Naviance in some places, has Method Test prep for free.
@BmacNJ : 80 hours of ACT test prep for $5,000 works out to a very reasonable hourly rate of just $62.50 per hour.
The issue that I see is whether or not the tutor will work well with your daughter.
Although everything is relative, I think that aiming for an ACT score in the 25 to 30 range is a bit low for an honors & AP student. Aiming for a minimum score of 28 is a reasonable standard for an honors & AP student.
I applaud you & your daughter for your commitment to this effort.
If the tutor is good & works well with your child, the cost & amount of time is reasonable. But, as others have noted, be sure to take an initial practice test ASAP in order to establish a base score.
If this $5,000 is well spent, it could save you tens of thousands of tuition dollars in addition to giving your daughter a wider variety of college options.
This student took the ACT as a sophomore and the family was not pleased with the score. The reality is…that the score will likely increase by end of junior year when this kid takes the ACT again…simply because of more coursework at a higher level.
I would suggest taking the SAT as well. While her sophomore year PSAT wasn’t where you wanted it to be, a junior year SAT could very well be better.
How far “off” is she from the schools you have seen so far (Marist, Fairfield are in your other threads?).
Does she feel like she won’t get accepted anywhere? It’s a little early to feel that way.
At this point, prep for the PSAT which she will take in October. See what that looks like, and then make a decision…that’s what I would do.
Talk about burning out a kid. And there she is, not even up to AP level classes yet. Not eve half way through hs.
I don’t know what OP means by “above average.” But if you think she’s got a spark, consider some of the test optional colleges. Let her grow up and use this summer in ways that are both responsible and carefree. Some comm service or a job and growth time. Let her look at prep books on the side.
Save your money. Psat means nothing. My sons scores were very low. Math on Act is through Trig. What math is she taking this year and next? Hard to do well on a test when she didn’t learn the material yet… Right?
Get this https://www.amazon.com/Book-Practice-Problems-Manhattan-Prep/dp/194123450X
The book has diagnostic tests and explains sections well. Extremely well organized and more problems then you can handle.
This is what our tutor used. Speaking about tutors… @Mwfan1921. The tutor we used was from a service but did tutoring on his own for like $60.00 /hour and he was from Naperville and we live in Chicago. He does Skype which worked absolutely great and alway spent more time and didn’t watch a clock per se. He tutors across the United States and was a graduate student at University of Chicago working in Research at Rush… So affordable tutors are out there. More importantly they can hone down quickly on what your daughter needs to do. Yes there are some tips /tricks also. My son is very strong on math but English /reading not so much. I forgot what it was but he suggested some very basic things for my son to learn and like overnight his reading /English scores improved.
May I ask her GPA? If above average student you might be aiming to low on her scores.
Also use this,
https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep
They don’t do Act but use to get help in the specific sections she needs more explanations for. They do a good job and kids tend to like it.
Also many known test prep companies do offer free tests for both Act /Sat evaluation. They are shortened versions of the tests but might give good insight on her strengths and weaknesses. Also don’t be surprised if she does better on the Sat vs Act.
Lastly, Act tends to be a fast test for a lot of students. Once getting material down working on speed also helps.
Good Luck.
That is a lot of money and time. My S had a private tutor. I live in northern NJ. I was initially quoted $180/session but negotiated down to $126. I think the sessions were 90 minutes. He started tutoring in late December, once a week, for an April test date. I acknowledge that each kid is different but 40 sessions is basically another course. Remember there will be homework too. Will your kid really be able to maintain that kind of study schedule for such an extended period of time? At some point diminishing returns will set in and you will be paying a lot of money for not a big gain.
I think a private tutor is very helpful especially when the child is not motiviated enough to do the work on their own. I think 80 hours is a bit much though and I think $5,000.00 may be too much. However, when you think that the differnce between a 28 and a 32 could mean $5,000.00-10,000.00 more each year for four years in merit scholarships at some schools then what’s $5,000.00 if you can afford it? That being said I think $2,500.00 or in that ball park is more reaonable.
We had a tutor one hour per week for about three months and the ACT score went up four points from the diagnostic test. I think it could have gone up six points if child put in just a little more effort into it and practiced more. We bought lots of test prep material but it was hard to get her to do a lot of it. She did the work the tutor gave her and some of what we gave but it was a struggle. She always complained that she had so much school work and tests and was constantly too tired to do extra test prep. It is very frustrating when the child has the potential to do well but ofr whatever reason does not put in the effort neccessary to get great results.The child has to be very motivated and dedicated.
Make sure you sign up with a company that will include the practice tests and tests anaylisis in the price of the tutoring. The company we used first gave a diagnostic test for free where they give the child both the ACT and SAT( an abriged version I suppose) and based on the resutls of that they say which test they think is best for your child. It was the same that my child was more comfortable with as well. Then you set a schedule and buy a package of classes/sessions.The child meets with the tutor once per week. They go over the problems work on strategy and timing. After every session the tutor texts the parents with a review of how the session went, what’s the plan etc. You can schedule practice tests at the center and after the practice tests you are given a detailed score report which the tutor reviews with the child.
This company also had “boot camps” close to the test date which were 2 hours per night for 3 nights. That was an extra $300.00. Some people just go for the boot camp and the practice tests.
You have to know your child. If your child is not going to be motivated to sit down and do the work on their own, then the private tutor is essential. We wanted to make sure that we gave our child all the tools we could for her to be successful. Also there is no guarantee that you child will want to do the test a second time so I think it is important to be all in for the first test and not do it with the attitute that you are going to do it again.
If I had to do it again, I would have had my child start preparing the summer before junior year and take the first test August or September of Junior year, then if they had to do it again they could do it in October or December ( before they got bogged down with school work, AP Tests and Finals)and possible the other test in March (i.e. the SAT if they wanted to give a try). I think it would have been much less stressful not to do it during the school year. It also gives them time to do the SAT 11 if they want to. Junior year goes by so fast.
No it isn’t, it is way too much, especially since there are good free prep packages online. What was her PSAT score, if you don’t mind me asking? Remember that, say, a 1100 in the PSAT 10 is in the 82nd percentile, which is pretty good score for a Sophomore taking the PSAT 10 for the first time.
Kids who are taking the PSAT for the first time often don’t do well, because they are not familiar with the format, the timing, etc, and often have not learned some of the math and English that is on the test. My kid’s first PSAT score improved by 100 points between her first PSAT 10 in the fall of her sophomore year, and her second PSAT 10 the next spring, and a further 80 points to her PSAT/NMSQT, the following fall (and a further 70 to her SAT). She barely studied, except to do some practice questions, and her improvement was due almost entirely to increased familiarity with the format, the practice from taking those tests, and having advanced further in Math and English in class.
Wait until early fall Junior year and have her take both an SAT and ACT practice exam under normal timed conditions. Once she gets a practice score and determines which test she is better at then pay a good, experienced one-on-one tutor on an hourly basis each week for 8-10 weeks. Most times the tutor will give the student regular practice homework each week to keep them focused on studying for the exam. I think $1,000 - $2,000 should be more than enough money to get the prep your D needs. In our area $100/hr is typical but some charge much, much more.
At D’s HS I would guess that the majority of the higher stat kids looking at top 25 colleges are using a tutor for SAT/ACT prep. Almost all will take the exam twice to get a higher score the second time and/or to superscore.
What score does she have now and what score does she want? There’s a big difference between a 25 and a 30, and obviously it’ll be easier to start from a 20 than, say, a 15.
Take some practice tests at home and try to see how her scores compare for each section. If you’re trying to save money, you could go just for one or two sections (imo, the english section is the easiest to self-teach, regardless of score). Try some Khan Academy and practice tests for a month or two and see if it works, then move to tutoring. To help with the discipline aspect, make sure it “feels” like tutoring, even if it’s at home – set up a timer, no snacks or phone, etc. and make a schedule just like you would for tutoring (eg, every Thursday from 5-7).
That’s a good hourly rate, but it seems like way too much tutoring. I never did any test prep, but I had a friend who did a similar program and it was very, very stressful for her. Try to really dig deep for free test prep resources – I don’t live in NJ, but there were after-school classes, in-school classes, free practice tests in the counselor’s office, a free online software through Naviance, a summer school class with a local college, free trials at test prep centers, and free classes at the library (all of varying quality, of course, but free is free!).
Does the program have a guarantee? I would try to choose one that does, especially at that price. I’m not sure exactly how it works, but Princeton Review and PrepScholar both have guarantees, for instance. Tutoring isn’t always high quality either, unfortunately.
The hourly rate seems reasonable, assuming a qualified tutor.
But the number of hours seems excessive, resulting in a cost that seems excessive.
Hourly rate is reasonable, but 20 weeks is not necessary. For my kids I paid 100-150/hour and they started 2 months prior. They had 2 sessions a week, one on math and another on english. One of my kid’s tutoring agency charged me based on my kid’s test scores and how much time was needed.
For LSAT I found a very good tutor on Wyzant. Tutors have their own rate and there are ratings for them. My kid did it remotely via Skype.
Seems like an awful amount of time spent on prep. Not concerned about the money. If you have it and want to spend it on that, so be it. I would think you get a baseline score, do a little prep with practice material and take it again. That puts you where you naturally belong. I imagine most people could significantly increase scores with 20 weeks of prep, but it seems so artificial. I guess that’s the problem with the sest scores / admissions these days.
Don’t forget there is a large list of schools (some very high quality schools) that have gone test neutral meaning they don’t require test scores because they feel the overall HS body of work is a far more valuable indicator of the quality of student.
Well regarded tutoring in our area runs much more than that breakdown in hourly costs (northern VA), but we really couldn’t afford that at all. My D did 3-4 practice full practice tests and brought her score up 8 points, so I’m not sure I would die on that $5,000 hill unless $5,000 is nothing to you. It’s a huge amount of money to us, so we wouldn’t even consider it.
My son raised his SAT score by over three hundred points by just taking practice test after practice test. He said it was much more helpful than the review course he took before his first exam.
No. That is not reasonable. Your poor kid can do so much more with her time than be bored senseless for 80 hours.
I am a private test prep tutor. I think I know the company you are considering, and I personally feel that you are far better off investing in sessions with reputable tutors in your area who have been recommended word of mouth. I would say that 20-ish hours of test prep is more than enough for most kids.
I’m not opposed to test prep, but $5k sounds excessive to me. Both of my kids simply took free (or very low cost like $10) practice tests (ones offered in a test environment) as their prep. This worked for them.
Yikes. No.
I’ve been listening to “The College Essay Guy” podcast and there were two episodes on testing that were really helpful. One was on how and when to do optimal prep, and his guest would def say that your plan was too much too early. Same episode also had some great advice on going test optional. Basic idea was: if you just know that test scores are never going to reflect your potential and strengths, and the rest of your app is going to be stronger without scores, then test optional is a great way to go. I think he said about 1000 of the top 2000 schools and 50 of the top 100 LACs are test optional now so it doesn’t have to restrict choice much.
Also another episode with guest Ted the Tutor called “how to raise your ACT score by 2 points in 20 min” which sounds gimmicky but had 2-3 really good strategy suggestions per section that sounded like they could make a big difference.
Although I love the college essay guy, many students and families have to merit hunt when choosing a college, and the vast majority of merit scholarships require a standardized test score.
Applying to test optional schools can still be part of one’s application strategy, but for the many students with EFCs higher than their families can pay, TO schools can be unaffordable.
$5000 is a lot of money. Of the family has financial constraints, that money might better be spent on college costs. BUT I didn’t hear that this poster was concerned about college finances. They are looking at private universities that are $60,000 or so a year plus. Other threads indicate Fairfield and Marist have been visited.
Of course, lots could change.
What is the target ACT this kid wants to get…and why?