Test Prep

Too many students think of standardized tests as storm clouds darkening their horizons—they’ve decided the test is the key to their futures, and they’re worried they’ll come up short.

As a tutor working with students taking the SSAT^®, the SAT^®, and the ACT^®, Cathy reminds students that as menacing as these tests may feel, they’re just one of the many criteria admissions committees use to evaluate applications— important enough to take seriously, but not so important that students should sacrifice sleep or academic performance.

Once students are breathing easily, Cathy helps students weather their test prep storms by helping them:

Recognize patterns in test questions
Exploit those patterns to improve performance
Identify and break patterns in their own wrong answers
Work hard to bolster weaknesses
Acknowledge their strengths
Take pride in incremental improvement
Develop a strategic plan to manage test day nerves
Laugh—the tests don’t award extra points for stoicism, so we might as well have some fun!

Let’s talk about how Cathy can help your learners find their wings!

I liked working with Cathy on my SSAT prep because she made it interesting and more fun than I expected it to be. I particularly enjoyed taking the vocab quizzes that she made—now I know a lot more words!

— Julia H., 14 years old

We think the world of Cathy Elcik! Her work on SAT and SSAT prep with both of our daughters has been outstanding. She understands the different learning styles of each daughter, and has encouraged and challenged them in the right measures, according to their needs. Our older daughter got into her first-choice college thanks to Cathy's testing help. We would recommend Cathy to everyone who needs a tutor who is attuned to their child's learning needs.

— Tanya H., mother of an SAT student and an SSAT student