As college admissions grow increasingly competitive and more schools return to requiring test scores, strong SAT/ACT® scores can make a big difference when it comes to admissions and scholarship opportunities. In an age of grade inflation and large application pools, colleges value standardized achievement metrics in addition to more holistic measures such as essays. Strong scores on standardized tests show colleges that a student can perform at the required academic level and stand out, but unfortunately, tests also tend to cause a fair bit of stress for students as they fight to reach their testing goals.
Our solution to that stress? We’re aiming to help more students than ever before through the introduction of our new SAT/ACT® classes. We know that one-on-one tutoring is still the gold standard for test prep, but our new small group format is a great way to lay a strong testing foundation, combining the affordability of classroom instruction with the expertise and personalized attention our tutors are known for. Marks Education’s classes are designed for students who enjoy the collaborative learning process. You’ll have the chance to bounce ideas off of not just your expert tutors but also other students, whose instruction will build on your own. If you’re considering standardized test prep options, our class might be just right for you.
Who are Our SAT/ACT® Classes Right for?
Our classes are structured, comprehensive, and taught by expert test prep tutors with decades of experience. Our twice weekly sessions are spread out over four weeks, a timeline meant to foster accountability and maintain a steady momentum that we find students struggle to achieve on their own via self study. The schedule is designed to build progressively on concepts from the previous class, and is supplemented with access to our library of practice problems, a copy of our proven test prep workbooks, and thoroughly reviewed homework.
Many students choose our classes because they’re looking for expert guidance that sets them on the right path for their future test prep. Generally, we recommend that students plan to take the ACT®/SAT two or three times in their high school career, but this class is specifically designed to prepare students for a strong first test and build a foundation that will carry them through subsequent sittings.
Typically, our classes host between 3-5 students. This means you’re still getting plenty of personalized attention, while simultaneously benefiting from hearing other students’ questions– often those you might not have thought to ask. While we also offer private standardized test tutoring, our classes are great ways to problem solve and strategize with peers, while also receiving the same expert instruction.
What is Unique About Our Classes?
There are many things that make Marks Education stand out against the crowd when it comes to test prep tutoring. First and foremost, our team regularly takes the tests that they tutor, scoring in the top 1%. Unlike other test prep companies, we find that regularly taking the SAT/ACT® helps our team come to tutoring with the best possible understanding of the tests’ nuances, pressure points, and quirks through which testing strategy continues to evolve. This means we understand the test from a test-taker’s perspective, not just from teaching manuals.
We also pride ourselves on the fact that our small SAT/ACT® Test Prep Classes strike a balance between group learning and personalized attention. While other test prep companies might overload a class, trying to squeeze in every last person, we consider our small class sizes a strength and service to our students and their learning.
Most importantly, we know that our methods work. In 2024, our students who worked with us one on one saw an average score improvement of 162 points on the SAT and 5.6 points on the ACT®. While classes can’t provide the same level of personalized attention as individual tutoring, our tutoring classes utilize the same content, structure, and methods as our individual tutoring in a convenient classroom format. As a student with Marks Education, you’ll also have access to our free test proctoring so you can regularly assess your abilities in test-consistent settings.
Conclusion
There are many practical reasons to want to improve your test scores, and we discuss more of these reasons in this blog about submitting test scores from a test prep perspective, this blog about submitting test scores from a college counseling perspective, and this blog where we discuss the recent return to test scores at elite schools; but at the end of the day, the decision to submit test scores is a complicated one and should be made with careful consideration. Test prep classes will put you on the right path to prepare for and achieve your strongest scores, so when it comes time to make a decision on testing, you’ll know you’ve set yourself up for the greatest chance of success.
Curious to learn more about how test prep might benefit you? Contact our offices to learn more, read our team bios, and click this link to learn more about our test prep classes.
