Tutoring Results
Every year, we track our students’ improvements across tests. Below you will find the SAT and ACT improvement data, listed by year, for students who finished standardized testing in a particular year. We work with extremely talented students and are proud of the significant improvements made, even by those students who came to us already scoring in the range for National Merit awards. We are also proud of the way we calculate our improvement: We only use official College Board and ACT tests, not tests that we manufacture. You can find a more complete explanation of our methodology at the bottom of this page.
SAT
|
Incoming Sophomore PSAT score |
Average Final Combined Score |
Average Improvement |
2009 |
1830 |
2170 |
340 |
2008 |
1895 |
2210 |
315 |
2007 |
1830 |
2150 |
320 |
ACT
|
Incoming (converted) Sophomore PSAT score |
Average Final Composite Score |
Average Improvement |
2009 |
25 |
32.3
(~2150 on the SAT) |
7.3
(~435 SAT points) |
2008 |
23.8 |
30.3
(~2030 on the SAT) |
6.5
(~390 SAT points) |
2007 |
24.5 |
31
(~2070 on the SAT) |
6.5
(~390 SAT points) |
GRE
In the 2009-2010 academic year, our average score improvement on the GRE was 220 points
GMAT
In the 2009-2010 academic year, our average score improvement on the GMAT was 80 points
LSAT
In the 2009-2010 academic year, our average score improvement on the LSAT (scored out of 180) was 10.5 points. (This year our LSAT students came in with initial scores as high as 165, so average improvements were lower than would they could otherwise have been.)
Notes on our Methodology:
- SAT improvement is calculated from sophomore PSAT to highest combined SAT score (highest combination of section scores across test dates). The ACT improvement is from sophomore PSAT to highest ACT Composite score (highest total score on a single test date). Most colleges follow the same methodology.
- We include all students who have received a minimum of six hours of tutoring.
- Unlike other test preparation companies, we use only official College Board and ACT tests, not tests that we manufacture. Our score improvement data are based entirely upon improvements on actual PSAT, SAT, and ACT tests administered at area high schools by the College Board and ACT. We do this to ensure that our data are as reliable as possible. For further context and information, please see the following Wall Street Journal article that details how many test prep companies manufacture initial tests that inflate improvement data: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124278685697537839.html
- According to the College Board, the average improvement on the old SAT for students who received SAT coaching was 26 points (8 points on the Verbal and 18 points on the Math). http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/highered/ra/sat/coaching.pdf
- We use the sophomore PSAT scores because most of our students begin prep work with us in the summer before their junior PSAT.
- Our average ACT score improvement is greater than our average SAT score improvement. We believe this is primarily because our average ACT test taker comes in with a lower starting score.
Please Note: We work hard to help our students achieve these improvements, which are many times more than the industry averages. However, individual score improvements depend upon a variety of factors outside a tutor’s control. Marks Counseling Associates makes no guarantees about score improvement.
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