I do my best to meet every student where they are. That is why I have every new test prep student do a practice test before our first session. Then, based on their mistakes, I work as efficiently as possible to prioritize the skills that are most important for them to succeed as quickly as possible. I work from the ground up, only teaching skills they do not already know. I do not waste their time talking about skills they already have. Kids are extremely perceptive. They immediately recognize that I am working hard, and efficiently to help them. They can spot a phony, so I don’t play games. I show them I care, and we get right to work helping them reach their goals.

SAT and PSAT Test Prep

Every student needs to do a practice test BEFORE our first session (on their own time).

The first session needs to be one hour. An hour session can be hard to find on my calendar during the school year. If you cannot find a session, text me, and I’ll see what I can do to get your child started.

In the first session, your child and I will review their mistakes and start to get an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, and I will explain my most relevant strategies. Then, I do my best to explain as much math and demonstrate as many strategies as I reasonably can in one hour. Lastly, as with all sessions, I will assign appropriate practice based on their weaknesses.

I have created over 50 practice packets that target the many different math topics on the test. We start with the area of greatest need and highest importance and build up from there. In my packets, the problems are very carefully sequenced to help the student practice my strategies, as well as build their skills and confidence on their own time. During our sessions, I go over as many examples as necessary to teach the topic, and then I email the packet to them so that they can complete it on their own time. My packets include answers (not solutions), and relevant formulas. I also sprinkle in helpful tips next to problems when I feel it is appropriate. The whole goal is to make them independent problem-solvers. Unfortunately, I will not be with them when they take the test, so they have to learn the concepts, as well as how to use my strategies to break apart harder questions. Each packet progresses to “Medium” and often “Hard” problems, so students that are aiming for really high scores can practice those questions too.

I have different series for different skill levels. As good as it is to learn specific topics, students need to keep practicing all the skills that appear on the test. These skill level based series are designed to accomplish that.

I teach proven strategies. In our first session, I will provide them with my strategies sheet as well as discuss the most important strategies that will help raise their score. While most of my packets address math topics, some of my packets are dedicated to specific strategies. By the time a student has completed their prep with me, they better know “Don’t stare at ordered pairs!”, as well as many of my other strategies.

When the time is right, I have your child do additional practice tests. It is good to get a score every so often to see how things are going. Thankfully, the SAT has made seven free practice tests available, whereas the ACT has only one.

I also have final review packets that I send out to students as the test approaches. These packets are only sent to students who have studied with me regularly, not students that I only saw a handful of times.

Here’s what I do NOT do. I do NOT accept a student, have a one hour session, and then send them every packet I have ever created. I send packets in appropriate amounts based on a student’s ability, when our next session is, and what is likely a reasonable amount of work they can be complete prior to the next session.

ACT Test Prep

My approach to the ACT is very similar to that of the SAT, however the ACT has about twice as many topics (including precalculus), requires memorization of extra formulas (I have a packet for that), and has about 1/50th as many practice problems available. So, while I still have packets and a final review, they are considerably smaller (OK, the big final review is enormous – 37 pages) because there are far fewer practice problems available. This is one of the many reasons why I direct all students toward the SAT.