SAT® PREP

Why is The Krupnick Approach the best SAT® prep choice for YOU?

Our Experience in SAT® test prep: You will benefit from our extensive experience and innovative technology and AI-powered analytics that help students maximize their scores on the SAT®. Our tutors are experts at conducting remote and in-person tutoring sessions with a variety of online platforms that create a seamless and efficient learning experience. Students consistently increase their scores by at least 250 points on the SAT® –the best track record in the area.

Our Experience As Academic Thought Partners: We provide added value as an educational partner that will support you from the moment you schedule the test until you reach your score goals. Our tutors have deep expertise in the nuances of integrating test prep into the college application process, inspiring confidence throughout the process. While our test preparation results are unparalleled, our consultation services will simplify the many complex decisions you will need to make

New Digital Testing Platform

We are thrilled to unveil The Krupnick Approach’s latest innovation: our brand new digital testing platform. Designed with the personalized needs of students in mind, our SAT® Test interface offers an experience that mirrors the real testing environment.

Our Approach to the SAT®

Our Process

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Navigating the SAT®

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15 hours

Expected program duration: 4-10 weeks
Expected point improvement: 3-4 ACT, 70-100 SAT®

22.5 hours

Expected program duration: 6-15 weeks
Expected point improvement: 5-6 ACT, 120-150 SAT®

30 hours

Expected program duration: 8-20 weeks
Expected point improvement: 6-7 ACT, 150-200 SAT®

45 hours

Expected program duration: 12-30 weeks
Expected point improvement: 7-9 ACT, 200-250 SAT®

60 hours

Expected program duration: 15-40 weeks
Expected point improvement: 10+ ACT, 250+ SAT®

What's on the SAT®?

Reading and Writing

The SAT® Reading and Writing, once less felicitously called “Critical Reading & Writing & Language,” is now composed of two modules– each featuring 27 multiple-choice questions and a 32-minute completion time. While the section does assess skills like analyzing words in context, using textual evidence, and knowing rules of grammar and usage, it is also a category-based test. This means that, regardless of the difficulty or linguistic framing of the questions, success on this section continues to favor pattern recognition, rule application, and trap identification. Much like history, the SAT® Reading and Writing doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.

Mathematics

The SAT® Math section comprises two modules with 22 multiple-choice and student-produced response questions and a 35-minute standard completion time. The questions evaluate skills in algebra, quantitative problem-solving, data analysis, and advanced math topics. While superficially quite similar to the paper-and-pencil version, SAT® Math section allows you to use a calculator on both sections (you can either bring in your own or use Desmos on the College Board platform). And by virtue of the adaptive nature of the modules, the sections contain questions that vary tremendously (in fact unreasonably) in difficulty.

SAT® vs. ACT

	SAT®	ACT
Timing	2 hours, 14 minutes	2 hours, 45 minutes
Number of questions	98 questions	171 questions
Minutes/Question	1.37	0.96
Test Format	Adaptive, Digital	Paper/Pencil OR Digital, Linear
Sections	Reading & Writing Math	English Math Reading Optional Science
Scoring	400-1600	1-36
Student Strengths	Students better suited to the SAT® are typically those who: Prefer a shorter format (SAT® is 2 hrs 14 mins, ACT is 2 hrs 55 mins). Prefer a slower-paced test. Are looking to emphasize math skills (given that math is 50% of the SAT®). Prefer shorter passages for reading and punctuation/grammar. Feel more comfortable with challenging vocabulary questions (SAT® includes 8-10 vocabulary-in-context questions).	Students better suited to the ACT are typically those who: Prefer a longer format. Can tolerate a faster-paced test. Are looking for more rules and formulas. (20% of the ACT questions are based on “magic tricks” vs. 14% of SAT® questions). Feel more comfortable with charts, graphs, figures, and tables. (These are tested on the ACT Science section). Feel more comfortable with the meat-and-potatoes paper/pencil style of testing.

Click here to learn more about the differences between the ACT and SAT®

The Structure of the SAT®

Section	Standard Time Duration	Number of Questions	Time Per Question	Difficulty Mode
Reading & Writing Module 1	32 minutes	27 questions	1 minute and 11 seconds	Linear
Reading & Writing Module 2	32 minutes	27 questions	1 minute and 11 seconds	Adaptive
Math Module 1	35 minutes	22 questions	1 minute and 35 seconds	Linear
Math Module 2	35 minutes	22 questions	1 minute and 35 seconds	Adaptive
Total	2 hours and 14 minutes	98 questions	1 minute and 22 seconds	N/A

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SAT® Prep FAQs

Q: What does the SAT® actually measure?

A: The SAT® doesn’t primarily reflect what you’ve learned in school. It certainly is not an intelligence test. What it is is a test of how effectively and efficiently you can attend to details, ignore distractions, and translate unfamiliar words and concepts into ideas that make sense to you.

Q: If the SAT® doesn’t reflect academic skills, why do colleges care about it?

A: The SAT® is important because it requires a different but equally important set of skills that you do need in college and later in life. In college, you will take courses that assign 300-400 pages of reading a week. It is practically impossible to read 300-400 pages a week per class and also sleep and get to know your roommates,. The training we offer on the Reading section of the SAT® teaches you how to distill complex prose into a few core ideas.

Colleges also care about the SAT® because, along with the ACT, it is the single universally available and objectively measurable standard that colleges have to compare one applicant with another. It is imperfect, to be sure, but it’s a shortcut colleges can use to assess their applicant pool and that you can use to help yourself stand out.

Q: But what is this I keep hearing about test-optional policies? Are ACTs and SAT®s really optional?

A: Yes, but let’s back up and lay some groundwork here. It is important to recognize that test optional policies are real and they’re not going away. Colleges mean it when they say that you don’t have to submit an ACT or SAT®. They also mean it when they say that they won’t explicitly hold it against you.

There are three important caveats, however. First, while colleges do offer you latitude on whether to submit your scores, they do take the ACT or SAT® seriously. Second, while they may not explicitly penalize you for not submitting, they cannot very well reward you unless you do. Third, the pendulum is swinging back towards the test. As colleges continue to digest new evidence that the ACT & SAT® are better predictors than GPA of college and career outcomes, they’re increasingly reinstating requirements. Even holdouts that maintain test-optional policies are likely to take the ACT or SAT® more seriously than they did in 2021-2023.

From our perspective, the function of success on the ACT or SAT® is to give you as many options as possible. When you’re working with us, our goal is not merely to “keep up” with the other students at your school; we want to give you an advantage over applicant pools whose profiles are, superficially at least, essentially the same as yours. Like terrific grades, a well-crafted essay, and flattering recommendations, a great score on the ACT or SAT® will appreciably improve your odds of acceptance at universities across the world.

Q: When should I take the SAT®?

A: Just as they say about voting, the best time to take the SAT® is early and often. This is the case especially because these tests do not generally reflect what you learn in school. With the exception of Math, which does require rudimentary understanding of advanced algebra concepts, there’s really no time that’s too early to start prepping.

With that said, we usually encourage students to begin incorporating SAT® prep into their life routines the spring and summer after sophomore year. The advantage of summer prep is that it’s not competing with the full-time jobs of high school and extracurricular activities. Also, by the end of sophomore year, most students have had enough math to get them through 95-98 percent of the SAT® and are by then in a great position to get ahead of the curve. Think of it this way: if you start early, you’ll be done early. This means that, while others are still gutting it out in test prep, you’ll be able to spend your after school time on something else… like college consulting!

The other advantage of starting early is that most colleges (our analysis suggests 65-70 percent) superscore SAT®, which means that having more opportunities to take these exams will likely redound to your credit.

Q: What's a good SAT® Score?

A: A good score, like curved space time, is relative. It’s relative to your personal standards and relative to the standards of the schools to which you’re applying. (To a certain extent, we might say that good scores are also relative to the standards of your parents and peers, but, as independent thinkers ourselves, we discourage all of our students from having such narrowly defined conceptions of success.)

More concretely, we encourage our students to aim for outcomes that put them above the 25th percentile for the schools to which they are applying. If you’re dead set on Princeton or MIT, this means that a 1480 or a 1500 is a good score. If you’re looking at other schools, that 25th percentile might start at 1200 or 1220. For more information on percentile scores at specific schools, see College Super-Scoring, Test Optional Status & Admissions Data.

If you don’t know where you’re applying, a good rule of thumb is to aim for a percentile that is roughly commensurate with your GPA percentile at your local high school. If you get mostly As and are in the top 10% of your class, you’ll probably want to aspire for a 1380 or higher. If you’re in the middle of the class, you’d probably benefit from an SAT that’s 1200 or higher.

If you don’t know where you stand in relation to your local high school class, we’d suggest looking at Naviance/Scoir/Maya Learning scattergrams and perhaps doing some light reconnaissance during free periods and downtime. Without being creepy about it, it’s usually not terribly difficult to get a ballpark sense based on conversations with friends and classmates.

Q: How do we get started?

A: After the complimentary consultation with a team member at The Krupnick Approach, students take a full-length baseline exam: either the ACT, SAT®, or both. After these are graded, we will design a recommended program around each student’s particular strengths, weaknesses, and score or school goals. We may request an additional consultation at this stage to discuss baseline results and agree upon a recommended program length. When a program package is selected, a tutor team will be assembled to cover all subject sections of the exam. We will send students and parents a Program Specification Document outlining all of the details of the program: total hours, baseline scores, official test dates, mock test dates, the assigned tutor team, recommended pacing for each section, scheduling instructions for each tutor, and the policies and procedures of the respective program. This document will also provide access to the student’s Drive folder, The Krupnick Approach ACT or SAT® Database, virtual whiteboards, and student portal login instructions. Students will then schedule sessions with each tutor in accordance with the agreed-upon plan outlined in the specification document.

Q: How do I know whether to take the ACT or SAT®?

A: If families are unsure of which test is more suitable for a student’s strengths and goals , we will administer, score, and analyze an ACT and SAT® baseline exam, on different days. We will then collect feedback from the student about their experience with each exam, and advise on the best approach moving forward. We discourage students from preparing for both exams.

Q: How do we schedule tutoring sessions?

A: For students’ convenience, each of our tutors and consultants uses an automated scheduling system. This system allows students to choose from all remaining available time slots for that individual tutor. If students prefer, we can also schedule directly with students via email, text, or phone. When scheduling through our automated system, students will receive an email confirmation for each time reserved and a calendar event will automatically be created on the account they are signed in with. If the session is virtual, the link to join the Zoom meeting will be included in the calendar event and email confirmation, or the tutor will send you a unique join link before your scheduled session.

We highly encourage students to schedule their own sessions so that they appear on the student’s calendar. We find that students who take over the execution and management of their programs fare far better both in our program and in the inevitable chaos of college life and classwork work. When using our automated system, parents can be added to the calendar events after the initial scheduling so that they know when students are scheduled to meet.

Q: When are sessions held?

A: Students work out their schedules individually with each subject-specialist, depending on the student’s and the tutor’s schedule. Tutors do their best to be flexible, and each tutoring team will take into consideration any scheduling restrictions students might have.

Q: How long are the sessions?

A: SAT® students generally meet with tutors for 1.5 hour sessions, with exceptions made for students with accommodations or other extenuating circumstances.

Q: How much homework should we expect?

A: You should expect a 1:1 ratio of session time to homework. If you meet with a tutor for 1.5 hours per week, you should expect to complete about 1.5 hours of homework per week. We invite you to complete and submit all homework assignments on a ZipGrade answer sheet to ensure comprehensive data collection and analysis. This will allow us to track your progress and adjust priorities among and between subjects as you get closer to your “go for the gold” test.

Q: What are mock tests and when do we take them?

A: Mock tests are designed to evaluate student progress across the subject sections throughout the entire duration of the program. Most students will take a full-length mock test every 2-4 weeks, depending on the length of the program and the student’s goals. Regular mock testing ensures that students are able to integrate the lessons of all of the subject sections in one full exam, rather than merely as individual subject-level homework assignments. Mock test results are used to recalibrate the remainder of the program and reorient the student’s priorities in accordance with any progress made. The results of each mock test and each homework section will be accessible via the student’s unique portal, and The Krupnick Approach administrative and tutor teams keep a close eye on all results to ensure students are progressing at a reasonable pace.

Students may take their mock tests at home or in The Krupnick Approach’s downtown Chicago offices at 401 N. Michigan Ave. If students test at home, they should print the entire exam and all answer sheets to mimic test day conditions as closely as possible. We recommend students take mock tests on a weekend morning, or at least not testing after a full day of school. Students should reach out to a member of The Krupnick Approach team to schedule mock tests in the office, and students will need to show a photo ID in the first floor lobby to access our 5th floor offices.

Q: What materials and resources are available for SAT® prep programs?

A: SAT® Students will be given full access to The Krupnick Approach SAT® Database and Software Platform, which includes full-length digital practice tests, score and percentile information, individual subject-specific practice sections, strategy and systems study guides, third-party resources, and ZipGrade answer sheets for homework. Students will have a dedicated Student Drive, accessible by the entire tutor team, for easy sharing of score reports, study guides, schedules, or other related program information. All students will be provided a personalized ZipGrade Student Portal, where they can view all past results for baseline exams and homework sections. This portal will show each individual question results and the associated concept tags for each question. These tags are diligently assigned by The Krupnick Approach’s subject specialists and allow students and tutors to consistently and dynamically address each student’s particular weaknesses as they progress over time. Some students will be given access to a virtual whiteboard for some subject sections, which they will be able to access independently for further review and independent study.

The Krupnick Approach tutors and administrative staff are available to assist students and parents throughout the test prep process via email, text, and phone call. We are happy to advise on applying for testing accommodations, when to register, how to prepare for test day, and all other aspects of the process that families should be thinking about. We provide wraparound services that can keep all interested parties on the same page and focused on the same goals.

Q: How many tutors will my student be working with?

A: Most students work with 2-3 subject specialists. Often, a single tutor will be assigned to cover more than one subject given the similarities in the sections themselves and the best strategies for approaching them. This will always depend upon the student’s unique strengths and weaknesses.

Q: What is our late cancellation policy?

A: Students are expected to maintain a professional and punctual attitude towards their time with our subject-specialists. All sessions must be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance, and scheduled sessions must be canceled with at least 24 hours notice. Tutors will retain discretion to accommodate less than 24-hour notice, but reserve the right to charge the entirety of the reserved time to the student’s program totals.