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Many
college admissions officer advise against receiving assistance in
writing the personal statements. Why is it important that my child
receive help?
How do you ensure that my child’s voice and writing will remain
his own?
If
I enroll my child in your essay writing class, how much writing
will my child have to do at home?
My child has already been working with you for three lessons and
her drafts still seem rough. Why?
My child is an excellent writer, has been in advanced English classes
for his entire school career, and has always done well. How difficult
will these essays really be for him?
Both
my child and I are overwhelmed with filling out all of these applications.
Can you complete the application forms with my child?
Why
would my child need more than just a few lessons if all of her colleges
accept the Common Application?
It’s
October and my child still hasn’t decided which colleges to
apply to. Can you help us make the decisions?
Will
the skills my child learns with you prepare him for college-level
writing?
Why
should my child prep for the PSAT?
Does PSAT preparation carry over to SAT preparation?
How
many lessons are sufficient for preparation for the verbal SAT?
Many people argue that the SAT should not be coached. Can’t
my child just buy a book and prepare on his or her own?
My child is in the Advanced English program and has done very well.
Won’t she do well on the verbal PSAT/SAT?
Will
my child get more out of a group setting or one-on-one instruction
when prepping for the SAT/PSAT?
What
is the difference between your approach and the programs that many
of the national chains utilize?
What
can I do at home to help my child prepare for the PSAT/SAT?
Why
do you approach the verbal section of the PSAT/SAT only?
Many
private tutors travel to the student’s home? Why do you teach
exclusively at your center?
Many
college admissions officer advise against receiving assistance in
writing the personal statements. Why is it important that my child
receive help?
Many
college admissions officers fear that “getting help”
will really mean “getting it done by someone else.”
Writing a student’s admissions essays for them, or even editing
for them, is, in our opinion, an unethical practice. That is why
we conduct our private college essay classes like college writing
seminars. We have two goals: our first is that students write their
best possible college essays and the second is that they learn how
to write for a college class. We couldn’t teach them how to
write if we were writing for them. Perhaps the most important reason
why most students need help with their essays is that the personal
statement is often the first time high school students are faced
with composing a narrative piece. The ideas and organization of
the college essay are vastly different from a typical expository
paper. Many students find that, because of lack of exposure to this
genre, they are uncomfortable writing about their own lives. Therefore,
students need help focusing, organizing, and revising their college
essays.
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How do you ensure that my child’s voice
and writing will remain his own?
While
we work with the student during the entire writing process, we do
not write the essay for him. Rather, we guide students through brainstorming
ideas, reading sample essays, and outlining personal statements
and supplements. The student writes multiple drafts, and we offer
feedback in the way of questions, comments, and editing/revision
suggestions. We guide and advise our college essay students and
supervise their work. The writing, however, is entirely their own.
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If
I enroll my child in your essay writing class, how much writing
will my child have to do at home?
Most
of our students never have to take work home with them, as our hope
is to complete the entire writing process at the center. We spend
about 30 minutes of our 75-minute lesson in instruction, and the
student then has 45 minutes to write in our lab and in our presence.
Therefore, most of our students find that they have ample time to
write their essays here. Occasionally we have to send the student
home with work, but this would depend on the student’s existing
skill level and the amount of work we accomplish during the lesson.
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My child has already been working with you for
three lessons and her drafts still seem rough. Why?
We
always use at least two lessons in the beginning to brainstorm,
read sample essays, decide on a structure, and outline. After the
third lesson we hope that the child has a complete rough draft.
Throughout the ensuing lessons, the draft is revised and edited,
and new drafts are initiated. We ask that parents don’t evaluate
their children’s essays until we send the final copies home
a couple of weeks before they are due. This way, the student feels
independent and free to write his or her best without any fear of
criticism, while the parent is confident that, should an essay need
more work, there will still be time at the end to make changes.
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My child is an excellent writer, has been in
advanced English classes for his entire school career, and has always
done well. How difficult will these essays really be for him?
Chances
are that throughout your child’s advanced English classes,
he has been primarily writing expository pieces in response to literature.
Writing the college essays proves difficult for even the most gifted
students. Not only do the students feel anxiety about composing
their personal statement, they’re also uncomfortable writing
about and reflecting on their personal experiences.
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Both
my child and I are overwhelmed with filling out all of these applications.
Can you complete the application forms with my child?
Our
primary concern is working on the essays; however, if we have time
left over at the end of the semester, we will help out with the
applications. We also offer application sessions in addition to
the college writing lessons. Please inquire about pricing.
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Why
would my child need more than just a few lessons if all of her colleges
accept the Common Application?
In
addition to the personal statement, most colleges that use the common
application require supplemental essays and short answers. The supplements
require planning, drafting, and revising – just like the personal
statements. While the average personal statement can be about 500-800
words or more, the average supplement can run from 300-500 words
or more. A student applying to five colleges will have one primary
essay to write, but could have as many as 5 additional, albeit shorter,
essays.
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It’s
October and my child still hasn’t decided which colleges to
apply to. Can you help us make the decisions?
We
are not certified guidance counselors, nor have we received formal
training in counseling students in their college choices. However,
we are aware of a multitude of free and low-cost resources that
provide a great deal of support with college choices. We can engage
these resources during our sessions with your child, only if it
does not compromise the time we need to spend with her on the essays.
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I’m worried that an admissions officer
can perceive my child’s response to one of the essays as controversial.
Can you help him change it?
Sometimes
the topic that a student decides to write about might not be what
the parents or the instructor would choose. If the essay reflects
the child’s true personality and beliefs, then we will respect
his choice of topics. We will surely communicate any risks the student
is taking, but the decision to change the topic is one that has
to be made by the student and his parents. We can guarantee, though,
that we will never suggest that a child send an essay to a school
that we feel is inappropriate or that puts his chances of admission
at risk.
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Will
the skills my child learns with you prepare him for college-level
writing?
Absolutely.
The entire process of writing the essay is a good foundation for
college writing. The focus on planning, organizing, and revising
multiple essays is inherent in college composition classes.
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Why
should my child prep for the PSAT?
Because the PSAT is primarily considered a “test run”
for the SAT, we feel the most important reason your child should
prepare for the PSAT is to feel confident. If your child receives
a poor score on the PSAT test, he or she might feel a sense of anxiety
about preparing for the SAT. We’ve heard students say things
like, “I did such a crummy job on the PSAT, I don’t
see how any amount of preparation will help me on the SAT.”
This, of course, is not true, but these sentiments are understandable.
Another good reason to prepare for the PSAT is that it can significantly
eliminate some of the prep work for the SAT, since the exams are
so similar. A third reason to prepare for the PSAT is the chance
to compete for a prestigious merit scholarship for which only the
top PSAT scorers are considered. Though these scholarships are limited
to only a chosen few, and though there are additional requirements
involved in attaining them, we feel that it’s definitely worth
a shot.
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Does PSAT preparation carry over to SAT preparation?
Yes. Students who prepare with us from June or September through
December receive preparation for the verbal portion of the PSAT
before we begin studying for the SAT. Because the tests are so similar,
we are able to move very quickly through their SAT preparation.
These students usually take the SAT in December or in January.
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How
many lessons are sufficient for preparation for the verbal SAT?
This varies according to the student’s ability. We recommend
a minimum of 24 lessons to prepare for the Reading and Writing sections,
12 for the multiple choice and 12 for the essay. For students who
have struggled in their English classes throughout high school,
we recommend attending a reading and writing foundations course
at our center in the summer in addition to beginning SAT preparation
in the fall. This course is offered privately. This might seem like
a lot of time in preparation for one test. However, the new changes
to the SAT are adding over an hour of testing time and two entire
new sections to the test (Writing and Essay). This is why authors
who have researched the SAT are recommending a 45- hour study plan,
with at least 2/3 of that time focused on the reading and writing
portions of the exam.
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Many people argue that the SAT should not be
coached. Can’t my child just buy a book and prepare on his
or her own?
Your child can, in fact, prepare on his or her own. Many students
have been very successful preparing for entrance exams on their
own. Many of the highest achieving students, however, are also the
individuals that have the most difficult time taking charge of their
own test preparation. This is because they value achievements outside
of school as much as they value academics, and rightfully so, because
academics alone will not get a student into a competitive college.
Planning a course involves diagnosing a student’s strengths
and weaknesses, breaking down exactly how many hours should be spent
on weaknesses and how many remaining hours should be spent on strengths,
creating weekly and monthly plans for study and practice, committing
to those plans, and charting progress. A student with few commitments
might be able to pull this off, but a busy student will almost never
motivate him or herself to prioritize studying for the SAT.
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My child is in the Advanced English program
and has done very well. Won’t she do well on the verbal PSAT/SAT?
A student in an advanced English program will likely have an edge
over a student who has been taking regular English or a student
who had not been doing well in English. The very best advice for
the Reading section of the entrance exams, advice that comes from
testing researchers, is to take the most demanding English courses
possible because that is where students encounter the most challenging
literature from various genres. Unfortunately, though, taking an
Advanced English course might be as much of a liability as it is
an asset. Students in such classes are often taught to be opinionated
about what they read in class and to write interpretive essays to
questions that have more than one right answer. These students come
to us baffled about the reading section of the SAT because the exam
asks them to completely disregard their opinions and inclinations
about literature, as all of the answers to the reading questions
are found directly in the correlating passages. Also, High School
English teachers generally do not offer direct grammar instruction
because they rightfully take for granted that students should know
basic grammar concepts. The writing section of the SAT, however,
tests a very advanced level of grammatical ability that teachers
simply do not have the time to teach.
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Will
my child get more out of a group setting or one-on-one instruction
when prepping for the SAT/PSAT?
We
feel strongly that a group setting is not effective when preparing
for entrance exams. We have conducted small group sessions before,
and in tracking students’ improvement we have found the scores
increase marginally in group classes—but dramatically in private
sessions. This is because a private English instructor can tailor
every aspect of the preparation to each student’s particular
needs, whereas this is improbable in a group of two or three, and
impossible in a larger group. If one of our students is scoring
high in the reading section but needs a great deal of work in the
writing section, or vice-versa, we accommodate for that in his or
her plan. We also maintain an email and phone relationship with
each individual student’s parents so that you always know
whether or not your child is doing his homework, what his progress
has been, and whether he is taking full advantage of the resources
with which you have provided him. This level of attention is not
something that is often attained from a group instructor.
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What
is the difference between your approach and the programs that many
of the national chains utilize?
All
of our instruction is private, our instructors are certified teachers
with English degrees, and this is our full-time job. Our attention
is not divided among other work responsibilities, so we can put
the additional time necessary outside of your child’s lessons
into planning for your child’s specific needs. This includes
diagnosing your child’s strengths and weaknesses, writing
an individual SAT preparation plan for your child, assigning relevant
homework and checking it, tracking your child’s testing progress,
and communicating with you every step of the way. In addition, training
with certified English teachers for entrance exams means that your
child will not only have a better chance at scoring high, but he
or she will also gain critical reading and writing skills that will
follow him or her throughout college. Though such a high quality
of service keeps our center small and our lessons booked, we believe
that this is the only type of instruction that will produce the
kind of results your students deserve.
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What
can I do at home to help my child prepare for the PSAT/SAT?
The
best thing to do for your child is to encourage them to take the
most demanding classes that they can handle, to read a wide variety
of materials (including newspapers, magazine articles on current
topics of interest such as art, technology, and politics, as well
as challenging books), and to use new vocabulary frequently in their
oral and written communications. Educational television shows, such
as documentaries, biographies, news magazine broadcasts, and nature
shows should replace pop-culture TV. For most students, this involves
a lifestyle change that should begin as early as the 8th or 9th
grade, but a change that will pay large dividends in the long run.
If you are considering having your student prepare for the entrance
exams on his or her own, give us a call and we’ll be happy
to offer some guidance to you.
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Why
do you approach the verbal section of the PSAT/SAT only?
This
has been an ethical dilemma for us for some time. We have been asked
to train and hire math instructors to help our students with the
math sections of these exams. We have taken a very strong stance,
though, that it is unethical for anyone whose specialty is not math
to offer math preparation services. As far as the PSAT and the SAT
are concerned, approximately two-thirds of these exams test English
concepts. Because 1600 of the 2400 SAT points are devoted to reading
and writing, we feel it is more important that students devote most
of their preparation to these sections. Also, because the vast majority
of students take the SAT two-three times, we recommend that students
complete 24 lessons with us, take the SAT for the first time, and
then take 10-15 math lessons from a qualified math instructor before
their second try. We know of several qualified math instructors
to whom we refer students.
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Many
private tutors travel to the student’s home? Why do you teach
exclusively at your center?
Students
will not be taking the entrance exams in the privacy and comfort
of their own homes. They need an environment that is completely
free of distractions to prepare for tests of this magnitude. At
our center, we do not compete for your child’s attention with
Internet Messenger, email, the television, the radio, little brother
or sister, or any other distracters. In addition, each of our teachers
has her own instructional room, so we do not even compete with noise
from other students. This creates an environment where students
take their instruction more seriously.
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