College Test Prep

Individual tutoring for the following standardized tests:

PSAT

SAT

ACT

AP History

AP Psychology

AP Stats

 

Betsy is also willing to help students revise college application essays.

 

Small Classes for the PSAT/SAT and ACT are available to review the main strategies for these tests.  Please visit the Class Registration page for a current list of available classes.

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Specific strategies we teach

Behavioral Strategies

In Betsy's experience working with diverse students, she has identified that almost all students can benefit from learning behavioral strategies. The goal is for students to be mentally prepared for the increased pressure associated with taking a high stakes test by providing strategies that will allow them to have more time and energy to concentrate on the test material. These strategies can be applied to a variety of settings, not just the SAT/ACT environment.  Specifically, these strategies can help students as they complete homework and take exams in both high school and college.

• Timing. One of the biggest challenges students encounter is how to complete the sections in the time given.  Betsy’s expertise as a school psychologist helps her teach students how to manage their time on the test, so that they can get to all of the questions.
• Test-taking anxiety. Many students are anxious to take these high-stakes tests.  As a trained school psychologist, Betsy is able to teach students breathing strategies and how to take breaks throughout the test, so that students do not become overwhelmed by the test.  Helping students have confidence and feel prepared going into the test is one of the best ways to minimize the stress associated with taking these tests
• Focus and Attention. It is difficult for anyone to sit down for 3-4 hours and focus their attention 100% of the time.  Betsy helps students learn how to build up their endurance, so that they can maintain their focus throughout the entirety of the test

Academic strategies

The purpose of these courses is not to teach all of the material that is on the test.  The goals of the course are to help students (1) review the academic material that occurs the most often within each section of the test, (2) know when implementing specific strategies can minimize the amount of time it takes to correctly answer a question, and (3) navigate the test. Given unlimited time to complete these tests, many students would be able to achieve extremely competitive scores. However, students benefit from knowing how to quickly and effectively apply their academic knowledge to the test.

• Grammar and rhetoric. Students will be taught specific grammar rules (such as punctuation rules). Students will also be taught what answer choices are typically correct/incorrect when answering rhetoric questions on the English/Writing sections of the tests.
• Math.  Many of the concepts tested on the SAT/ACT are from algebra and geometry.  As such, students may have forgotten the most efficient way to answer these questions and a quick review tends to be extremely helpful in boosting their math scores.  In addition, there is Pre-Calculus material that some students may not have been taught. A brief introduction to these concepts will likely help students find the correct answer to these questions on test day.
• Reading. Students will be taught the order in which to answer the questions and how to effectively find the answers within each of the different passages.
• Science (for the ACT). Many students have not received formal instruction on how to interpret graphs and understand the scientific method. A quick review of these concepts has been shown to help students master this section of the test.
• Essay. An understanding of what is required by the Essay component of the test, so that students know how to prepare and write the SAT or ACT essay.