectively cheapens the value of a really high score. Colleges can just assume (perhaps unfairly) that the kid who got the perfect score is a drone who devoted their life to test prep.

It really doesn't because I dont think that all of that prepping makes any difference.
He's teaching TJ kids? How much help do you think they need?

Your scores mostly come from your education and also taking the test again

I would tend to agree with you. My point is more about how these scores are perceived. A perfect score on the SATs is impressive. A perfect score from a kid who studied 15 hrs/week for 8 weeks prior to the test? Not so much. When colleges see a 1600, if they think they might be getting the latter rather than the former, it cheapens the value of the achievement.

How would they know?

Because the student was test prepping instead of being engaged in their community/school/team/etc. It's really easy to tell students who care about something and spend their time doing it rather than prepping for a test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We followed the US News guidelines with a semiprivate tutor and they said that in total, students should plan to spend 12-15 hours a week on prep starting six to eight weeks before they plan to take the final test. The study course should offer practice at least once a week for four weeks.

DS did it with his girlfriend and DS got a 1540. Girlfriend got a 1500.

15 hours per week for 8 weeks? Crazy.

+1 Those 120 hours could have been spent doing something meaningful. It explains a lot about why so many high SAT scorers get rejected by good schools. The opportunity cost for those extra couple points is tremendous. I can understand a student wanting a little test prep, but I can't imagine more than an hour a week, if they have a substantive high school course load.

It effectively cheapens the value of a really high score. Colleges can just assume (perhaps unfairly) that the kid who got the perfect score is a drone who devoted their life to test prep.

It really doesn't because I dont think that all of that prepping makes any difference.
He's teaching TJ kids? How much help do you think they need?

Your scores mostly come from your education and also taking the test again

I would tend to agree with you. My point is more about how these scores are perceived. A perfect score on the SATs is impressive. A perfect score from a kid who studied 15 hrs/week for 8 weeks prior to the test? Not so much. When colleges see a 1600, if they think they might be getting the latter rather than the former, it cheapens the value of the achievement.

How would they know?

They don't know for sure. But they can assume based on what they see in the rest of the application.

Thats not reasonable to assume.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These kids go to school for roughly 7 hours a day. They are learning new material in school, have homework and (usually) some extracurricular activities, too.

I can not imagine adding 12-15 hours a week of test prep to their already full load. That translates into 3 hours, 4 or 5 days a week. On top of school, on top of homework...

SAT prep is about learning tips for taking the test and filling in gaps that you might be a little shaky on - I can see doing one 90 minute evening class once a week followed by practice tests on the weekends but not much more than that. There is such a thing as over preparing for a test.

They're all doing the intense $4000 classes here at my DD's Bethesda private. We're the only ones not having our DD do that, it seems - the tutoring class company regularly sends out a listing of who else is taking the class now and in previous years going way back. You know, so you can see who the good parents are and who the inferior ones are. The school has them administer the girls one free practice test at school so thats how they get your information to send the letters out.
We don't have 4k, and if we did we wouldn't spend it on that but the pressure is strong to do that. I explained to one mom that DD wasn't test prepping recently and she stopped communicating with me. She strongly believes that you should do all you can for your kid.
I believe that DD can do some things for herself but this is not a popular belief in this environment.

DD did well on the test. She could have done slightly better on one part (perfect score on other part) but she can go over that herself and figure that out.
Is believing that your kid is capable really a bad thing?

I'm surprised a prep company would publish the names of its students......doesn't seem ethical. I think there is some value in learning test taking strategies but you can get most of that from a book. The real prep is repetitions taking practice tests and making sure you understand the correct answer to every question you get wrong. Practice tests also teach you time management which frankly is a big key o success on any standardized test. These prep companies take advantage of parental guilt and add little value beyond what you could do with your child directly.....assuming you have the time, inclination, and capability.

We get a packet in the mail with the names monthly, it seems.
I wish the school would just offer a few basic classes for all of the kids and then those that wanted more prep could sign up but that is not how it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These kids go to school for roughly 7 hours a day. They are learning new material in school, have homework and (usually) some extracurricular activities, too.

I can not imagine adding 12-15 hours a week of test prep to their already full load. That translates into 3 hours, 4 or 5 days a week. On top of school, on top of homework...

SAT prep is about learning tips for taking the test and filling in gaps that you might be a little shaky on - I can see doing one 90 minute evening class once a week followed by practice tests on the weekends but not much more than that. There is such a thing as over preparing for a test.

They're all doing the intense $4000 classes here at my DD's Bethesda private. We're the only ones not having our DD do that, it seems - the tutoring class company regularly sends out a listing of who else is taking the class now and in previous years going way back. You know, so you can see who the good parents are and who the inferior ones are. The school has them administer the girls one free practice test at school so thats how they get your information to send the letters out.
We don't have 4k, and if we did we wouldn't spend it on that but the pressure is strong to do that. I explained to one mom that DD wasn't test prepping recently and she stopped communicating with me. She strongly believes that you should do all you can for your kid.
I believe that DD can do some things for herself but this is not a popular belief in this environment.

DD did well on the test. She could have done slightly better on one part (perfect score on other part) but she can go over that herself and figure that out.
Is believing that your kid is capable really a bad thing?

Thanks for sharing. I'm appalled at the public shaming. My DD did Kaplan for $700 and got a 1510. Did Khan Academy (free) and it brought her score to 1570. He found the adaptive learning in Khan Academy helped to target her weak areas in an efficient manner. She didn't have to spend her life (or major $$$) doing test prep.

I think DD will try Khan academy soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We followed the US News guidelines with a semiprivate tutor and they said that in total, students should plan to spend 12-15 hours a week on prep starting six to eight weeks before they plan to take the final test. The study course should offer practice at least once a week for four weeks.

DS did it with his girlfriend and DS got a 1540. Girlfriend got a 1500.

15 hours per week for 8 weeks? Crazy.

+1 Those 120 hours could have been spent doing something meaningful. It explains a lot about why so many high SAT scorers get rejected by good schools. The opportunity cost for those extra couple points is tremendous. I can understand a student wanting a little test prep, but I can't imagine more than an hour a week, if they have a substantive high school course load.

It effectively cheapens the value of a really high score. Colleges can just assume (perhaps unfairly) that the kid who got the perfect score is a drone who devoted their life to test prep.

It really doesn't because I dont think that all of that prepping makes any difference.
He's teaching TJ kids? How much help do you think they need?

Your scores mostly come from your education and also taking the test again

I would tend to agree with you. My point is more about how these scores are perceived. A perfect score on the SATs is impressive. A perfect score from a kid who studied 15 hrs/week for 8 weeks prior to the test? Not so much. When colleges see a 1600, if they think they might be getting the latter rather than the former, it cheapens the value of the achievement.

How would they know?

They don't know for sure. But they can assume based on what they see in the rest of the application.

Thats not reasonable to assume.

I agree. But I think it's happening. A perfect score on SAT/ACT isn't viewed the same way as it was 30 years ago. It's way more common now. Some of these kids are getting rejections you wouldn't expect.