Another strong quarter of results! Below are the results of my students who finished working with me between September 2022 and December 2022. All started with me between April and June except for my GRE student, who started with me in January:
Grade | School | Exam | Starting Score | Ending Score | Improvement | Season | Notes |
Senior (F) | Memorial High School | SAT | 1220 | 1380 | +160 | Spring, Summer | ​ |
Senior (M) | Elkins High School | SAT | 1300 | 1430 | +130 | Summer | |
Senior (M) | Energy Institute High School | ACT | 1300 | 1580 | +280 | Summer | ​ |
Adult (M) | N/A | GRE | 279 + 2 | 304 + 4 | +27 | Winter, Spring, Summer | non-native English speaker from India |
Junior (M) | Awty International School | SAT | 1240 | 1440 | +200 | Summer, Fall | ​ |
Junior (M) | Memorial High School | SAT | 1220 | 1490 | +270 | Summer, Fall | December score of 1390, March score of 1490 |
Results Summary: My high school students improved by an average of +190 points, significantly higher than the +150 industry standard average for SAT tutoring. As always, I am happy that my fundamentals-based approach to these exams guaranteed strong improvement for every student. When students master grammar and master algebraic mechanics, their score floor is forcibly raised. Getting better translates to a higher test score. Reflection: I. The biggest success I had with this batch of students was with the GRE student. I've had non-native English speakers in the past, and it is usually really difficult for them to succeed on the Verbal portion of the GRE, as it is significantly more difficult than the SAT or ACT. This student was highly motivated and he did a lot of extra-curricular things to help -- he took me up on my recommendations to read Charles Dickens and to read some scholarly literature. A 27 point improvement on the GRE is nothing short of remarkable. With future GRE students like him I will remember his success so I can better advise and guide them. II. I offer an SAT vs ACT assessment that indicates whether you should take the SAT or ACT. The kid who improved the most from this class took the assessment. He came to me with a 1300 SAT score, yet the assessment indicated that he should take the ACT. He ended up with a 35 on the ACT, which is the equivalent of a 1580 on the SAT. The assessment showed that his fluency in reading graphs was superb, and so his Science section would always be a 36. Although I think he would have gotten a 1500-1550 on the SAT had he stuck to that, I suspect he gained 50 points merely by leaning into his native strengths and taking the ACT. I haven't decided whether to begin requiring that my incoming Junior students take the assessment, but I am considering it. III. I am getting better at helping kids overcome their test anxiety. Sometimes kids tell me that they have test anxiety. At other times it manifests itself when trial results are significantly better than the actual result. "Test anxiety" has a whole host of causes. In the case of one of my students, she was reluctant to accept that she simply wasn't as good in her verbal ability as she was in her mathematical ability. So whereas in trials she would get a score reflective of her ability, on the actual test she started doing different things to try to game it, which resulted in a worse result. After I convinced her that she needed to let the test reflect that her math was superior to her verbal, she achieved a score reflective of her trial results. I'm fortunate to have had really interesting and good students. Good relationships with my students help me address problems that extend beyond the academic scope of the exams.
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