Score improvement depends on your starting point and effort level, but most students see meaningful gains with focused preparation. The national average SAT score is around 1050 (out of 1600), and the average ACT is about 21 (out of 36). With personalized 1-on-1 instruction targeting your specific weak areas—whether that's reading pacing, math concepts, or test anxiety—students typically improve by 100-200+ SAT points or 3-5 ACT points over several months of consistent practice.

This is a common challenge, and personalized tutoring addresses it directly. A tutor can focus intensively on reading strategies—like active annotation, time management per passage, and question-type recognition—while maintaining your math skills. Rather than spending equal time on all sections, you'll concentrate on your specific bottlenecks, which accelerates improvement and builds confidence where you need it most.

Most effective prep involves taking full-length practice tests every 1-2 weeks once you've covered the fundamentals, allowing you to track progress and identify patterns in your mistakes. Between tests, focus on targeted practice with specific question types and concepts. A tutor can help you analyze your practice test results to pinpoint exactly what's causing errors—whether it's conceptual gaps, timing issues, or misunderstanding question formats—so your study time is spent efficiently.

Test anxiety often stems from feeling unprepared or unfamiliar with the test format. Personalized instruction builds confidence through repeated exposure to authentic questions and timed practice, which desensitizes you to test-day pressure. A tutor can also teach practical strategies like controlled breathing, strategic question selection (tackling easier questions first), and mental reframing to help you stay calm and focused when it matters most.

Pacing issues usually come from either spending too long on difficult questions or not having a clear strategy for which questions to attempt first. A tutor helps you develop a personalized approach based on your strengths—for example, tackling math problems in order of difficulty, or reading the questions before the passage to improve reading comprehension speed. With practice, you'll internalize timing benchmarks for each section, so you're not constantly checking the clock.

Varsity Tutors connects you with expert tutors in San Jose who specialize in test prep and understand both the ACT and SAT inside and out. When you get matched with a tutor, you can discuss your specific goals—whether you're aiming for a top-tier university or trying to improve a particular section—and they'll tailor instruction to your needs. You'll work with someone who has deep experience helping students in your area succeed on standardized tests.

Your first session is about understanding where you stand and what you want to achieve. Your tutor will likely review your practice test scores (if you have them), discuss your target schools and score goals, and identify your strongest and weakest areas. This diagnostic conversation helps your tutor create a personalized study plan focused on the strategies and concepts that will have the biggest impact on your scores.