<p>Long story short, I'm considering becoming an SAT tutor, at least on a part-time basis.</p>
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<li><p>To prepare for this goal, I've retaken the SAT multiple times within the last few months. My highest score from a single sitting was just over 2250. If one superscores the tests, the score would be just over 2300. Are these scores high enough to inspire confidence? If not, I still have time to take the SAT again if I register by midnight tomorrow.</p></li>
<li><p>While I have a Bachelor's degree, it's not exactly from a top school. At best, the university is moderately respected in its own region. Is this likely to be an issue for some clients even with a high score? For financial reasons, I was unable to attend the type of university that would have been right for me as an undergraduate.</p></li>
<li><p>Do you think there would be demand for SAT tutoring being provided on a sliding scale based on income? Because of my own background, I'm highly concerned about students who are talented but don't have the advantages that would help them get into the universities where they would excel. If 200 more points on the SAT means a student is able to attend a university where they excel as opposed to having an unrewarding university experience, that's more important to me than earning $100 per hour.</p></li>
<li><p>Finally, is it substantially less effective to tutor students remotely? For some of the populations with which I'm considering working, it's not viable to tutor them in person.</p></li>
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<p>Not an expert, but some opinions (and facts):</p>
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<li><p>Depending on who you’re tutoring, I think a 2250 single sit/2300 superscore’s fine. On one end of the spectrum, it’s a kid with a 900 SAT score needing to improve drastically, and on the end, it’s a kid with a 2000 wanting to get a 2300. So while you may not have much luck with the latter part of the spectrum (well you probably may, but we’re talking conservatively here), the former part and all that’s in between is your’s for the taking.</p></li>
<li><p>I personally wouldn’t be bothered by it, but others would. I’ve seen a lot of SAT tutoring fliers, and none have ever explicitly mentioned the tutor’s undergrad. Regardless, if anyone ever puts your college into question, be quick to mention that you’re there to teach them the SAT, which you obviously excelled at.</p></li>
<li><p>If you’re going for philanthropy, there are LOADS of charities/groups working everywhere providing free tutors for school and even SATs. I don’t think a low-income kid would even consider a private tutor for the SAT, but I’m sure with some good marketing, you should be able to reach out and find tutorless children.
My school’s Honor Society used to reach out to other school districts and offer free tutoring to kids that a teenager could handle (way before back when my district was 1) good, 2) connected with rich people who fund this stuff). You could do the same on a microlevel with an urban city high school’s guidance department.</p></li>
<li><p>Khan Academy’s remote and not even live. Yet it still rocks.</p></li>
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<li><p>I could probably beat even those scores. On the first two tests, I had time problems in Critical Reasoning. On the third test date, I answered all the Critical Reading questions and got a 770 but did worse than average in Writing.</p></li>
<li><p>If it matters, I was admitted and did attend a school which is undisputedly prestigious. But for various reasons - mostly finances and a change of career plans - I didn’t graduate.</p></li>
<li><p>Good point; I’d heard of volunteer SAT tutoring but didn’t realize it was widespread. That said, there may also be a middle ground where people who aren’t poor but aren’t really middle class can’t afford $100 per hour for the amount of time which would be needed.</p></li>
<li><p>Good point. Although there is an interactive element to tutoring which Khan Academy doesn’t have.</p></li>
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<p>@theeboy3: I bet you could beat that in the long run. $100/hour is possible for an SAT tutor. I even personally know an SAT tutor who is billed out at $200/hour. That said, $20/hour to learn a field which is that lucrative is a good deal until you’re truly ready to strike out on your own. And the agency you’re working with probably doesn’t want you taking on clients directly, so it’s either working with them or being completely on your own.</p>
<p>I currently pay SAT tutors that work for me between $70 and $100 per hour. Right now I teach the math classes myself, so I only hire verbal tutors. They must have a graduate degree, they must themselves be able to get close to 800 in each verbal section, and they must have evidence of student score increases of at least 100 points in each section. </p>
<p>The school you got your degree from may not be that big a deal. People very rarely ask about credentials. They tend to choose the person that they are recommended to by their friends. So if you produce exceptional results for your students, that is really all that matters.</p>