Howdy!

I have a high school student about to finish her sophomore year. She's our oldest, so we are learning on the fly, but I had a question about SAT/ACT test prep.

Did anyone use a test prep company to help with your scores. There are a ton of them, and I would love some recommendations on any you were happy with?

When did you start taking a prep class? Did you wait until you have an SAT/ACT score under your belt, or did you start before you ever took one? We were thinking of starting the summer before her Junior year, but aren't 100% sure.

Any recommendations or helpful tips would be much appreciated. Thanks!

In terms of timing, remember that colleges use PSAT scores to award National Merit scholarships.

The PSAT is given about October of the junior year.

I would find a good prep course for that test.

I am long since out of the loop on which prep course to recommend, sorry.

Both my kids so far did summer before junior year. Oldest did Princeton review online. The other one did it through Avant Garde (double b's company) Avant is more full service, but both worked. IMO, the most important part is taking the practice tests. Both ended up taking SAT before the PSAT.

I recommend the summer before their junior year. Take both exams in the August/September timeframe. That allows for 3 things:

1) They are fresh from review when they take them.
2) As mentioned, it gets them ready for the PSAT in the fall.
3) It allows them to determine if they are better suited for the SAT or ACT, and they can spend their junior year going all-in on the one where they have the most potential.

Both of my kids went to A&M as October holistic admissions with this strategy. With my oldest, COVID happened the spring of her junior year. It was great to have a strong score in the books from the fall that made her a lock before all of the chaos and cancellations happened (she scored equally on both). With my youngest, she realized the ACT was her jam and her December ACT exam (2nd attempt) made her a lock.

Instead of using a service, we used a more specialized tutor to help. The kids took practice exams and then honed in on the areas they could make the most impact. It was a solid bang-for-the-buck on time and money. They'd go to a 1-2 hour session once per week and then get material to study and practice for the week. Maybe 5-6 sessions total for the first exam if I recall. Then the 2nd attempt was maybe 3-4 sessions.

DannyDuberstein said:

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I recommend the summer before their junior year. Take both exams in the August/September timeframe. That allows for 3 things:

1) They are fresh from review when they take them.
2) As mentioned, it gets them ready for the PSAT in the fall.
3) It allows them to determine if they are better suited for the SAT or ACT, and they can spend their junior year going all-in on the one where they have the most potential.

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This is what we did with my youngest and it worked well. He took the August SAT, the October SAT, and then the PSAT. The strategy is also that if you get the score you need your kid can be done with all of it after that and focus on all the other components of their application (EC's, Essays, Awards, etc). SAT is important but it's still only one component. My son did end up taking it again to focus on boosting his Superscore (which worked) and took an ACT just to see (that was less useful but he also didn't push for it nearly as hard)

We used doubleb with Avant Garde and it was the best decision we could have made. I'm quite certain his tutoring boosted my son's SAT by at least 100 points and into the 1500's which was huge, especially combined with all the other counseling and strategy help. He is the one who recommended the SAT strategy above btw, I had no clue and wish I had for my eldest son (though things worked out great for him going a different path). We engaged with him Sophomore year and I wish we had done it even sooner, just for the big picture advice. For instance shifting around my son's schedule with different classes and an idea he had for what turned out to be an incredible EC for a club he started made a massive impact. It was a ton of work and felt like a marathon but the rewards were so worth it, he had such amazing options that he never would have had without it. Ended up taking a very prestigious full ride scholarship and turning down A&M (who also offered him a scholarship and Engineering Honors). My son likely would have gotten into A&M for Engineering anyway but that extra boost was life changing, the opportunities he has now blow me away. Make no mistake though, it comes down to the kid wanting to put in the work and there is no easy button.

If you have doubts about paying for a service like that just know you are putting your kid at a disadvantage without one. College admissions is night and day from when parents applied and very different than even 10 years ago. It's a game and the rules are complex and constantly changing, knowing how to play and being smart in your efforts can make all the difference. For me I justified it as an investment but also wanting to make sure that I could feel we did everything we could and not have regrets. One of the best parenting decisions I ever made. Robb is amazing at Avant and his pricing is very reasonable compared to others we looked at, that said fit matters so you should explore a few options and make sure you find the right thing for you. You really can't start too early, many are turned off by that but it's just the way the game is played now. It's like complaining about what parents spend on private coaches or select baseball teams (which are far, far more expensive than this). You can choose to let the chips fall and let your kid go purely off talent and luck, for me I didn't want to have any regrets if he came up just short of getting the opportunities he wanted because "I wish I had known...."

Yes, who we used was a service that sounds very similar to what double b offers (just in the Plano/Frisco area). They took practice tests to get a good baseline of where they were, then focused on strategy and the areas where they had opportunity for improvement. Then after taking the official exams, they went further on the opportunity areas on the exam that had the most potential. In addition, they had advice on the best junior-senior course selections, although my kids were on the right track there so it was a quick affirmation.

A sincere thank you to those who have mentioned me. One of the biggest compliments any past client can give is to confidently share our name.

Yes, my company is a full-service concierge college prep business, as we're equipped to handle every phase of the process. As for test prep, the summer before the Junior year is optimal for many students. However, this depends heavily on your student's math skill level. If your student just wrapped up on-level Algebra II, they're most likely not ready for the rigors of test-prep math. A summer of leveling up math with a tutoring center may be more appropriate before investing in test prep, or at the very least, take a long and slow approach to developing these skills. If anyone guarantees you quick results, run away.

Ultimately, SAT math relies heavily on a strong foundation in algebra, and it can be a steep learning curve for those who struggle with these concepts. If your student is considering the ACT, you may want to wait a bit longer, since ACT math is much more reliant on pre-calculus, with a larger fraction of questions dedicated to these concepts.

If you're reading this thread, then please STOP enrolling your students in on-level math. It is horrible for test prep and math preparation. I strongly encourage families to always take AT LEAST honors math, and if your child is struggling, INVEST in a private tutor. It is worth it in the long run. I was having this conversation with a school board member recently, and this type of math preparation does not TRANSLATE well into test prep math with the recent changes to the SAT and ACT.

As for our service, I'm always happy to visit with families to discuss their needs and help explain our services during a free consultation. You can find my contact information in my profile.

NM. Accidental post.

My son started his prep the summer before his junior year, we used a company called Edison Prep that was recommended by his counselor.
First step was to take the mock ACT and mock SAT and decide on a test to take (that was pretty obvious to my son even before doing that).
From there, they sort of "divvied up" the class and personalized his prep. All of the students took a class or two based on general test taking strategies, but for my son they recommended one-on-one tutoring sessions instead of the group classes. It worked out well for him.
During his senior year, he was able to pocket some cash tutoring kids taking the test. They would take practice tests, then go over any questions they missed or were unsure about with him. He said he was able to raise everyone's scores by doing that. Practice, practice, practice.