SAT/ACT Tutors: Are They Necessary?

Sometime during junior year of high school, (and in some cases earlier,) parents and their college-bound offspring begin to navigate the complexities of getting into college. As many schools depend heavily on test scores to select potential students one of the questions faced by parents and student is how to best prepare for the SAT/ACT.

Everyone knows that a four-year college can come with a hefty price tag, but what are people willing to spend for SAT/ACT test preparation in order to give their child the best odds of acceptance to their top-choice school? And if one is willing to or has to spend large sums of money for private tutoring, is it worth it? How to decide if a student would most benefit from a private SAT tutor or a group class, or even just independent work with a book? What are some of the options and what are their costs?

Scarsdale High School has a document available on the school website entitled "Some thoughts on SAT/ACT preparation."  The school's official recommendation for test preparation is to start 8-12 weeks prior to the exam, not six months to a year in advance as the tutoring companies I spoke with suggested. The document urges parents to "help your youngster keep this test in perspective," and says, "While the SAT/ACT is important in the admission decision, it is not as important as good grades and strong academic coursework". Private SAT tutors and college counselors do not necessarily concur. One SHS Dean does not agree with this either according to a parent who claimed, ""One year, one of my children's deans emphasized the SAT score for college, but another year my other child's dean told me that the SAT score was secondary to many other credentials." Alex Weiner, President of Breakaway Prep, a tutoring and college advising firm, feels strongly that, "...the SAT/ACT score is more important now than ever. When you apply to a college, what does an 'A' at SHS mean versus an 'A' at a high school in St. Louis?" Standardized tests truly standardize all students from all schools."

The three types of study methods that can be used to prepare for the SAT/ACT include independent work, a group prep course and private tutoring (or a mix of these). According to the SHS document on SAT prep, the factors that should influence parents' decisions about what type of prep work their child needs include:

• Does your child work well independently?
• Does your child need additional work in a specific test area?
• Will your child do assigned work?
• Does your child have a very busy schedule and/or limited transportation?
• Is the desired test preparation type feasible from a cost perspective?

After answering the above questions, parents and students may have a better understanding of their child's needs and can go from there. Mr. Wiener recommends the "Official Guide to SATs", for the independent learner. It is currently on sale at Amazon for $16.41. "In 23 years of recommending that book," said Mr. Weiner, "I've seen it work really well for three students." The cost of the book is equivalent to about five minutes of private tutoring with Breakaway Prep, or less than two minutes with one of the top-tier tutors from a very popular SAT tutoring center called Advantage Testing. A book, therefore, is the lowest cost, no risk option for SAT prep and a good starting point for many students.

For a student less motivated to work independently, a small-group prep course can help structure the studying process. Group classes offer equal amounts of time to each of the areas of the SAT/ACT and don't individualize the instruction. These courses run around $1,000 for 10 sessions and are offered through Kaplan, Princeton Review, and the JCC of Mid-Westchester, for example.

Karen Ceske, an SAT tutor in the Scarsdale area, thinks group courses are a great option in terms of affordability and says that a motivated child will do well in a group class. However, she cautioned parents to ask how many students are in a class, who isteaching and whether the class will be divided by ability. Some students will do a group class and then supplement that with some private tutoring sessions after identifying areas of need. Mock test taking facilities have also popped up, such as Bespoke in Irvington. Bespoke offers private tutoring as well. SHS's official word is: In preparing for the SAT/ACT, students should familiarize themselves with the format of the test, the expectations and the timing. When a student takes mock exams, make sure they are timed. Learning time management techniques is one of the most useful tools for successful test taking.

Mr. Weiner has seen the popularity of group classes trending downward and private tutoring trending upward in Westchester. "Students these days have busy schedules and private tutoring can be a better fit for them," he said. "I'm like their workout coach. Private tutoring is more money but can be much more effective." Mr. Weiner sees it as buying a high-level service and this type of service exists in affluent areas like Westchester, Beverly Hills, and Tokyo, as per his examples. He went so far as to say, "This could be a game changer for some kids if their parents can afford it." If they can't afford it, Mr. Wiener's Breakaway Prep does do some pro bono work with the White Plains Youth Bureau on a reduced-fee basis. Ms. Ceske acknowledged that a private tutor offers benefits like tracking students' needs and progress that a group class would not, but noted that the cost is a negative.

Of the Scarsdale parents I spoke with, about half thought what they have spent on SAT tutoring has been worth every penny; the other half felt like tutors weren't generally all that helpful in increasing their kids' SAT scores and it didn't matter in the long run anyway. One parent said that their dean made it seem like every additional point on the SAT means something significant for the college-bound student while another said that their dean emphasized other attributes in addition to SAT scores for college admission such as grades and leadership.

A Scarsdale mom who has been through the SAT test taking process with her kids twice and spent tens of thousands of dollars on tutoring and college advising for her kids justified the expense. "We live in a town where people go into Neiman Marcus and drop $15,000 on a handbag," she noted, "so why wouldn't we spend this much to give our kids the best chance at getting into their dream school?" She used Advantage Testing both times and felt like it was worth it. Her first child was a great student and only did Advantage for a couple of months- she got into her top school. Her second child was not as good a test taker and had a private tutor through Advantage for an entire year. She took the SATs twice and saw a dramatic increase in her scores. She thinks private tutoring gave her kids the confidence to go into the test ready- for a price, of course. Whereas Breakaway Prep charges $180 per hour, Advantage is known to be on the pricier side.

Advantage Testing charges an initiation fee of $1,840 which provides access to their tutors and "materials." From there, their fees range from $390 per 100 minutes to $1,120 per 100 minutes, depending on the experience of the tutor. The representative I spoke with at Advantage recommended students starting tutoring early. "It's a good idea to get a jump start over the summer. That way you can also lock in your tutor at a time that works for your child beginning in the fall," she encouraged. She said that most students come once a week for 100 minutes per session for 6-9 months, or about 20 sessions, so on average, parents lay out between $9,840-$24,240 for tutoring, per child, at Advantage. Some students find that shorter sessions are better and they can do 50 versus 100-minute sessions for half the cost. The tutors at Advantage are professionals (meaning it's their full-time job) and undergo an intensive training and hiring process. Although Advantage said that if a student isn't happy with their tutor they'd happily allow a switch, several parents told me that they found it difficult to request and receive a new tutor when their child wasn't working well with the first (or second, in one case).

Several parents and tutors I spoke with warned against thinking that the most expensive tutor equals the best tutor for their child. "There is the phenomenon that unless you pay expensive rates, you are not getting the best," said one private tutor that has been tutoring for many years. "$750 gets you a very smart person with a great success rate but is that because he/she mainly works with kids who are very smart to begin with? I think it is reasonable to expect to pay around $200 for a tutor. The main thing to remember is that the tutor is not taking the test. Students who do the work, whether for a class, tutor or on their own with a prep book, usually fare the best." In fact, the parent who told me her daughter got into her top school (an Ivy League) said that her friends at college couldn't believe that she had private SAT tutoring. Although it's commonplace in Scarsdale, it's rare in many other locales.

Another SHS parent I spoke with has found the entire SAT preparation and SAT taking process very distressing. Her child has worked with many different test prep companies including Breakaway Prep, Carnegie & Pollock, Advantage Testing, Bespoke, TestTakers,  and Study Point. Some she thought were a complete waste of time and money. Most classes her child took were made up of Scarsdale and Edgemont kids, specifically at Bespoke and TestTakers. Additionally, she didn't feel the deans gave enough guidance about when to take the SAT and subject tests.

Do SHS students tend to feel extreme pressure to do well on the SAT and where is this pressure coming from? Mr. Weiner thinks the pressure students feel comes from the lower acceptance rates to premier schools. "The process feeds on itself with web-based applications," he said. "Students can press one button and apply." One parent of current SHS students told me that kids aren't supposed to talk about their test scores, where they are visiting, or where they get in, but social media has made it difficult to uphold this policy. Another parent felt that there is tremendous pressure within SHS to do well on the SAT/ACT and get into a good college, but the pressure comes from students competing amongst themselves, not from the school or parents.

What has been your experience with SAT/ACT test prep? Are there specific group classes you'd recommend or private tutors/tutoring agencies? Do you feel like private tutoring is worth the expense if you've been through it?

Share your thoughts in a constructive way in the comments section below.