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Why tests are important

The importance of the SAT & ACT

While many colleges are now test-optional, the SAT and ACT can help distinguish a student from many other qualified candidates. These test scores can also help students win scholarship money or apply to competitive majors. 

Taking the SAT or ACT isn’t the right move for everyone, but we encourage all of our students to try at least one practice test to see if it might be worth the effort. In our experience, students who submit standardized test scores have more offers of admission and win significantly more scholarship money.

Which tests we teach:

Kingfisher Prep coaches have experience with the SAT and ACT; all levels of the ISEE, SSAT, SHSAT; AP and IB Exams; the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, and MCAT; basically any test you can name, we’ve taught it. 

 

Scoring well on standardized tests is a skill that can be taught. Each of these exams has a specific style, different evaluative goals, and unique format. As tutors with years of experience, we know the tried-and-true strategies that work on each of them, and our students who adopt them usually express surprise at how quickly and by how much their scores go up. Test-taking skills are important for any student, and one of our greatest joys is helping students and parents who feel anxious about these tests take the process by the horns and feel confident that they’ve done all they can to prepare.

Test Prep

Understanding Standardized Tests & How We Can Help

Sessions

What sessions look like

For the SAT and ACT, we generally recommend 1-2 hour-long sessions a week with one of our coaches. We start out by evaluating each student’s content knowledge (do they know the EXACT rule for how to use a semicolon? Do they have the quadratic formula memorized?) and test-taking experience. Usually that means taking a full practice test under actual exam conditions. From there we teach them the content they need to know and assign homework to help them feel confident that they can solve any style of problem that uses the skills evaluated by their exam. 

 

About six weeks before the first exam, we assign practice sections taken directly from exams published by the test-makers themselves (these are available for free on the SAT and ACT’s websites) and introduce the timing element. 

 

Most of our students take the SAT or ACT three times. Usually, the first test is a massive improvement on their diagnostic scores, and the students who reach their target score happily skip away to other, more exciting activities. On the second test, some sections go up while others go down: this is a common trend, and we ascribe it to test fatigue and the fact that most students are juniors who have many other commitments. The third test usually sees the highest scores. We do not recommend taking the test more than three times: we have rarely seen scores improve much after the third test.

When to start test prep/calendar

There are two “testing seasons” when the SAT and ACT are offered: spring (March-June) and fall (August-December). We have found that most students need 15-20 hours of one-on-one coaching to achieve the scores they want (1400+ on the SAT or 32+ on the ACT).

 

For students who want to take the test in March-June (usually juniors, sometimes ambitious sophomores), we recommend starting test prep in November or December. This gives us time to teach them content before winter break, then move into full practice sections and full practice tests in late January. Caution: many students have extracurricular commitments that come into full swing in late spring (especially sports and music/theater), so please take this into account when planning your test prep strategy.

 

For students who want to take the test in August-October (usually seniors, as this is their last chance to take the test before submitting their college applications), we recommend starting test prep in April or May. Many students have commitments over the summer and suffer from “summer brain”, so we only accept test prep students during this period who can commit to consistent sessions and complete the homework we assign. We want them to succeed on the test and don’t want to waste your money!

 

Students who take the test in November or December are usually either ambitious juniors who want to get the process over with before second semester or those who foresee spring extracurricular commitments like sports or music/theater interfering with their ability to prepare and complete the requisite homework. If these students don’t receive the scores they want in this window, they usually get them when they take the test in March or April. For this window, we recommend starting test prep in August or September.

How many hours most students need

The number of hours of coaching a student needs depends on how high they want their score to go. Most of our students need 12-20 hours of tutoring, and generally improve their PSAT/SAT scores from 1000-1200 to 1650-1800 and their ACT scores from 20-26 to 30-36. 

 

This is significantly higher than the industry average, and we believe that this is because our test prep coaches prioritize not only teaching the material, but connecting with their students and finding unique ways to motivate them. Plus, they’re all professional coaches who spend hours each day looking over these tests and applying their own problem-solving skills to the most important question a coach can ask: “how can I help [insert your student’s name here] solve this problem quickly and accurately every time they see it?”

Student Test Score Improvement with Kingfisher Prep

Out of respect for our clients' privacy, we only use the first letter of their names.

O, Harvard, Class of '24

Diagnostic Test Score: 28

Final Test Score: 35

M, Tulane, Class of '26

Diagnostic Test Score: 24

Final Test Score: 34

C, Columbia, Class of '26

Diagnostic Test Score: 26

Final Test Score: 35

K, Oberlin, Class of '25

Diagnostic Test Score: 24

Final Test Score: 32

M, UW, Class of '24

Diagnostic Test Score: 17

Final Test Score: 29

What skills are covered in test prep sessions

Our sessions are tailored to address these specific skill areas, which are available on the College Board’s website (SAT) and the ACT's website. We teach the skills and strategies every student needs in order to answer every type of question they’ll find on the test.

SAT

Mathematics
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  • Algebra

  • Advanced Math

  • Problem-Solving and Data Analysis

  • Geometry and Trigonometry

Reading & Writing
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  • Craft and Structure

  • Information and Ideas

  • Standard English Conventions

  • Expression of Ideas

ACT

English
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  • Topic Development in Terms of Purpose and Focus

  • Organization, Unity, and Cohesion

  • Knowledge of Language

  • Sentence Structure and Formation

  • Usage Conventions

  • Punctuation Conventions

Reading
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  • Close Reading

  • Central Ideas, Themes, and Summaries

  • Relationships

  • Word Meanings and Word Choice

  • Text Structure

  • Purpose and Point of View

  • Arguments

  • Multiple Texts

science
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  • Interpretation of Data

  • Scientific Investigation

  • Evaluation of Models, Inferences, and Experimental Results

Writing
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  • Ideas and Analysis

  • Development and Support

  • Organization

  • Language Use and Conventions

Mathematics
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  • Number and Quantity

  • Algebra

  • Functions

  • Geometry

  • Statistics and Probability

Both Tests: Test-Taking and Performance Prep

Guiding students through the test process

  • Test Format and Duration

  • Time Management

  • Strategies for Answer Elimination

  • Strategies for Educated Guessing

  • Distraction Management

  • Long-Term Focus Practice

  • Proper Rest, Hydration, and Fueling

  • Anxiety Mitigation

  • Reasonable Improvement Expectations

  • Self-Testing Practice

  • Best Practices for Students With Accommodations

What Most Students Struggle with

Most students struggle with remembering the easy math they learned in middle school, with completing multi-step advanced math problems, and with consistently applying the rules of grammar and punctuation. They also frequently struggle with confidence and motivation. We address all of these in sessions: it’s not just about knowing the content. It’s about applying it accurately to the test, and maintaining the confidence that the strategies learned in lessons will work. That’s why we insist on consistency and practice in between sessions: so that students will feel so skilled and so confident that every time they take a test they’re ready to give it their all.

Check out our Youtube channel below to learn more about test prep and our unique approach to college applications!

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