Choosing An Sat Tutor: Is It Even Worth The Money?
As you navigate your way through the college admissions process, hiring a tutor to help your son or daughter prepare for the SAT is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make. It’s a big investment of time and money. You want the best return on your investment that you can possibly get.
The key to getting a big return is the tutor that you choose.
If you make the wrong choice, you’ll face endless battles with your son or daughter over the amount of effort he’s putting into his lessons and homework, and the prospect of little or no improvement in his score.
If you pick the right tutor, you’ll dramatically increase the chance that you’ll end up with a happy, motivated, confident child who’s SAT score goes through the roof.
Choosing wisely can be a daunting prospect. There are a lot of tutors and a lot of tutoring companies. It can feel like you’re buying a car. You don’t hire a tutor very often, and you’re dealing with a professional who’s job it is to sell his services or those of his company.
How do you cut through the jargon? How do you evaluate their claims of success? When you speak to a couple of them, you’ll realize there are conflicting approaches to helping students improve their scores. How do you know which is right? Will it work for your child? How do you know if the tutor is any good? What questions should you ask? What answers should you expect?
Should you hire a tutor at all?
If you’re reading this report, you’ve probably decided to hire one. If you’re on the fence, let’s examine a few reasons why hiring the right tutor can make a big difference for your child.
1. It’s hard to get into a good college today. The number of applicants to the most desired schools has gone up dramatically in recent years. The number of students being admitted has stayed fairly constant. Many of the top private and state schools are reporting record low admissions rates.
Are you considering a top public university? In the spring of 2009, UCLA admitted only 21% of its applicants, the lowest rate of any public university in the country. UC Berkeley wasn’t far behind with an admission rate of 23%.
Considering a top private school? Some Ivy League universities had admission rates of less than 10%. The top small private colleges had admission rates in the teens.
2. You’ll pay as much, if not more, at many mid-ranking private colleges and universities as you will at the most selective schools. In a recent study of the cost and quality of a college education, Malcom Gertz, a professor of economics at Vanderbilt, found that the price of tuition is not directly associated with the quality of education.1 In fact, the most selective colleges offer the most financial help.
3. Projected lifetime income for students at the most selective colleges and universities is significantly higher than it is for students at less selective universities. According to Caroline Hoxley, a Stanford based economist, the average difference in projected income is .2 million.2
4. Higher SAT scores mean a greater likelihood of a getting a merit based grant or scholarship.
5. Perhaps most importantly, a significantly higher SAT score increases the likelihood that your child will get into the school of his dreams.
Choosing a college is an enormous decision. Better SAT scores mean more choices. Now more than ever, the stakes are high. Test preparation isn’t just another educational expense – it’s an investment in your child’s future.
Jeff Bergman is a specialist in the psychology and emotionality of standardized test preparation and performance.
For the past 10 years, Jeff has helped students at all levels raise their SAT scores to levels that they hadn’t thought possible, and get admitted to the college of their choice.
He also works with students preparing for the ACT, SAT Subject Tests, LSAT and GRE.
Blog: SAT Success Secrets
Email: jeff@satsuccesssecrets.com
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