How to know if private tutoring is the right SAT Practice for you
There are many different options for those looking for SAT practice resources. While some good ones are free, your options expand dramatically if you (or your parents) are willing to invest a bit.
In our experience, sorry to say, the best resources are usually the most expensive. That's not to say that the more you spend, the higher quality you get. The're no better resource that private, in-person tutoring, but it's easy to overspend on low-quality.
If you are in an urban area, you should be able to find a high-quality private tutor who can fit around your student's busy schedule. In competitive markets with lots of college there are often current students who make great tutors. That's especially true if you are willing to do some traveling to them. (Remember that tutors only make money when they are teaching, so driving out to you is lost money to them and many college students in cities don't have cars).
With private tutors you get almost everything you could want. They combine content expertise with motivation. They can adapt to the needs of the student easily and, in the case of younger tutors or college students, provide a good role model for what life after high school can look like.
Like all great teaching, however, much of the value comes from the passion of the teacher and his or her commitment to the student. Tutoring is a personal relationship. As a result, it can be very hard to identify the right fit. Make sure you (and we mean the student here) meets the tutor before committing. There are great students and great teachers alike who just shouldn't work with each other.
On the flip side, if the student and the tutor really hit it off, almost nothing else matters. The community college dropout who knows 10th grade math and really inspires a student will help your student get a much bigger score increase than an MIT Physics PhD whom you child doesn't really care for.
The one downside is that the one-to-one approach may be intimidating for some students. Being the focus of attention for 1-2 hours can be exhausting and scary. SAT prep is hard enough without added stress. If you can assemble a few friends, you can create your own small classroom setting. Beware however that the difference between tutoring and teaching a small class is pretty vast. Having great content knowledge and student rapport is usually enough to make a good tutor. Once a teacher has more than one student, classroom management skills start to become important. Those skills are not easily mastered.
Meeting and selecting tutors is hard work. Sites like Wyzant and Tutorspree have great research tools and most tutors will be listed on there (unless they have a well-established client based). Still, the best source of good tutors is referrals from other parents.
One of the first things any good tutor will ask you is for the student's most recent scores. If you havn't taken a practice test yet, check out the rapid SAT practice tests at Testive.
