Score improvement depends on your starting point and effort level. Students typically see 100-300 point gains on the SAT or 2-5 point improvements on the ACT with focused preparation, though gains vary based on where you're starting and your baseline familiarity with test content.

The key is identifying your specific weak areas—whether that's reading pace, math fundamentals, or test anxiety—and addressing them systematically. Varsity Tutors connects you with expert tutors who diagnose exactly where you're losing points and build a customized study plan to tackle those gaps.

Pacing is one of the biggest challenges students face. The SAT gives roughly 1.5 minutes per question on reading and writing, while the ACT moves even faster. Many students rush through questions and make careless errors, or spend too long on difficult problems and run out of time.

Expert tutors teach strategic approaches like skipping and returning, identifying which questions to tackle first, and using practice tests to build your internal clock. You'll learn to recognize when to spend time on a problem versus when to move on—a skill that dramatically improves both speed and accuracy.

This varies by student, but reading is often the biggest challenge because it requires stamina, strong comprehension, and quick decision-making under pressure. Math is more predictable—once you know the concepts and question types, you can approach problems systematically.

Varsity Tutors connects you with tutors who assess your strengths and weaknesses early on. If reading is your struggle, you'll work on strategies like active reading, annotation techniques, and identifying answer patterns. If math trips you up, you'll focus on plugging in numbers, process of elimination, and building speed on core topics. A personalized all-in-one class balances both while letting you double down where you need it most.

Practice tests do two critical things: they reveal exactly where your weaknesses are, and they build test stamina and confidence. Taking full-length practice tests under timed conditions mirrors the real test and helps you understand pacing in context, not in isolation.

Most students benefit from taking a full practice test every 1-2 weeks during active prep, then reviewing mistakes carefully. Expert tutors analyze your practice test results to spot patterns—whether you're missing certain question types, struggling with specific content, or losing focus partway through. This data-driven approach means you're not just practicing; you're practicing strategically.

Test anxiety often stems from uncertainty—not knowing what to expect, doubting your preparation, or fearing you'll run out of time. Personalized 1-on-1 instruction directly addresses this by familiarizing you with every aspect of the test, building mastery of content, and practicing under realistic conditions.

Tutors also teach mental strategies like positive self-talk, breathing techniques, and breaking the test into manageable chunks rather than seeing it as one overwhelming event. When you've practiced with an expert, learned strategies that work for you, and taken multiple full-length tests, you show up on test day with genuine confidence—not false confidence, but earned confidence based on real preparation.

Brooklyn has 801 schools and nearly 300,000 students across 103 school districts, which means there's huge variation in what schools can offer. Many students face crowded classrooms, limited test prep resources, or teachers stretched thin managing multiple grade levels.

Varsity Tutors connects Brooklyn students with expert tutors who provide personalized 1-on-1 instruction tailored to your schedule, learning style, and goals. Whether you're balancing school, work, and extracurriculars, or you need specialized support for an all-in-one approach before choosing your test, you get expert guidance without the one-size-fits-all limitations of group classes.