Benefits of Professional SAT Tutoring

A Note from Jay Koo

How important is the SAT? Ever since I began tutoring college-bound students in 1991, I’ve heard the same misconception: “SAT scores are the most important factor in college admissions.” This notion is simply not true. College admissions committees place more emphasis on GPA, extracurricular activities, and personal essays when making their final decisions. So… why am I here?

Although SAT scores aren’t the most important part of an application package, they can be crucial early on: SAT scores can determine whether a student’s application is seriously considered. Scoring well ensures that a student gets his or her foot in the door.

Learn to Think Like an SAT Test Writer

Scoring well on the SAT requires more than school smarts. Even the best students can easily be led astray by the test’s strategically-written questions and answer choices. Sometimes, just scoring 80 or 100 points higher can make the difference between a student’s application being seriously considered or destined for the reject pile.

Misleading SAT Questions

Sample SAT Math Problem

Consider problem #22 to the right. A majority of high school students get confused by the wording “vertex P can be identified as constants in the equation.” Many students choose the answer choice “B” after looking at the answer choices and determining that the equation in answer choice “B” is the equation for graph shown. However, this is not the correct answer, and this is where my coaching comes in. I help students to be prepared for the wording of such problems, to see the subtle nuances that might be deliberately confusing, and to visualize the correct response.

In this case, one thing my coached students would notice is that this is problem #22―the most difficult of SAT math questions. They would know that answer choice “B” is much too easy to be the correct answer at this point in the test. The equation in answer choice “B” is indeed the equation of the graph given, but it does not satisfy the condition “vertex P can be identified as constants in the equation” whereas in answer choice “D” the vertex can be identified as constants. It is no coincidence that the College Board arranged the answer choices in this particular order.

Sample SAT Reading Problem

Coaching can also help students score higher on the SAT’s reading section. The second example, question #8, is an example of a reading question. Even though the associated reading passage is not provided here, a skilled SAT test taker can eliminate incorrect answer choices.

When a typical high school student thinks of the word “apprehend,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Probably a scene from a movie or TV show depicting a “wanted criminal” being captured and put into handcuffs. The next word that comes to mind would be “seize,” so many students automatically choose option A: “seizing.” The answer is incorrect―and the SAT writers know that most students won’t bother to check options B through D.

What is the correct answer to this question? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that a well-coached student will get the answer right. Success on the SAT is as much about knowing how to approach the test as it is about having advanced math and verbal skills.