I Scored in the 95th percentile on my Standardized Tests and Here’s How I Did It!

After two attempts of trying and scoring just about average, I was fed up. I was planning on applying to top tier universities and they would laugh at the scores I was getting. I had studied on my own as much as I could and I thought I had a solid grasp of the material, but it seems I was going in completely the wrong direction. I decided to bite the bullet and get an ACT tutor to teach me to study in the right way. I was always very against tutoring because I have always been bright and never needed one. I finally swallowed my pride and decided it was time to get some help if I wanted to get into my schools of choice. After selecting the tutor I thought would be a good fit, I met with my tutor, Lana, 4x/week for 3 months straight as she suggested. She had me take a practice test twice weekly and gave me homework after each of our sessions. Lana pinpointed my weaknesses and used them to structure a game plan for our sessions. Not only did she reteach concepts that I missed or didn’t remember, she also worked on test taking tips/strategies with me to help me get through the material as efficiently as possible.

There were a couple points in time where I felt like I was going to lose my mind because of how much studying I was doing but Lana pushed me to keep going. She kept reminding me about my long term goals for my education and how she was going to help me achieve them if I put in the effort. When test day came, Lana brought me a healthy breakfast to my house with foods that get the brain stimulated. She drove me to my test and was there waiting for me when it finished! Lana honestly became more than a tutor to me, she was more like my friend and a cheerleader. When I found out my exam scores, I was so happy with my results but I was sad I would no longer need her services. Then I realized I could keep working with her as my English tutor to assist me in writing my college application essays! She is so well rounded and can assist in multiple areas.

Long story short, the way to succeed on your standardized tests is by getting a tutor who is an expert in the subject matter and someone who actually cares about you and your education. You might think you will do okay on your own, but trust me, you will do even better with a coach to guide you. I feel so lucky that I found Lana and I want to keep working with her throughout my education! I actually found Lana on a website called HeyTutor and I am so glad I checked it out because it brought me someone who really understands my educational needs! Her rate isn’t even that bad ($25/Hr. For English and $35/Hr. For ACT).