SAT Prep Blog

Dr. Tripathi shares his experience from 21 years of SAT Prep and ACT prep training to over 6000 students. Important aspects of SAT, PSAT, ACT and SAT subject test Prep are discussed.

A Consumer's Guide to Selecting the Best SAT Prep Tutor/Program #SATprep

The advice has been prepared based on my experience as an SAT Prep tutor/instructor for over twenty years as well as a father of four children. Your most important objective is to find the best suited program for your student's abilities and learning style. In general we suggest the following steps:

Conduct a survey of available SAT Prep Programs in your area.

Then, eliminate any program which does not provide a complimentary assessment and a trial class/lesson.

Next. eliminate any program which does not offer you a "pay as you go option."  An SAT prep program which forces you to stay with it just because you have spent a lot of money may feel like a trap after some time if your child does not like the program. Your child should enjoy the learning environment as well as the content offered by the program. Finally, choose a program taught by a dedicated and caring instructor who loves to teach and bring out the best in your child and who does not treat your child's education as secondary to any other objective.

You and your student should be able to talk to the instructor and ask questions that are important to you. You should make sure that if your student does not understand material explained by the instructor, a back up plan is offered to help him understand it.

When your student attends the complimentary/trial class, if possible, you should watch the teacher teach/explain to other students and you should feel comfortable with his teaching style. If you are given an opportunity, take a few difficult questions to the trial class and politely ask the instructor to teach you how to solve these questions. How effectively the instructor explains and whether or not he can make these questions easy for you should provide the most important insight into the program's effectiveness. If you are not satisfied, move on to the program in your list.

Your task of raising your SAT score will become a lot easier if you find a program taught by an instructor who can make learning easy for your student.

Let us know your thoughts on SAT prep.