Will an SAT prep course help my child?

It’s a fair question, especially when you consider the data. According to multiple studies, while personalized test prep can lead to more substantial improvement, regular test prep courses average an improvement of less than 30 points. That’s 30 points on a 1600 point test. Not very impressive. 

Yet this may seem counterintuitive. Haven’t many students found that a quality SAT course gave them the insights and the practice they needed? Yes, many have. But it’s not guaranteed to work. Indeed, the “guarantee” offered by some popular courses is little more than an voucher to re-take the class for free.

Whether or not a prep-course will make a significant difference depends on three things: the student, the instructor, and the course material.

Every student is different. Some thrive when given personal attention but experience crushing social anxiety in groups. Others thrive in social groups, sometimes so much so that they struggle to control their social impulses and interactions during learning sessions. The simple rule of thumb is this: If the student prefers to study and read on their own—and actually DOES, a group class may feel a little bit slow to them.

If, however, they are not keen on private study and generally resist doing homework, then a classroom setting with others who are trying to learn may be just what they need to begin to get serious. A great class will expose a student to more than just the knowledge and strategies they need; it also brings them into a forum of other kids’ questions, answers, and thought processes. This kind of social connection, if managed properly, can switch on their minds for learning, and can have a profound impact on the memorability of both the material and the experience itself.

All of this demands extraordinary ability on the part of the instructor.

We’ve all had at least one teacher who knew how to engage the group and foster the desire to use our minds, and we’ve all had teachers who made us feel like we were wasting our time being there. To say it without mincing words, whether a class is or is not worth taking depends almost entirely on the teaching talent of the instructor. Kids are experts in evaluating the communications abilities of teachers, and they will quickly tune out if the teacher does not know how to engage them. The takeaway in all of this? Do not sign your kids up for a prep class if you have not heard the teacher.

Finally, when it comes to effective preparation for a specific subject or test, the ultimate outcome depends on what is taught in the course. A fantastic teacher can create a perfect learning environment that is both enjoyable and memorable, but if the material taught does not actually drive up their scores, it will BE a waste of time, whether it felt like one or not.

I’ve taught many courses over the years and have seen truly impressive results, both in confidence and in scores. Here’s what I do that works:

Use Official SAT Materials

There are many books produced that claim to prepare students for the SAT. From what I have seen, however, most fail to correctly calibrate the difficulty level of the actual test, and NONE of them seem to either grasp or require the kind of thinking that the College Board is endeavoring to evaluate. Using the wrong materials is like preparing for the wrong test: it invariably leads students to either overthink or underthink the questions.

Eliminate Overthinking

Have you ever heard a good answer to the question of how to stop overthinking when choosing between two attractive answers? It’s actually very simple: You have to know the person asking the question.

When your friend says something dryly that could be taken as seriously but also could be a joke, those hearing it may be confused, but you already for a certainty what they meant. How do you get to know the “person” behind the SAT? This kind of knowledge comes from a) knowing what the testmakers expect from students (they tell you in writing), and b) refining that knowledge by going over every question you get wrong and updating your knowledge of what they were expecting you to think. Many students find this part of the course particularly valuable. 

Make it a Game

It’s hard to be interested in a reading passage about Native American sand paintings—even if you’re a Native American. No student is naturally interested in the typical SAT reading. These passages are intentionally age-inappropriate because college students will be required to read things that do NOT interest them. I teach them how to engage their curiosity, not in the material itself, but in the challenge of understanding what the passage is saying one sentence at a time. That’s the game, and those who are playing the correct game are the ones who end up winning.

Show them How to Manage Time

Time management on the SAT does not come from rushing. Rushing means reading and thinking faster than you are able to—and losing control, which leads to an abundance of errors. Managing your time comes from one thing: Not getting stuck.

Knowing what to focus on means knowing what to let go of. It means knowing not to spend time trying to figure out how to pronounce a name. And it means knowing when to accept that you don’t know a word or an expression and move on. This by itself shaves off seconds that add up to minutes over the course of a section. Related to this, “zooming-in” (to the specific words) and “zooming-out” (to the overall point) is a skill that many kids were never taught, and learning it changes the game for them.

But the real power is knowing when to give up. Getting stuck on questions and refusing to let go is a sure way to underperform on the test. Not only do you lose the time you just spent, but each problem you get stuck on leaves you in a state of increasing internal panic over the fact that you are running out of time. An effective SAT course will train students to recognize when they are stuck—and to let go.

Teach Control, not Speed

Speed drills are among the WORST tools to use when it comes to reading comprehension, which dominates the test. In fact, the reason students score so poorly on this test is that they are reading too quickly, without giving their minds sufficient time to grasp what they are reading. When you drive too fast to control your vehicle, you will crash. The fear of “pencils down!” is what drives kids to exceed their own speed limit, and it drives down their score far more effectively than not getting to finish the last few questions. Once they are in control, they automatically speed up.

When a course has the effect of instilling better habits and fostering a sense of control, it will have an impact on the student’s academic performance far beyond test day.