Test Preparation: Self Study vs. Tutoring
Over the past few months, numerous top colleges, including most of the Ivy League, have reinstated their test score requirements as part of a student’s application. If your student is planning to apply to a competitive college with an admission date of Fall 2025 or later, they need to submit strong test scores. For best results, they should start preparing for their test(s) well in advance of 11th grade (Ivy Link students begin prep in the spring of 10th grade). With this in mind, the question is: self-study or tutoring? Which is better?
If your student is highly motivated and they have high grades, you might think that they are able to self-study for the test. With self-study, your student can set their own goals and create their own timetable for study. However, there are several key points to keep in mind here:
There may be some subjects or aspects of a subject with which your student struggles to understand. In this case, no amount of re-reading the same mass-market prep book is going to help them fully grasp the concept or information they are reading.
Setting their own timeline for studying does not guarantee a consistent and structured manner of study. There is no real accountability here. The SAT/ACT is not a quiz where students can study for a few hours and ace it. This type of preparation requires many study sessions each with a focus on a particular subject or testing strategy.
Even academically gifted students sometimes struggle with the intensely time-pressured sections of the SAT and ACT. The type of guidance and practice required to improve speed and stamina on standardized tests is not going to come from prep books alone.
You might be asking: What if my student joins a study group? Study groups can be a great way to get your child working with other students who are all in the same boat. But working in a group is often less focused than one-on-one tutoring. Students can become distracted around their peers, and what if their peers struggle with concepts in the same way your student does? There may be no one there to help them gain a better understanding of the information.
Lastly, classes for the SAT/ACT might sound appealing, but just like in school, these classes tend to teach to the middle. If your student is aiming for a top college, they need near-perfect scores, not average. That requires focused attention and bespoke strategies.
For all these reasons, we recommend one-on-one tutoring. At Ivy Link, each student works one-on-one with a dedicated tutor for the entirety of their prep. Additionally, our students complete numerous full-length practice tests with a proctor. This winning combination has helped Ivy Link students improve their SAT scores by up to 270 points and their ACT scores by 12 points, earning the perfect and near-perfect scores come test day.
To get started with an Ivy Link tutor, take a diagnostic test, or schedule your consultation below.
