In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch says, “You can choose your friends but you sho’ can’t choose your family…” Thankfully, when you’re looking for a test prep tutor, you can look beyond family. That means you get to choose. And choosing a test prep tutor can be one of the most important elements of your test preparation.
How to Choose the Best Test Prep Tutor
Once you’ve decided it’s time to hire help, choosing the best test prep tutor starts with identifying your specific needs—whether it’s improving your score in a particular section, tackling test anxiety, or boosting overall confidence. Look for a tutor with proven expertise in the test you’re preparing for, such as the SAT and ACT or AP exams, and check their credentials, reviews, and success stories. It’s also important to find someone whose teaching style aligns with your learning preferences. Consider their availability, communication style, cost, and whether they offer personalized lesson plans.
Given the specific nature of the standardized tests, there are additional important considerations that factor into choosing the best test prep tutor.
Factors in Choosing the Best Test Prep Tutor
In addition to the tutor selection advice provided by HelloCollege tutor Nick Bergen, when it comes to test prep, there are some additional considerations.
Goal Alignment
Start by defining your goal.
Are you new to the standardized testing world and looking for someone with a comprehensive background on every part of the test to help introduce you to each section?
Are you the student who has the math section completely on lockdown and is looking for an English specialist to help align your English score with your math?
Are you struggling with a particular test format and looking for someone to help you become more confident with timing on test day?
Are you deciding between taking the SAT or ACT and need help choosing based on your personal strengths and what top colleges prefer?
Are you up against a deadline and in need of a tutor with the maximum schedule flexibility to get you as much prep as possible in a condensed window?
Whether you’re new to the test, a seasoned veteran, or a procrastinator sidling up to the all-you-can-teach-me buffet, having a tutor who understands your goals and can help you to achieve them is crucial. Be open and honest about your test prep goals with your recruiter, your tutor, your counselor, and yourself. It helps you to have realistic expectations of your tutor and yourself, and it helps us pair you with a tutor who can best meet your needs.
Areas of Strength
If you’re a math wiz, you may not be looking at spending a lot of time on preparing for the math section of the test. Your first thought might be that finding someone who is strong in the English section is the best bet for you…and they might be.
However, you might find that someone who approaches things from the same perspective as you is more aligned with how you learn. Sometimes, finding another math thinker who may have had challenges with the English section initially and have honed skills and strategies for tackling that section might be a more fruitful partnership than someone for whom the English section came easy right from the jump. That’s not to say that a calculator and a dictionary cannot work together.
With that said, don’t close yourself off to the advice of the counselors. They know their tutors’ strengths and styles and can be very insightful about the combinations of students and tutors that can lead to great results.
Test Prep vs. Academic Knowledge
Are you looking for a tutor who can help you with proper grammar and punctuation? Are you more focused on building study skills, gaining test taking strategies and learning what to do the day of the test to help you to remain calm, keep good time management, and put all of your hard work on display? Chances are, you’re looking for a little bit of both.
Standardized tests are not tests of your knowledge—they’re tests of your ability to take standardized tests. Your tutor will work with you not just on making sure you have the academic skills to succeed but also the test taking skills.
If you know that you have the academic skills but consider yourself a “bad test taker,” please tell us. We will match you with a tutor who can focus primarily on test taking strategies that will let your own academic skills shine. Your forthrightness in the beginning will help to get you paired with the best tutor for your needs and enable you to begin making progress towards successful test prep sooner.
Other Considerations in Choosing the Best Test Prep Tutor
While credentials, test experience, and goal-alignment are essential to choosing the best test prep tutor, there are lesser-known factors that can help you in choosing the best test prep tutor.
Changing Tutors
Sometimes, schedules don’t line up. Sometimes, these pairings just aren’t working. You’re trying your best. Your tutor is trying their best. Chances are, if you’re feeling like things are not working, your tutor feels the same way. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t going to do everything they can to help you. But it probably means they have mentioned to someone that there may be a mismatch, and you might need a new tutor.
If you feel like the pairing isn’t working, please, tell someone. We want you to have the best possible tutoring experience and to maximize your performance. If this means a new tutoring relationship, it’s best to make the change as soon as possible.
Changing Test Prep Goals
It’s very rare that we have a student come to us reasonably saying, “I’d really like to score 1500+ on my SAT” who then returns a few weeks later and says, “You know what? I think 1200 is fine.”
Chances are, if you’re having a realignment of goals, it’s because you have exceeded your own expectations and are looking to reach higher. That tutor you were paired with—because they were great at providing you with the base knowledge you needed to do well on the test—has done a spectacular job at preparing you to do well and you have done so. Great job by both of you!
If you came in with a plan to take the SAT three times over 9 months and, after the first test, have seen that there is potential for your stretch schools to become your safety schools and your dream schools to be realities, you might be looking at those later SATs as ways to really make your mark. Can you get there with the same tutor? Maybe. Do you want to take all the skills, tips, and tricks that your tutor taught you and add the knowledge another tutor might have to help optimize your performance? It’s definitely worth considering.
Perhaps you’ve scored higher on one section than another and want a tutor who is more able to help you connect with that section. Maybe you are looking for a tutor who themselves scored a 1500+ and has the best tips and tricks for how to eke out every last point. Whatever the reason your goals have changed, you always want to be evaluating how every element of your preparation can help you to reach those goals.
Conclusion
There are many questions you need to consider when preparing to take a standardized test that go well beyond appropriate usage of a semicolon and correct application of the sine law. Make sure that you have a tutor who is aligned with your goals and able to support you in both what you need to learn and how you learn. The best partnerships come from open, honest communication. Be clear with your needs with everyone on your team and we will do our best to make sure they are met.
If you’re considering professional tutoring, the best first step is to schedule a consultation. Reach out to HelloCollege today to better understand your test prep needs and the benefits of test prep tutoring.
