Over the last twelve years, I've tutored hundreds of students.
I've tutored students in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles. I've tutored students from Harvard, Yale, Princeton etc. andadults who didn’t go to college. I tutored my sister, my ex-girlfriend, and a c-list celebrity. I've tutored most of the tests that people can take: the GMAT, LSAT, GRE, SAT, SAT IIs, APs,the PSAT, the SSAT.
All of my students improve their scores, but some surprise me, irrespective to their backgrounds, irrespective to the test. The ones that score perfectly are always surprising, but the students who achieve initially implausible improvement are more interesting: improvements of 200 points on the GMAT, 20 points on the LSAT, 400 points on the SAT and so on. Why do some students – irrespective to where they start – simply learn more than others?
No matter what test you plan to take, no matter your ostensible ability level, there are things you can do to optimize your standardized test preparation. Some are obvious, some aren't:
1. Repetition (aka practice) makes a difference.
It's self-evident that familiarity with test format and content is a prerequisite, but the less obvious point is that standardized tests are patterned. There are only so many question types, usually not very many. Patterns are clearer on some tests more than others (e.g. the logic games section of the LSAT or the sentence completion section on the SAT), but all standardized tests essentially reproduce the same paradigms with modest tweaks. Seeing all the tweaks not only allows you to learn how to respond to tweaks A, B, and C, it helps you to learn how to respond to new tweaks that may emerge for the first time on the test. Learning more tweaks also helps you learn more tweaks.
Questions are predictable, though they may not be easy. Repetition allows you to place questions in the appropriate taxonomy, to identify a type A question as such and then apply the correct methodology. Pattern recognition is a skill, and repetition builds that skill.
2. Start studying for your upcoming test early, keep it steady.
The obvious point is that if you start early, you can do more to prepare and move at a sane pace. For content rich tests like the MCAT, APs, SAT IIs, and GRE, more time to digest information is useful.
The less obvious point is that the learning curve for a standardized tests isn’t steep for very long. There are three discernible stages to the improvement cycle.
In the first stage, when students begin studying they see instantaneous improvement, particularly in the weakest areas.
Tutors are only nominal important during this stage. Even modest attention to unfamiliar skills is immediately helpful.
In the second stage, the rate of improvement slows as “low hanging fruit is consumed.” Some describe this as plateau-ing, though that doesn’t feel like the right word to me. In this “long middle period,” students improve, but grudgingly and variably.
Critically though, this second stage constitutes ~50% of score bump, even if it represents ~80% of the test preparation time.
This is when content and methodology are built and repeated, weak spots identified and drilled. This is when the magic happens.
In the third stage, students reach the point of diminishing returns. They work harder to improve less. They master concepts or at least move closer. This is the final push, the reach.
This cycle recurs with nearly all students, regardless of ability. Starting early allows a student to complete the cycle.
More tips next time... !
~ The Aged Tutor
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