Finding a Tutor For the SAT or ACT

In this area where education is worshiped as much if not more so than our ancestor’s worshiped God, there are countless companies and individuals who hold themselves out as experts on the SAT, ACT, SAT II’s, AP’s, SSAT and ISEE. So how do you, as a parent, go about selecting the tutor for your son or daughter? Do you simply go to the Yellow Pages (antiquated idea, I know), do a Google search, look at the bulletin board at the library or ask your friends who they used? The options are staggering.

However, the true key is not the source but the actual tutor into whose hands you will be placing your child. Is this person holding him or her self out as an expert merely because he or she personally achieved a high on the test? If that were an accurate method for gauging skill then Babe Ruth should have been one of the greatest managers in the history on Major League Baseball. He was not. Is the person claiming to be an expert on a standardized test simply because he or she is a classroom teacher? With all due respect to teachers, if that were all that it took to be an expert here then test prep would not be a billion dollar industry. No, as one who has earned a Masters Degree in Education, I know personally, that there is no course in that field of study which relates to teaching the SAT or ACT. Finally, Is this a company which claims that its students have earned high scores? Here, it is not the company name but the actual tutor and curriculum which are relevant to your child’s needs.

So how do you choose a tutor? What are the right questions to ask? Begin by asking what the person’s basis is for claiming to be an expert. Ask when was the last time that that person personally took the test. Ask what materials he or she will use. Will he or she use materials other than those produced by the test company itself? If so, that should be a warning sign because those materials are created to copy/replicate actual materials and as such are not completely accurate. How long has he or she been working as a tutor and can he or she provide references from satisfied students?

Your student will only go through this process one time so you have to get it right the first time. A skilled, knowledgeable and experienced tutor can make an inestimably important contribution to your child’s success. He or she can help open the door to the college of your child’s choice. Choose wisely.