Standardized Test Prep

Topics: 1-on-1 Tutoring | Our Tutors | Strategies | Results
Practice Tests

Cardinal Education provides results driven test preparation for a wide variety of standardized tests. We offer private tutoring for students preparing for the SAT, ACT, SAT Subject Tests, AP Tests, ISEE, HSPT, and SSAT. By following our highly customized 1-on-1 tutoring plans, countless Cardinal Education students have achieved substantial score increases. Our friendly and patient tutors guide students through the test prep process, motivating students to take an enthusiastic interest in their academic success. Our committed approach, expert tutors, and unique strategies help students reach their goals and motivate them to excel on standardized tests and beyond.

1-on-1 Tutoring
At Cardinal Education, we offer only 1-on-1 tutoring. We find that 1-on-1 tutoring provides a level of customized and personal instruction that makes it significantly more effective than test prep classes. Classes supply a level of instruction that is rarely a good fit for any student. Classes move too slowly for high scorers, who have their time wasted reviewing fundamental concepts, and too quickly for low scorers, who need more time to comprehend and master fundamental concepts and strategies. Classes also teach only the most basic and general strategies, which sometimes lead to small score improvements, but almost never lead to the type of score improvements that our students strive for and regularly achieve.

Almost every company that holds test prep classes also offers private tutoring. This is a clear indicator that test prep classes are a suboptimal product. Cardinal Education’s exclusive focus on 1-on-1 tutoring allows us to completely customize tutoring to meet the needs of each individual student: the student’s strengths and weaknesses, study habits, work ethic, time management skills, and a variety of other factors that we take into consideration. We offer flexible scheduling to accommodate students’ busy schedules, and we can set up extended or accelerated programs to meet unique deadlines and situations.

Our Tutors
Cardinal Education test prep tutors are more than just extremely intelligent individuals; they are also passionate educators who possess the ability to connect with students. At Cardinal Education, we believe that 99th percentile test scores alone do not necessarily make an effective tutor. Our tutors all have exceptionally high test scores, but what is much more important is that they possess expert knowledge of the tests they teach and they are effective communicators who can thoroughly explain concepts and strategies to students. Our tutors are also caring and committed mentors who take a vested interest in helping every student feel calm and confident throughout the stressful test prep process.

All of our tutors start with an intensive training program. Once a tutor begins working with students, the tutor receives regular feedback and advice on how to proceed with each and every student. We constantly collaborate to ensure the highest quality service for each and every student.

Strategies
We emphasize several unique test prep strategies that have proven highly effective for our students. To develop these strategies, we undertook extensive research into each standardized test. All standardized tests are made according to a stringent set of guidelines. These guidelines ensure that the tests are consistent. Their consistency makes them predictable, which in turn enables us to develop strategies to exploit those consistencies.

You will not find our strategies in any test prep books or offered by any mainstream test prep companies. This is partly because our strategies are highly nuanced. There are various exceptions and caveats to each strategy, which makes them far too difficult to teach in a classroom setting in which every student comprehends at a different level. All of our test prep tutors are experts at judging which strategies will be most effective for each student.

Results
Check out our results page to see how some of our past students have performed. Test prep tutoring with Cardinal Education also provides benefits to students that go beyond good scores. While learning test prep, students are learning various math, reading, and writing skills that will translate to increased success in middle school, high school, and college classes. Cardinal Education’s test prep tutoring also imparts a mode of methodical and critical thinking that applies to many aspects of school and life--beyond standardized tests. Unlike a class or a lackadaisical tutor who allows students to do poorly, we motivate students to complete vital practice work and to take an active interest in their success. More often than not, this positive attitude and work ethic carry over to their lives outside of standardized testing.

Practice Tests
Proctored practice exams are a critical component of our test prep programs. Taking a timed test under real testing conditions helps students develop mental endurance and proper pacing. It also increases their comfort level so that there will be no surprises on the day of the actual exam. We regularly hold complimentary proctored practice exams for our students. All new test prep students begin by taking a diagnostic practice test to establish a baseline score and to help us develop a tutoring plan based on the student’s strengths, weaknesses, and potential for improvement. Contact us today to schedule a diagnostic practice test.