FAQs & Resources for Test Prep

Register for the ACT here. ACT test dates and registration deadlines are here. If Test Information Release is available, please pay the additional fee. TIR will enable you to obtain a copy of the test and your student’s answers. This is invaluable information for your student and tutor about how your student is performing in the testing environment.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

I’ve only considered the SAT. What’s the ACT?

There are two college admissions tests that are accepted by all colleges and universities: the SAT and the ACT. Both tests have always tested basically the same skills in different ways. However, the ACT is, for many students, an easier test to learn with test prep.

What’s the difference between the SAT and the ACT?

The SAT and ACT both test for the same essential skills required by colleges; they just test for them in very different ways. Here’s how the tests compare:

The SAT is a digital, adaptive test with two sections: Math and Reading & Writing. Each of these sections has two modules. In total, the test is 2 hours, 14 minutes and 98 questions.
The ACT is usually a paper-and-pencil test with four sections: English, Math, Reading, and Science. In total, the test is 2 hours, 55 minutes and 215 questions.
The ACT has an optional essay.
In general, the ACT is a speedier, more concrete-thinking test. In general, the SAT is a slower, more abstract-thinking test.

What’s the Digital SAT? Can my student take that?

Starting in fall 2023, College Board will offer a new Digital PSAT and SAT. In March 2024, College Board will offer only the Digital SAT test. This SAT will be offered on computers in testing centers, though students can bring their own computers or tablets to use if they choose.

The Digital SAT will be different in several key ways:

At about 2 hours, it will be shorter.
It will have 2 sections, Reading & Writing and Math, on which a calculator is allowed. The testing app will have a built-in Desmos calculator.
The test is adaptive, meaning that it changes the level of question difficulty for subsequent questions based on a student’s performance.
Short reading passages will have one question each.

How do SAT and ACT scores compare?

Here’s a Score Concordance Table for the SAT and ACT, so you can see how scores compare. If you have more questions, please ask us.

Should my student take the SAT or the ACT?

That’s a key question, and the answer is, we can find that out together! RTC offers a thorough assessment process to find out which test is best suited for your student. Ask us about it!

My student suffers from test anxiety. Is there anything we can do about that?

There is so much we can do about that! Anxiety does not have to prevent a student from being successful on SAT or ACT; we have worked with dozens of students who came to us struggling with test anxiety. We understand that anxiety steals points from students, and that unexpected events in a testing room can cause anxiety in even confident students.

As a result, every single RTC test prep program includes mindfulness tools, because we understand that students need concrete strategies for managing anxiety and stress on test day — no matter what calamity happens. We know our strategies work, because we have had numerous parents tell us that one of the ways they measured their child’s success was that their formerly fearful, anxious test-taker emerged from their SAT or ACT with a smile on their face, saying, “I took a great test!” That’s one of our favorite things to hear at RTC.

In addition, we understand that some students need an extra level of attention and care around anxiety and their self-narratives about test-taking. For this, we offer Mindfulness Coaching as an integral part of test prep. Mindfulness involves recognizing the ways in which we dialogue with ourselves, especially during test-taking, and then flipping those scripts to be more constructive.

We all talk to ourselves constantly, and some students have false narratives in their minds that can limit their ability to succeed. Mindfulness aims to remove these barriers by teaching us to talk to ourselves more kindly and constructively. Mindfulness coaching can be a game-changer in test prep: calm, focused test-takers achieve. Beyond that, it’s a wonderful skill set for any young person to learn. You can read more about our Mindfulness for Test Prep Program here.

When should my student start test prep for the SAT or ACT?

This is highly individualized, and needs to be decided based upon several specific factors:

Math:
- If the student has completed Algebra II and Geometry by the end of their sophomore year, they have the math prerequisites to complete test prep anytime during junior year, including the summer before junior year. (Test prep the summer before junior year can be ideal for mature, high achieving students, especially those with a heavy academic load or multiple extracurricular activities.)
- If the student needs to take Algebra II or Geometry during their junior year, they should wait to do test prep until the winter or early spring of their junior year, so that testing does not happen until that math curriculum is complete.
- If the student is targeting an top Math score on ACT (30 or above) or SAT (675 or above) and has not taken Precalculus before their junior year, they should wait to do test prep until the winter or early spring of junior year, so that testing does not happen until that math curriculum is complete.
Overall commitments: If the student has a heavy academic load or is involved in lots of extracurricular activities, the family should consider when would be an appropriate time to do test prep so that the student has time for test prep, which is a 4-10 hour time commitment each week, without being overwhelmed.
Maturity: Finally, the family should consider the overall maturity of the student. Sometimes, waiting 6-9 months to do test prep can mean a significant difference in terms of a student’s maturity and seriousness in regard to test prep. In order to see score gains in test prep, a student has to want to work, and work hard! At RTC, we only work with students who are hungry to see gains on ACT and SAT, because we know that students who are “serving time” in test prep will not see score gains; we know that test prep is the best investment a family can make in the college admissions process, but we wouldn’t want parents to invest their hard-earned money on test prep that’s not going to yield results.

What is the test prep process?

After our first phone call with you, we will assess your student to design a customized test prep program for them. We are very thorough, because this sets your student up for success from the start.

First, you will proctor a full-length SAT and ACT at home, during which your student will complete a survey while test-taking. You will also fill out a preliminary Family Questionnaire. Once you submit this paperwork to RTC, we will schedule a 60-90-minute video interview with your student, so that we can learn all about them as a test-taker, which is their best-fit test (SAT or ACT), and get to know them so we can make their ideal tutor match.

Then, based on your student’s individual needs and goals, we will design a customized test prep program for them. Most students require between 24 and 32 hours of instruction, though this varies. Most students also require 6-12 sessions of Mindfulness Coaching to take their optimal test.

During most test prep programs, your student’s test prep tutor will meet with them virtually once weekly for 2 hours, and then your student will have 3-5 hours of practice homework a week. After each lesson, your tutor will write progress notes. Your student’s mindfulness coaching appointments will be 35-60 minutes, depending on their specific needs.

Why should our family invest in test prep?

High quality test prep is still the most effective way to both increase a student’s college admissions options and also increase their chances for merit aid, which is largely based upon a combination of GPA and test scores. An RTC class is an investment of $1,500-$3,000. A complete test prep tutoring program is an investment of $4,200-$7,900, for which our RTC students average score gains two to four times higher than the national average on both SAT and ACT, often higher. (Our statistical average is often impacted when a student starting at a 32 on ACT can only earn 4 points to be at a perfect 36!)

Our students average a score gain of 6 points on ACT and 180 points on SAT, which is literally the difference of admissions at a college like East Stroudsburg University or Syracuse University — it can change a student’s dreams.

In addition, when we at RTC hear from families who have received $80,000-$380,000 in merit aid, who tell us that their student’s SAT or ACT score was a big reason they were offered so much merit aid, we know that good test prep is the best investment a family can make on the way to college. When we do the math — invest $5,500 for a return of at least $80,000? — we are proud of the value our test prep tutoring offers.

How many times should my student take the SAT or ACT?

We design our test prep programs so that most students take the test once during their program, and once at the end. The first “dress rehearsal” test, when the student is in the process of learning the curriculum and strategies, is designed to help the student learn to get comfortable taking an SAT or ACT in the real testing environment, and possibly bank a good section score or two. We see it as a progress test, and it is a crucial step in making sure a student can eventually be successful at taking a calm and focused test. At the end of the student’s prep program, they take their cumulative SAT or ACT: this is when we explicitly aim for the student’s score goal.

Most students reach their score goals with this second, end of program test. Some decide to take the test a third time, either aiming for a top Single Best score or a top Superscore. It is very common nationally for students to test multiple times; colleges are accustomed to this, and many account for it in their admissions requirements. (See Superscoring below.)

Students can usually decide which tests they report to colleges. We do not recommend that students automatically report their scores when they register for SAT or ACT. You never know what might affect a student’s test-taking: a student might become sick the day of the test, find that another student distracts them during the test, have an awful proctor typing on a computer for the whole test, or some other factor that could affect their test-taking. You can always submit scores after the fact, when you know you are happy with your Score Report.

What do “Single Best” and “Superscore” mean?

Most college admissions departments accept a student’s “Single Best” score — their best overall Composite on ACT or SAT. Some “Superscore,” which means that a student can submit up to three tests from which they have top individual section scores. The school will then cherry-pick those top section scores to make a Superscore Composite. If your student takes the ACT more than once, ACT will automatically report your student’s Superscore to you with their results. Here’s an example from ACT:

ACT Test 1	ACT Test 2	ACT Test 3	ACT Superscore
Composite: 26	Composite: 28	Composite: 30	Composite: 32
English: 32	English: 29	English: 29	English: 32
Math: 23	Math: 25	Math: 30	Math: 30
Reading: 25	Reading: 31	Reading: 29	Reading: 31
Science: 25	Science: 28	Science: 33	Science: 33

University admissions departments are explicit about whether they accept Single Best Scores or Superscores; you can find this information on their websites.

Should my student take the Writing section of the ACT?

Most schools don’t require the ACT Writing test, and it’s optional. If you are considering applying to any of the following schools, you must take the ACT Writing test:

Martin Luther College (MN)
Molloy College (NY)
Soka University of America (CA)
United States Military Academy (West Point) (NY)
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (TX)
University of Montana Western (MT)
Wyoming Catholic College (WY)
Yellowstone Christian College (MT)

If you are considering applying to any of the following schools, you should take the ACT Writing test:

Colorado School of Mines (CO)
Bethune-Cookman University (FL)
Morehouse College (GA)
Hardin-Simmons University (TX)
Brigham Young University (UT)

If you are not applying to any of these schools, the ACT Writing test can boost your application, especially at highly competitive schools; we will consider this in the design of your ACT program. However, Writing is usually not required. If your student is applying to midrange schools and is not a strong writer, we can usually skip the Writing test.

When we register for SAT or ACT, should we sign up to automatically send score reports to colleges?

We wouldn’t recommend it unless you are up against a college application deadline. The fact is that we never know what your student will encounter on test day. We have had students take the test sick, take the test with another student distracting them, take the test with a poor proctor, etc. Your student is not guaranteed a great testing experience, so you are safer waiting to reporting great test scores to colleges when you have them in hand.

Do you offer virtual tutoring?

Absolutely! We transitioned entirely to virtual tutoring in 2020, which enabled us to expand nationally and match the best tutor with the best student regardless of location. Tutoring is available virtually in a variety of formats like FaceTime, Zoom, and WhatsApp with online whiteboard support.

We have always known that 1-to-1 tutoring is customized, connected, and personal. We had data to show that our virtual test prep programs were just as successful as our in-person test prep programs long before 2020, and we have seen some of our highest score gains in virtual test prep since then. We feel entirely confident and comfortable that virtual tutoring can provide our students with everything they need in their learning, because we have seen our amazing team teach everything from early Reading to AP Calculus to Mindfulness virtually! Please ask us if you have questions.

Where do you find your tutors?

All of RTC’s tutors and coaches are carefully selected for their intuitive, innate teaching talent, their empathy and ability to connect with students, and their exceptional content knowledge. Many of our tutors are in Pennsylvania, where our company is physically located; as a national company that serves our students virtually, we also have exceptional tutors and coaches across the country.

How do you make a tutor match?

Our student onboarding process for test prep is very thorough and involves a video interview with your student to get to know them, their strengths, and their learning needs. We are rarely wrong in our tutor matches, but we are happy to hear from a family if they would like a different tutor match.

Can you work with students with special needs or learning differences?

At RTC, we pride ourselves on getting to know our students. We work with students with all kinds of learning needs every day. Our test prep curricula are customized for each student with whom we work, and we understand that a particular student’s needs might include one or more concerns, like autism, ADHD, a learning disability, a fine motor delay, or test anxiety. Since we work 1-2-1 with students, we don’t tend to think of any of these as “special” needs – every child has unique needs, and our tutors are equipped to meet them.

Do you have a minimum lesson length?

In test prep, most lessons are two hours. Like everything else in test prep, we customize this based upon the student’s needs.

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