Test Prep
Our individualized, one-on-one sessions focus only on what a student needs to know. We analyze the student’s strengths and weaknesses to create specific problem-solving strategies that demystify the process and encourage a calmer, more confident approach.
Whether you are preparing for a high school entrance, college placement, even graduate admissions tests, we will help you understand the material, know what will be expected of you and give you the confidence to demonstrate your excellence.
Tests are not necessarily the best way to identify and or mark intelligence, but even in the era of test-optional applications, they are the way the high schools, colleges and universities draw a line in the sand.
Earn a high score and you are much more likely to be admitted.
A test score alone cannot get you into the high school or college of your choice but it can absolutely keep you out. But tests can be funny. Knowing the material is one thing. Knowing the test is quite another.
We know exactly how to help. Achieve tutors are test experts. They break down the structure of the tests, into manageable segments so that our students know exactly what to expect once the clock starts. We also teach strategies for how to approach multiple-choice questions. We show you how to eliminate obvious wrong answers, and how to make an educated guess when you just aren’t quite sure. Yes there are tricks. Yes we do know them. Yes, you will too.
Test Scores Matter
How much? Adding just one point to an ACT score or 10 points to an SAT score can significantly increase odds of getting in to the school of your choice.
The good news: We help students significantly improve test scores.
There are three key steps to boosting student scores:
Learning effective strategies and recognizing question and answer traps.
We teach students to understand the subtleties of questions and answer choices, and which strategy to apply to each individual question.
Mastering material the way you learn best.
We tailor every tutorial session to the individual student’s strengths and weaknesses.
Overcoming test anxiety.
We teach the most effective stress-relief techniques, and show students how to channel anxiety into better scores. Our 30 years of test prep experience translates into better scores for our students.
Choosing ACT or SAT
All colleges now treat the ACT and SAT equally, so students need to choose the test that puts them in the best light. But deciding which test to take can be challenging. Because students and families don’t know the subtle differences between the ACT and SAT, it is nearly impossible to make an informed choice.
You may have heard people talking about differences between the two tests: the ACT is a time-crunch test whereas the SAT allows more time per questions, or the SAT is trickier than the ACT, which is more straight-forward. While these are both true and valid considerations, pairing students with the right test requires a more nuanced examination of individual strengths and challenges.
We identify which skills are best suited to which test, but we also examine the proficiencies students need to acquire and assess how much time and effort it would take to make those improvements. In short, we focus on the upside potential for each test when we make recommendations.
ACT Prep
The first step to reaching potential on the ACT is demystifying the test. Students are often intimidated by the limited time to complete each section, by the lengthy reading passages, and by the unfamiliar Science section.
The ACT absolutely demands attention to detail. We work with our students to identify the patterns in what they are missing when they read and interpret questions, and we build strategies to quickly identify the subtle but crucial details in questions, answer choices, and visuals.
Because pacing is such a crucial element of the ACT, we create individual efficient pathways for each student to build rapid assessment skills that help quickly and accurately get through the questions that are easy for them so that they have time to spend on greater challenges. We then drill, building accuracy then speed, to maximize scores.
SAT Prep
The SAT has changed a lot since we started helping students raise scores in the 1980s, but it remains one of the most coachable tests. The SAT is undoubtedly a test about subtlety and depth of understanding in each of the Writing and Language, Reading, and Math sections. Students who rush through, choosing the first answer that sounds right, suffer from their haste.
We focus on building analytical skills and homing in on the subtleties of the questions and answer choices. For math, this includes translating complex word problems into simple calculations; for Reading, this includes careful consideration of context and inference.
ISEE and HSPT Prep
Private school admissions tests are unfamiliar to most elementary and middle schoolers. Add to that the fact that they can last more than 3 hours, and young students are understandably scared of these tests. And that anxiety hurts scores.
We break down these tests to our students so that each piece feels much more manageable and easy to s understand. We cover time-saving techniques, and present each individual student with the content that will earn the most points in the least amount of time.
Grad School Tests: GRE, GMAT, LSAT
We have a long history of helping students master graduate school tests, including the GRE, GMAT and LSAT. Our focus is in working with student that we began with in middle or high school. Having built relationships over the long term, we understand our clients’ skills and needs, so we can tailor our prep to the topics and techniques that each individual need.
We are also experts in computer adaptive testing for the GRE and GMAT. We build familiarity with the testing format and the confidence necessary to score your best.
