Everything you need to know

I charge $210 per 1.5-hour session. I've found throughout the years that 1.5 hours is the ideal amount of time — one hour generally isn't enough to cover all the material, and after two hours students stop paying attention. Not a bad deal, considering how much experienced tutoring can cost elsewhere.

It depends. Most students I advise start prepping two months in advance. One session per week is plenty — on average I'll meet with a student for 8 sessions. I assign about 2 hours of homework per session. Students who only need help on one section may need fewer. This is one of the advantages of individual tutoring: we adjust to exactly what each student needs.

Students generally start prepping in earnest the second semester of their junior year. Taking the exam in February of junior year establishes a baseline score and allows almost a full year — and plenty of re-takes — to reach their goal before college applications are due. The summer between junior and senior year is also an excellent time to focus.

The most important thing prior to starting is having a baseline exam. If a student hasn't taken the exam recently, I'll assign a practice exam to complete before our first meeting. During the first session, I take the student's impressions of the exam: what they found easy or challenging and what types of questions they need to work on. I only use previously administered exams — I strongly discourage using prep materials from anyone other than the College Board (SAT) or ACT Inc. (ACT).

First, relax! Prepping for under a month isn't ideal, but it's hardly the end of the world. I've had plenty of students achieve their goals with just a few weeks of prep time. Some have worked with me on only one or two sections with just days to go and seen dramatic improvements. The flexibility of individual instruction means we can meet several times a week if needed.

For the SAT, you'll need the College Board's Bluebook app (available on their website or provided by your school). For the ACT, you'll need nothing — just a pen or pencil, a notebook, and a calculator. I'll provide the rest. One note: I highly recommend using a graphing calculator (TI-83, TI-84, or TI-85). Some very useful math strategies are much easier to implement with one.

Quite important. Colleges don't treat test scores as just one small piece of the application. If your scores don't meet their threshold, they may not even read the rest of your application. High scores won't guarantee admission, but low scores can definitely keep you out.

At the very least, take a practice test of each. Some students perform significantly better on one than the other. The vast majority of schools have no strong preference between the two, so I generally advise focusing on one — and if you do take both, prepare for only one at a time. This is against my financial interest to say, but I genuinely don't think it's necessary for most students to take both.

The College Board and ACT Inc. publish a concordance table that converts scores between the two exams. A 21 on the ACT is roughly equivalent to a 1060 on the SAT; a 33 ACT is roughly a 1490 SAT. You can find the official concordance table on the College Board website.

The ACT has four sections in this order: English (75 questions, 45 minutes), Math (60 questions, 60 minutes), Reading (40 questions, 35 minutes), and Science (40 questions, 35 minutes). There's a 10-minute break between Math and Reading. An optional Writing essay can be added for an extra fee.

The ACT is scored from 1 to 36, as is each individual section. Your composite score is the average of your four section scores, rounded to the nearest whole number (up at .5, down at .25). A 21 is perfectly average; a 33 puts you in the top 1% of all test takers.

A good score is whatever score gets you into the school you want or earns you scholarship money at a school you can already get into. Objectively, a 21 is average and a 33 is top 1%.

The ACT is offered on Saturdays in February, April, June, September, October, and December each year. Accommodations are available for Sabbath observers and students with documented disabilities.

The Writing section is optional, though many colleges require it. It's a 35-minute essay on a topic pertaining to high school life. It does not affect your 1–36 composite score — you'll receive a separate 1–12 Writing score and a combined English/Writing score. With the right outline structure and a few learnable tips, anyone can improve their Writing score.

I strongly recommend using only materials published by ACT Inc. The only book with actual previously administered exams is The Real ACT Prep Guide. I maintain a bank of real ACTs for use in lessons and homework. Avoid prep materials from Kaplan, Princeton Review, and similar companies — they don't use real tests.

Virtually none. The Science section tests your ability to read tables, charts, and graphs and spot patterns — not actual scientific knowledge. It's mostly common sense and data interpretation. Occasionally you'll need one-off science facts (like knowing which planet is largest), but that's once per section at most.

Unlike the SAT, the ACT does not test vocabulary directly. The ACT may include occasional "word in context" questions, but it does not test word meanings. If you're planning to take both exams, I do recommend studying vocabulary for the SAT as soon as possible.

The SAT has two scored areas: Verbal and Math, each scored up to 800, for a total of 1600. Verbal is tested across two identical modules (27 questions, 32 minutes each). Math is tested across two modules as well (22 questions, 35 minutes each). The exam is adaptive — the difficulty of the second module in each section is based on your performance on the first.

Your total score out of 1600 is the sum of your Verbal and Math scores. Both are calculated using the number of correct answers, but question difficulty also affects the score because of the adaptive format. A 1050 is a perfectly average score; 1500 and above is in the 99th percentile.

A good score is whatever makes you competitive at the schools you're targeting or earns you scholarship money. Objectively, 1050 is average and 1500+ is 99th percentile.

The SAT is offered seven times per year: January, March, May, June, October, November, and December. Check the College Board website for exact dates and registration deadlines.

Only use materials published by the College Board — the Official SAT Study Guide contains actual previously administered exams. I have a bank of real SATs I use for lessons and homework. Avoid Kaplan, Princeton Review, Barron's, and similar publishers.

The College Board's Bluebook app provides free official digital practice tests. You can also contact me directly — I'll provide a free recent SAT along with the answer key and scoring information, and I'm happy to go over the results with you.