SAT Prep: Isaac Says No to Outside Help

Stephen Kreider Yoder & Isaac Yoder:

A couple days after I signed up for the SAT last year, I began to panic. Getting a good score was key to getting into a good college, I thought, yet I hadn't even begun studying. Many of my schoolmates who had gotten good scores had regularly used pricey tutors, and my older brother used a tutor a couple of times to prepare for the ACT. So it seemed natural for me to do the same. And mandatory for me to get the score I needed.

I walked upstairs to where my dad was working and asked him how much he'd be willing to pay for an SAT class or tutor.

"I'll pay as much as you think it's worth," he told me.

I went downstairs and looked over the information I had on the tutor I had picked out. I thought about it for a while and decided it just wasn't worth it. The next day I checked out a book of SAT practice tests from my school at no cost and got to work.

I ended up doing great on it. I'm convinced that the SAT book I borrowed did just as much for me as any tutor would have. Sure, I had to motivate myself to practice -- which wouldn't be necessary with a regular tutor -- but I don't think I lost anything else by not paying for help.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the benefits of a tutor. There have been plenty of times when I've fallen behind in class and getting a tutor would have helped me catch up. And having a regular tutor would have kept me more organized with things like searching for a college. A friend hired a counselor to help her narrow her list of potential colleges and to pick the perfect essay for her applications.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at January 19, 2009 5:33 AM
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