Award-Winning SSAT Test Prep in Austin, TX

Whether you're the parent of a younger student or a high school student preparing to take the Secondary School Admission Test, Varsity Tutors can help you find Austin SSAT preparation assistance. In fact, there are two types of assistance that we can offer. We know how important it is for a student to perform their absolute best on a school entrance exam, and we'd love to help you prepare by enrolling you in an Austin SSAT prep course or connecting you with an Austin SSAT tutor.

The SSAT is used by a variety of private and independent schools to determine if a student has the academic background to perform well in that particular school. There are three levels. First is the Elementary Level, for children in third and fourth grades; the Middle Level is the test for students in fifth through seventh grades, and the Upper Level is designed for students in eighth through eleventh grades. Academic assistance from an Austin SSAT tutor or in an Austin SSAT prep class can make it easier for a student to focus on the topics they struggle with and to potentially improve their understanding of those topics.

What can I expect from Austin SSAT prep?

Elementary Level students will encounter five sections, two of which are unscored.

There are 30 questions in the Verbal section. There's a 20-minute time limit. Young students will be evaluated on their understanding of word relationships, language understanding, and age-appropriate vocabulary, among other topics.

There are 28 questions in the Reading section. Students have half an hour to finish the section. There are seven passages for students to read, and they'll answer four questions per passage. The concepts in this section include how well the student can identify literal and non-literal meanings of words, and how they decipher what words mean in a certain context, among other concepts.

There are 30 questions in the Quantitative section, and students will have half an hour to finish them. Concepts in this section include number sense, measurement, basic addition and subtraction, and multiplication and division. Students will be evaluated on their abilities in geometry and spatial sense, properties and operations, and probability.

The unscored Writing section has a 15-minute time limit. At the Elementary Level, students will get a picture prompt to write a story from. That story should have a beginning, middle, and an end. Evaluators will be looking at an individual's writing skills, including grammar, punctuation, and spelling, as well as how they organize their writing.

The Experimental section (also unscored) has up to 17 questions, and students have 15 minutes to answer them. It's in this section where test designers put potential questions for future tests.

The Middle and Upper Level have six sections, including a writing sample that is not scored. There are two Quantitative sections though.

When it comes to the Writing section, Middle Level students will be asked to write a story based off of one of two creative prompts. Upper Level students will have a choice between a creative prompt or a traditional essay. They'll be evaluated on their writing skills, use of persuasive writing techniques, and how well they support their statements using examples.

There are 50 questions in the two Quantitative/Math sections. The questions examine how well a student understands a variety of concepts like coordinate geometry, area and perimeter of geometric shapes, operations using variables, and working with mean, median, mode, and range for Middle Level students. Upper Level students are tested on how well they work through linear equations, word problems, properties of triangles, fractions, and other concepts. Each section has a 30-minute time limit.

For Middle and Upper Level students, the Reading section has 40 passage-based questions and must be finished in 40 minutes. At the Middle Level, this section looks at how a student identifies the main idea of a passage, how they derive context from words and phrases, and if they can evaluate opinions and arguments. Upper Level students are tested on how well they can find and use information from narratives and argumentative passages from a variety of sources. They'll be tested on how well they use context to understand words and phrases and determine the author's purpose, attitude, and tone by reading. They're also expected to be able to understand and evaluate arguments.

The Verbal section focuses on a student's knowledge of analogies and synonyms, with 30 questions on each. Middle Level students are tested on how they relate words and ideas to each other, use prefixes and suffixes, and determine meaning from context. For Upper Level students, the content tests a student's knowledge of Anglo-Saxon, Greek, and Latin prefixes and suffixes, word roots, and how well they can make inferences and predictions, along with other topics.

The unscored Experimental section has 16 questions and a student is given 15 minutes to complete it.

What can I get out of Austin SSAT prep?

Whether you're the parent of a younger student looking for academic support or a middle or high school student looking for a tutor for yourself, there are two options for Austin SSAT preparation: you can work with an individual Austin SSAT tutor, or you can enroll in an Austin SSAT prep class. In a class, a student will interact with multiple students and an instructor who are brought together through our Live Learning Platform. Both methods have their own benefits.

For students who need focused attention where they're the only student in the room, we can set you up with an Austin SSAT tutor. There's quite a bit of personalization in this method, and flexibility that may not be possible in a group-style study session. From the first session, your instructor will get to know you, learning about your likes and dislikes, your learning style and your academic strengths and weaknesses, in order to create a custom plan to help you prepare for this exam. They can find study aids they think might work for you, and switch the topics around if they see you need more time with a topic that is particularly challenging. You can work with an Austin SSAT tutor in your home or connect online via the Live Learning Platform.

For those who need an interactive and collaborative environment, an Austin SSAT prep course puts a student in a classroom with others along with an academic coach in real time. Interaction with others and in-depth coverage of exam topics can make a difference for many students. Choose from two week sessions or four week sessions. New classes start weekly.

What do I do to find Austin SSAT prep?

That's easy! Reach out to Varsity Tutors. Our educational consultants will help you figure out which model of instruction will be most useful for your situation, whether that's time with an Austin SSAT tutor or enrolling in an Austin SSAT course.