My Kaplan Runneth Over: A Parent’s Lament On the Cost of SAT Tutoring
Unless your senior is planning on visiting the Sorbonne for a tour, or applying to two-dozen different colleges, the most significant of these expenses can often be the cost of tutoring. Of course, tutoring is not as essential to the college application process as, say, the SAT itself, or a strong personal essay. But SAT tutoring has persisted as a popular after-school activity for many seniors because taking the test requires a unique skill set, untaught in many high schools. As long as the SAT remains a barometer for scholastic performance, schools will continue to prepare their students for the SAT with varying degrees of success, or disregard the test and teach their own way. Either way, students will continue to receive varying test scores based on these factors, and many others. But what if our seniorâs school doesnât believe in âteaching for the testâ? Thereâs a good chance the college they want to go to wonât look at their application without SAT scores. The SAT, and all the cost and preparation it entails, seems unavoidable.
Enter the SAT tutor. Year after year, tutoring services like Kaplan and The Princeton Review maintain a stable of college-aged tutors, prepared to give seniors the inside track to SAT success. At the rate of about 0 per hour, SAT tutoring is often a source of groans from parents, and a very popular job for college students. In a recession, how can a parent conscience spending that kind of money? Why not tell our senior to hit the books on their own instead?
The fact is, the results of test prep services donât lie, even when the âguaranteed score increasesâ and supporting data published by many test prep services can be exaggerated. SAT tutors do help, often more than just studying prep books. Itâs probably not coincidental that the top tutoring services publish their own study guides, guides that can be significantly augmented by their own tutors. Independent tutors, while less likely to guarantee their results, are generally less expensive. Some, such as Parliament Tutors, even offer a sort of financial aid program, offering discounts to students in need. Will financial aid for SAT tutoring be widespread in the future? The outlook is doubtful, but it seems a step in the right direction. What would be truly ideal would be a financial aid program for the entire application process. But who would provide such aid? The seniorâs high school? The college he or she gets accepted to? With endowments down, and public and private high schools strapped for cash, neither case seems likely. Itâs ultimately up to the parent to decide what the value of an SAT tutor is, and find a tutoring option to meet their price point.
David Greenberg is an SAT Tutor with Parliament Tutors.
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