How much does SAT prep really help?

[Anonymous]

1190 PSAT
1370 first/second SAT
1420 superscore

Took maybe 4 practice tests and reviewed answers with us. Did a little bit of Khan, would have been nice if they’d done more — it did help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dc had a 1050 psat, and were hoping to get to 1200-1300. She struggles with test taking, anxiety and some of the math thought processes.

We’re in session 2 of 8 summer sessions w a tutor so we’ll see how she does in August.

The key is to do 1-1 tutoring along with practice tests weekly. You need to simulate real test situations (start the exam at 8am not noon). You need to do it exactly as the real test goes, with the limited breaks.

This is helpful, and yes we are doing 1:1 test prep with homework in between. The practice test advice you give mirrors my experience as well for grad school tests.

We’re not aiming for t20 here, just the best possible test outcome for DD who is more of a B student, even with effort. She is motivated. Fingers crossed!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My ds scored 980 on a diagnostic test. We both actually lolled. He has done a combination of one-on-one tutoring plus some personal prep system he set up online. In the course of 10 months he is up to a 1270 (1300 super score between a practice and spring SAT) and his goal is to score in 1300s in August.

We will see. He had a ton of room for growth and it gets harder as you go up.

He goes to a meh high school where the average SAT is about 1050.

Updating that he just scored a 1340 on another practice test so yes, when the score starts out low there is a ton of opportunity for improvement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone commented on another thread: "I’m an SAT tutor. You can’t tutor a mediocre kid into a 1500+ kid. Sorry, but don’t waste your money."

So how much does it really help? And when is it useful to begin tutoring? For example, if you hired a tutor for your 9th grader and have him work with the coach weekly for a couple of years, is your 9th grader going to do worlds better than he otherwise would have due to the prep?

For those looking for test prep services or tutors.

[Anonymous]

My son went from an 1170 to a 1340 with a group prep class. We are happy with his score - he will try one more time to see if he can bump it up a tad with superscore, but he's not aiming for T20 schools.