Award-Winning SAT Math Tutors serving Cambridge

The student and I discussed reading comprehension timing and strategies, while working through a practice test section with passages of different lengths (reading speed is a trouble spot for her, so we discussed skimming/breaking the passage into sections, etc.). We also worked through a grammar section, reviewing rules as needed. I referred her to a list of commonly tested rules in her test prep book to review. We worked a few math practice questions and talked about general test taking strategies. I answered questions she had about specific rules/content.

Today, we reviewed the full-length test the student had done over the weekend. She said that it didn't feel easier or harder than the previous test, but she scored about the same as her first practice test. Her Writing score was excellent, but her Critical Reading and Math sections are in need of improvement. When we reviewed the Math errors she had made, I advised her to underline what exactly the question was asking for (i.e., to make sure she doesn't put the radius down when the question is asking for the diameter). Overall, it seems as if she has the concepts down for Math; it's just an issue of time management and being more careful. We have made it a point to focus on Math some more in our following sessions. With Critical Reading, I believe her biggest issue is the passage-based questions, especially the paired passages. She still struggles a little bit with finding the correct answer, because she will misinterpret details in the passage or zone in on details instead of understanding the main idea of the passage. When we go over all her errors, she understands exactly what she did wrong, so I'm optimistic that with continued practice, she will be able to think in the way the SAT requires. For homework, I assigned part of a full-length test. I want her to do the Critical Reading and Math sections so we can focus on them. I also assigned a focused practice for paired passages out of her workbook.

Today was the student's first session. She said she'd had a few group SAT classes and tutors, but not individual tutoring. Before the session, I asked to her to complete a math and writing section in her workbook to see where she was. For the math section, she was able to solve problems in difficulties 1, 2, and 3 very quickly and efficiently, but had some trouble when it came to difficulty levels 4 and 5. She also had difficulty with time management during her test, and seemed to get caught up on a couple harder ones and therefore missed other questions she could have gotten correct. We specifically went over a lot of geometry questions, in addition to a couple word problems. The last time she took the SAT was in January with a mid 1700 score, and she hopes to raise it to at least 1900. For homework, I gave her one entire practice test along with two subject tests in harder algebra and inequalities, two topics she needs work on.

We went over application requirements for college and the next steps she should be taking to be a strong candidate for her dream schools. After the discussion, we began reviewing essay writing strategies as well reviewed some math concepts, grammar/modifiers, and techniques for reading passages and answering questions.

Today the student and I finished up with our word problems from yesterday. I think that he has grasped the fundamental concepts very well and can accurately assign variables and understand how they relate. My only note was that he be careful about making simple mistakes along the way (although I also encouraged him to not be too hard on himself if he makes these mistakes!). Next, we reviewed triangles and all the iterations of triangle problems that he might encounter on the SAT. He worked through the problems I gave him with ease, and when I asked him to do a level 5 problem from the book, he sped through the problem effortlessly. We then moved on to grammar and reviewed modifiers, especially dangling/misplaced modifiers. The student has very little formal grammar training, but his instincts are very good, and he got the hang of it very quickly. He is always very engaged in our lessons and eager to learn more about the concepts we are covering, even beyond the extent that will be covered on the test. We ended the session by talking through a grammar section of the test, going over the different strategies for the different types of questions. He did an excellent job on the problems, only missing a few challenging ones. I left him with 3 sections of a practice test to do before our next session so that he can get more comfortable working under timed conditions.

In this session, we worked on the math and grammar sections of the SAT. We went over a non-calculator portion of the test, which notably had a number of problems related to systems of equations. Because of this, we went over various strategies helpful to solving systems of equations, as the SAT often writes these so that the student could easily solve the problem if they know a few tips and tricks. This seemed to be helpful, as the student noted that she's mainly used different strategies in her algebra courses. We then worked on grammar problems, which she was rather comfortable with. In general, she's more used to and comfortable with questions related to grammar than questions related to the flow of the paragraphs and whether sentences should be removed. She might want to be a bit more careful with these, as some answers can be pretty convincing. We then finished the session with a few questions from the calculator portion of the exam, which she solved pretty easily.