The mistake most students make in preparing for the SATs is that they start too late!

High school is a rollercoaster; between social aspirations, school work, extracurricular activities, and personal issues, little time is left for adequate preparation for the most intimidating SAT test … the majority of students and respective parents exhibit what can best be described as the ‘wait till the last minute’ approach – starting to put the SATs on their radar during the Junior or even Senior year.

Once parents realize that their child is not performing at the desired level, as evidenced by PSAT and practice SAT scores, then panic ensues a frantic search for a quick fix.

Parents will shell out thousands of dollars for crash courses and expensive tutors, all the while putting more pressure on their child to meet expectations. Granted, sometimes this strategy works in certain instances surrounded by favorable circumstances – same logic would apply to your chances of winning the lottery. Point being, more often than not, this approach does not work and actually results in undesirable consequences i.e. increased stress and worry, diminished academic performance; sub par SAT scores, ‘wasted’ money, and no more time.

To combat the aforementioned phenomenon, it is best advised to start preparing for the SAT test mid to late sophomore year. The reasons are as follows: the student will have ample time to learn all ‘forgotten’ or ‘unlearned’ topics and concepts; will likely not be a victim of stress, fatigue, and overextension resulting from time limitations as s/he will be going at a comfortable pace; will have enough time to thoroughly learn about the test, strategies, and various approaches; have the ability to take multiple practice tests to gauge progress and identify areas of improvement; be able to keep up with school and other activities; become better equipped to tackle future classes where similar material will be covered ; benefit in all future academic endeavors across the board with enhanced math, reading, and writing skills; be in a position to meet or even transcend expectations on the SATs come Junior year; have a whole year to refine skills, take multiple official SAT tests, and most importantly have the time and confidence to concentrate on college decision and admission.

At Excel Tutoring, our individualized programs are geared toward doing just that. After assessing the needs and capabilities of our students, we set out to prepare students from the ground up – this means we focus on building a strong base in Math and English, so as to competently cover advanced concepts, foreign problems, and then effective strategies.

Creating this solid foundation is a necessity in being able to extract and further teach logic, reason, and comprehension to our students. Consequently, these assets then become essential elements in being able to use and successfully apply the strategies.

Our students not only have an amazing success rate exceeding their goals/expectations on the SAT test, yet they often times excel in their academics, improve their study skills, and walk away with life lessons in logic and common sense that are key drivers of salient achievements during the college years and beyond.