Do I need SAT Exam Coaching

A lot of SAT prep materials are  really designed for self-study. But can it help to get SAT coaching too?  How useful are SAT exam coaching services, and are they right for you? Reasons you should seek SAT exam coaching Sometimes self-study isnt enough. Maybe youve gone through a lot of prep materials from the College Board and services such as Magoosh SAT, but your score just isnt improving. Or youre not making sufficient progress toward your target score.  In this situation, you may benefit from working with an SAT coach. SAT exam coaching with a tutor vs. SAT coaching in a classroom When you look for an SAT exam coach, you have two basic options: one-on-one tutoring with an individual coach, or classes taken through an SAT coaching company. I recommend an individual tutor in most cases. Usually, students who struggle to master the SAT on their own have specific learning needs in specific areasa difficulty with math, a need to build vocabulary, problems with certain test strategies, and so on. SAT coaching classes are, by necessity, one size fits all. Unless you truly need to improve in every single skill and aspect of the SAT exam, the  one-size-fits-all nature of SAT classes will offer you a lot of coaching that you dont need. Still, there is one instance in which I do encourage students to consider SAT classes rather than tutoring. When a student is a non-native English speaker, classes can be very beneficial. Language learning happens very easily in group settings, and SAT classes can really help ESL students learn the language of the SAT and its sections. Reasons to  not use SAT exam coaching Never assume you need SAT exam coaching before youve even done any SAT prep on your own. Many SAT test-takersprobably the majority of themprepare for the test primarily through self-study. So dont consider tutoring unless youve already done a good deal of SAT self-study and disliked the results. You should also hold off on getting an SAT coach if you havent yet taken one of the SATs official practice tests. If you took a mock test from an unofficial source (a source other than the College Board) and did poorly, this doesnt necessarily mean youll do poorly on the real exam. The best way to know how you might do on test day is to take an exam made from real SAT questions, sponsored by the makers of the test. If you do well on a College Board practice test, you dont need SAT coaching. And if you do poorly on the real thing, try self-study first, then turn to a test prep coach if self-study isnt cutting it. SAT exam coaching should be an as-needed resource, not a primary form of test prep that you turn to right away.