5 Tips For Anyone Wondering about Commercial SAT or ACT Prep

Recently I got such a great question from a mom. I’m hoping many parents will benefit from hearing why I told her, “No, I don’t.”

Jeannie, I was wondering if you do coaching for students looking to study for the SAT and ACT tests? I have a daughter who is wanting to take the ACT this year and her high school counselor told us to invest in a good testing coach. I honestly have no idea where to find one, but thought of you because of the work you have already been doing in this area. Do you provide tutoring services to students who want to do well on standardized tests?

My answer to this mom is below.

ACT

You’re asking great questions about SAT and ACT prep! Here are 5 good ideas for you:

1. I strongly suggest that you have your daughter prep seriously for either SAT or ACT, but not both.

She’s busy enough without making her spread her limited time out over both. The ACT is so widely accepted now that that one might be a good one for her to pursue with gusto.

2. Have her take the SAT or the ACT once just to see how she does.

If she scores high enough she might not even need structured prep. Don’t worry that she might bomb the test by taking it without prep. If she does poorly on it she can always take it again—as many times as she wants to—and schools will always look at her highest score.

3. Here’s my best suggestion for SAT or ACT test prep coaching. (FYI I get nothing for telling you this.)

I don’t do SAT/ACT prep myself—but I did do it as a KAPLAN instructor many years ago. I don’t do test prep coaching for two reasons:

A) I’m too busy and I’m turning away clients as it is, and

B) I don’t currently have a full-time research department behind me keeping up with every little change in these tests. This is a critically important qualification for any test prep you choose–and it’s a reason I never recommend locally based “tutors” or classes.

After all these years I still do strongly recommend KAPLAN for test prep because they are so huge—they have so many resources to put into the formation of their class curriculum and practice materials. Save yourself money though—just take KAPLAN’s least expensive self-paced option and create a personal calendar at home for how your daughter will progress through the materials and get the most helpful parts of it done. Get a description of Kaplan ACT prep and see its pricing here

4. If your daughter’s college counselor is gravely worried about her SAT or ACT test prowess for some reason, worry no more.

There are hundreds and hundreds of well-respected “test optional” colleges and universities that don’t require standardized test scores at all. Please take a look at the extensive informative blog post I wrote on this subject here and feel hope!

5. Get all the non-testing debt-free college and career help you need in this book:

It’s a reference book, so nobody reads the whole thing cover to cover. Pick out what you need to read in it using the fast-paced, 10-minute video instructions here.

You can see hundreds of reviews of this book on Amazon by going to:

bit.ly/burlowski

You can see why financial advising professionals love LAUNCHhere.

You can see the top 9 questions parents are asking me about LAUNCHhere.

Read just one chapter of LAUNCH every 1–3 months while your child’s in middle school and high school, and you’ll know every viable strategy for debt-free college at exactly the right time to implement it.

And if your child’s already well past middle school? That’s OK; you can run to catch up. But the process of getting your kids through college debt-free goes more smoothly the earlier you start it—especially if you’re not planning to save up any money to pay for college.

Take a step on this right now. Get regular, inspiring help from me—every Monday morning.

Subscribe to my free weekly email newsletter here. (You’ll especially want to do this so I can alert you to important FAFSA changes that will affect you in the future.)

Do you have very specific questions for me about debt-free college and career for your kids?

My TRIBE Members get the most direct access to me—while feeling good that the pennies per day they spend on the TRIBE help me bring debt-free college strategy to families who could never afford to pay for it. Join my TRIBE Membership waiting list here.

Who is Jeannie Burlowski?

Jeannie is a full-time academic strategist, podcast host, and sought-after speaker for students ages 12–26, their parents, and the professionals who serve them. Her writing, speaking, and podcasting help parents set their kids up to graduate college debt-free, ready to jump directly into careers they excel at and love. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Huffington Post, USA Today, Parents Magazine, and US News and World Report, and on CBS News.

Jeannie also helps students apply to law, medical, business, and grad school at her website GetIntoMedSchool.com. You can follow her on Twitter @JBurlowski.

This article was most recently updated on October 12th, 2023. No part of this article was written using AI.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Hi, I'm Jeannie Burlowski.

I'm a full-time academic strategist, speaker, and podcast host, and I’m the author of the book LAUNCH: How to Get Your Kids Through College Debt-Free and Into Jobs They Love Afterward.

My writing, speaking, and podcasting help parents set their kids up to graduate college debt-free and move directly into careers they excel at and love.

My work has been featured in publications such as The Huffington PostUSA TodayNerdWallet, and US News and World Report, and on CBS News.

I also help students apply to law, medical, business, and grad school from my website GetIntoMedSchool.com. You can follow me on Twitter @JBurlowski.

My team and I are leading a debt-free college revolution. We hope you’ll join us.

Hi, I'm Jeannie Burlowski.

I'm a full-time academic strategist, speaker, and podcast host, and I’m the author of the book LAUNCH: How to Get Your Kids Through College Debt-Free and Into Jobs They Love Afterward.

My writing, speaking, and podcasting help parents set their kids up to graduate college debt-free and move directly into careers they excel at and love.

My work has been featured in publications such as The Huffington PostUSA TodayNerdWallet, and US News and World Report, and on CBS News.

I also help students apply to law, medical, business, and grad school from my website GetIntoMedSchool.com. You can follow me on Twitter @JBurlowski.

My team and I are leading a debt-free college revolution. We hope you’ll join us.

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