Preliminary SAT (PSAT) Preparation Course
Sophomores and juniors in high school take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT), commonly referred to as the PSAT test. As the name suggests, this is a test designed to measure the same sorts of skills as, and prepare students for, the SAT test which is given to high school juniors and seniors. Everyone who has a chance to take the PSAT should certainly take advantage of it. Not only does it give your valuable practice for the SAT, by revealing what areas you may need to work on, but if you do well, you can also qualify for some of the millions of dollars of scholarship money from the National Merit Scholarship competition. Like any other multiple choice based test, you will achieve the highest score after you take the PSAT at least twice. Since PSAT is offered once every year, we suggest that a student takes it first in the October of Sophomore year and then the second time in October of junior year; the latter counts towards NMSQT.
The most common reasons for taking the PSAT/NMSQT are:
The first PSAT course we offer is a 6 week long course, 2 times a week, 2.5 hours every class (total of 30 hours spread over 12 classes). The course is divided into 2 sections - the foundation section and the practice section. The foundation section is especially important because students will either have forgotten material they covered in middle school and freshman years, or they will not have seen material from sophomore/junior years, and all this material will be included in the PSAT. The practice section of our PSAT course is where we train students to have their thought processes aligned with those of the test setters.
We also offer a refresher PSAT course for students who will take the PSAT for the second time. This refresher course is for individual students, and the duration is mutually decided between the student and us, depending on specific targets that the student may have. Most of our students enroll for the SAT course in their junior years, and they get prepared for PSAT as a by-product. All preparation courses for PSAT are offered during summer and early fall of every year.
We will be happy to discuss our program further with you over the phone. Please give us a call at 704-840-5485.
Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) Preparation Course
The SAT is typically taken by high school juniors and seniors. It tells students how well they use the skills and knowledge they have attained in and outside of the classroom—including how they think, solve problems, and communicate. The SAT is an important resource for colleges. It's also one of the best predictors of how well students will do in college.
Nearly every college in America accepts the SAT or Subject Tests as a part of its admissions process. That's why more than two million students take the SAT every year.
Like any other multiple choice based test, you will achieve the highest score after you take the test several times; for SAT we recommend taking the test three (3) times. Remember that SAT is offered throughout the year, and we suggest that a student takes it once in the sophomore year, and then two (2) more times in their junior year. All SAT scores become public records and universities can pull up your scores at will – so do not take the SAT without preparation because a bad score will hide your true capabilities and hurt your chances of admission.
The first SAT course we offer is a 8 week long course, 2 times a week, 2.5 hours every class (total of 40 hours spread over 16 classes). The course is divided into 2 sections - the foundation section and the practice section. The foundation section is especially important because students will either have forgotten material they covered in middle school and freshman years, or they will not have seen material from sophomore/junior years, and all this material will be included in the SAT. The practice section of our SAT course is where we train students in our unique style: align students’ thought processes with those of the test setters.
Following are the three important reasons why you should consider our course:
our group size is 6 maximum (we also offer individual courses),
as part of our boutique
style teaching, we grade the tests by hand to identify, classify and
cross-correlate test results with great deal of individual attention to each
and every student, and work on the diagnosed weaknesses to rectify the problems
before moving on to the next test – we do not use automated computer based
grading of tests, and
we are career academicians and we know how to teach and guide students going to college –we do not hire tutors lacking necessary pedagogical credentials just to keep up with the demand.
We also offer a refresher SAT course for students. This refresher course can be offered in a group of maximum 6 students (depending on availability), or individually. The duration of a refresher course is mutually decided between the student and us, depending on specific objectives of the students. Preparation courses for SAT are offered throughout the year.
We will be happy to discuss our program further with you over the phone. Please give us a call at 704-840-5485.
For students willing and able to prepare for the ACT and SAT test who do their college search early, applying Early Decision is sensible so long as there is no need to shop among financial offers. According to The Early Admissions Game published in 2003 by two Kennedy School professors and a Wesleyan University economist, at some schools "Applying E.A. (early action) boosts an applicant's chances by 18.9 percent - the same amount that a 100-point jump on the SATs would…. The effects of applying E.D. (early decision, which is binding) are even more drastic, giving an applicant a 34.8 percent boost, which corresponds to a 190-point SAT advantage". This was reported in The Harvard Crimson in February 2003. Anecdotal evidence shows that among E.D. schools where the admissions offices are not "need blind" (i.e. they do take need into account), E.D. applicants who will be paying in full have a better chance. When a non-need-blind college takes a high number of non-needy students, it has more money to give to needy applicants in the next round of offers.