College Entrance Exam Preparation

Preparation for these very important examinations is available at MTA throughout the year. Summer is an especially opportune time to get geared up for the PSAT (given to high school juniors each October), and for the SAT and/or ACT (each given several times a year).

In addition to the benefit of increased comfort with and performance on these tests, preparation provides an excellent review of mathematics, vocabulary and reading comprehension, all of which enhance students' school performance.

See the bottom of this page for links to information
about the tests and test dates.

Preparation begins with a diagnostic test, which we provide. Students may complete the test at home or be monitored at MTA. When the test is returned and scored, the results are given to the student and parent(s), who may decide to schedule tutoring sessions for particular areas(s) in which improvement is desired.

If tutoring is initiated, the tutor(s) will review the diagnostic test with the student at the first session. Together, they will analyze the types of errors made, also noting whether strategies are needed for completing as much as possible within the time limits.

Generally, we like to have students schedule three tutoring sessions, re-test, then schedule another set of three sessions if needed. If students are working on both verbal / reading comprehension AND math concepts / calculation, we usually need to schedule them with two different tutors.

We recommend taking the diagnostic test at least two months prior to the scheduled exam. This will afford the student time to refresh his/her memory, review skills, and learn test-taking strategies.

By the way, as a service to you, we keep our favorite PSAT/SAT/ACT study books in stock here and can sell them to you at a lower cost than you would pay at a bookstore. For students who REALLY want lots of practice on the SAT in particular, we recommend the Princeton Review 11 Practice Tests for the New SAT. This can be purchased online or at many bookstores.

NOTE: Last-minute preparation (two weeks or less before the test) will not allow time for substantive work on subject areas. Test-taking strategies will be addressed as much as time allows. Also, the times available for meeting with tutors may be limited because we'll be fitting you into our busy school year schedule wherever we can.

Prices

About the tests:

PSAT/NMSQT stands for Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. It's a standardized test that provides firsthand practice for the SAT Reasoning Test™ AND gives students a chance to compete for National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) scholarship programs. High school students anticipating going to college or wanting to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship should take the PSAT in October of the junior year.

The SAT is a three-hour test that measures critical thinking skills in reading and mathematics, and (starting in 2005) writing skills as well.

The ACT Assessment is now accepted by virtually all colleges and universities in the U.S., including all of the Ivy League schools. The questions on the ACT are directly related to material learned in high school English, mathematics, and science courses.

Important Reference Sites: PSAT/NMSQT Home Page Dates of the Exam for your school SAT I, II Home Page (& Registration) SAT I Description SAT II Description ACT Home Page (& Registration)