Award-Winning SAT Reading Test Prep in Pittsburgh, PA

If you're interested in equipping your student with expert SAT Reading test prep services, Varsity Tutors can set you up with comprehensive SAT Reading courses you may want to learn more about. We specialize in helping students of all ages and ability levels develop the study habits they need to reach for academic success, a dedication that has established us as a leader in the SAT Reading test prep industry.

The SAT is a high-stakes exam used by colleges and universities across the United States as one factor in the competitive admissions process. It is comprised of four sections, one of which assesses a test-taker's critical reading ability. This section is combined with the Writing and Language section and scored on a scale from 200-800 that represents one half of a student's final grade on the SAT. This "Verbal" score may prove particularly important if your student intends to major in a subject such as History or Literature. If you feel that your student could benefit from dedicated SAT Reading prep, taking an SAT Reading class may be just what they need to pursue their educational goals.

SAT Reading test preparation may begin by emphasizing the most important skills students need on test day. The bulleted list below breaks down the skills students might review in an SAT Reading course:

• Command of Evidence
  • Find evidence in the passages that supports answers or provides the basis for a sound conclusion
  • Understand how authors present their arguments with evidence
  • Identify relationships between text and accompanying data
• Words in Context
  • Utilize context clues to understand what a word or phrase means
  • Identify how word choices affect tone, style, and meaning
• Analysis in History/Social Studies and in Science
  • Understand the meaning of the passage
  • Draw inferences and conclusions

How Can SAT Reading Test Prep Near Me Help My Student Improve Their Study Efficiency?

One-on-one SAT Reading prep allows students to spend as much or as little time on each of the above skills as they might need to. For instance, if your student is a wizard when it comes to using context clues to decipher the meaning of an unfamiliar word but has a harder time with historical analysis, their SAT Reading test prep can concentrate on historic passages to help improve their SAT Reading preparation efficiency.

Similarly, SAT Reading tutors can go over each type of passage that may appear on your student's exam. Topics are drawn from a variety of sources, including U.S. and World literature, historical documents related to the founding of our country, passages about the social sciences (economics, psychology, sociology, etc.), and the sciences (biology, Earth science, physical science, etc.). Each of these requires a unique approach that SAT Reading prep can equip your student for.

Can SAT Reading Tutors Near Me Prepare My Student For Every Section On The Test?

Yes! For instance, the Literature passage may require students to identify how a fiction author uses word choice to define the tone of a piece, as well as how that tone impacts the overall message of the work. If your student could be more sensitive to details like these, SAT Reading classes may review active reading techniques such as highlighting the most important points to help quickly identify them.

Similarly, some questions may require students to infer additional info from the details provided in a work, even if they aren't directly stated. If your student could use a refresher on how to use the information provided to draw accurate conclusions, they may review questions like these with their SAT Reading class.

The second passage on the SAT Reading section is typically drawn from the early history of the United States. Authors such as Thomas Jefferson and John Adams followed grammatical rules and mechanical conventions that seem completely foreign to modern audiences, potentially tripping your student up. If the student in your life could use some help deciphering older material, their instructor might provide sample passages they can practice with during their SAT Reading test prep.

If your student is one of the many who finds history boring, they might review how historical concepts such as the American Revolution impact their daily lives. After all, modern American politics, economics, and ideals can all be traced back to the Founding Fathers. If your student becomes legitimately interested in the passage they are reading, they may feel more engaged and ultimately get more out of their SAT Reading preparation.

The third passage on the SAT Reading section deals with the social sciences. Many high school students haven't formally studied topics such as sociology or psychology yet, leaving them without a frame of reference for the questions on this section. Therefore, students might choose to review some basic concepts during their SAT Reading prep to get a sense for what this portion expects of them.

Likewise, this is the first section of the exam where a chart or graph could appear. The SAT Reading section never asks math questions, but students are required to interpret information presented in graphical form. If your student has a hard time looking at a bar graph and using that information to answer questions, they may want to spend some SAT test prep time practicing it. Similarly, a section may consist of a graph and a short reading passage. If your student could more effectively blend two distinct information sources in order to draw solid conclusions, they can review how to do so in an SAT Reading course as well.

The final pair of passages on the test deal with the sciences. They tend to be dense, with a lot of potentially unfamiliar words and complicated supporting ideas. Students may utilize SAT Reading tutoring sessions to practice identifying the main idea in such works, giving them something to focus on as they read further.

While the SAT Reading section does not expect students to have any prior knowledge of the material, having a background to draw on may make it easier to place scientific articles into their proper context. Accordingly, working on common scientific concepts such as life cycles or gravity during SAT Reading test preparation could prove beneficial even if it does not directly appear on the test.

Is There Any Way SAT Reading Tutoring Near Me Can Help My Student Understand The Test's Formatting?

Absolutely! In fact, the structure students can expect on exam day is often one of the first topics discussed in SAT Reading courses. The SAT is a traditional pencil-and-paper exam, so it's just like other tests your student has taken in school. If your student occasionally deals with test anxiety, this sameness may be emphasized during SAT Reading courses to help them relax on exam day.

Students have 65 minutes to answer 52 multiple-choice questions (and read their associated passages), so time management is also an important consideration on exam day. If your student practices their active reading skills during their SAT Reading prep, the notes they take may be a faster reference if they need to double-check an answer. Likewise, many student go over the test's directions during SAT Reading prep so that they don't need to waste any valuable exam time reading them.

Many students also go over test-taking strategies during SAT Reading classes to improve their self-confidence heading into the exam. For example, reading the questions before their associated passage can help guide your student's reading as they know exactly what they looking for. Likewise, some multiple-choice items contain the information required to answer something else on the exam. If your student is vigilant about looking for these opportunities, they could answer a question correctly that they otherwise may have missed!

Most importantly, students can take practice exams during their SAT Reading preparation to gain firsthand experience with the test. If your student consistently performs better on one portion of the exam than another, future SAT Reading test prep sessions can gloss over where they are performing well to spend more time on your student's areas of opportunity. Some students also find it easier to manage the time available to them once they have experienced what it feels like for themselves during SAT Reading test prep.

If you're interested to see the types of questions your student may see on exam day, here's a sample question from the SAT's Reading component:

• This question is based on a provided written passage with an accompanying graph
  • The passage most strongly suggests that researchers at the Martin Prosperity Institute share which assumption?
    
    
    • Employees who work from home are more valuable to their employers than employees who commute.
    • Employees whose commutes are shortened will use the time saved to do additional productive work for their employers.
    • Employees can conduct business activities, such as composing memos or joining conference calls, while commuting.
    • Employees who have lengthy commutes tend to make more money than employees who have shorter commutes.

If you feel that the student in your life may have had a hard time with that question, it's not too late to enroll them in an SAT Reading course and help them prepare for test day.

What Kind Of SAT Reading Test Prep Solutions Near Me Does Varsity Tutors Offer?

Varsity Tutors can refer you to two different SAT Reading classes to help students pursue their dreams. First, we offer private SAT Reading tutoring services. Working with private SAT Reading tutors allows students to learn at their own pace, as there is no time limit on how long they may spend on a given concept. In contrast, many competing SAT Reading test preparation products follow set curricula with little to no flexibility to adapt to an individual student's needs.

Any questions your student has may also be answered immediately during one-on-one SAT Reading prep, allowing any misunderstandings to be corrected before they have a chance to spiral out of control. A private tutor can also take the time to get to know your student, incorporating their interests and learning style into their SAT Reading test prep to improve study efficiency.

For instance, it might prove beneficial for your student to begin by concentrating on passages about topics they are interested in to make SAT Reading prep more engaging. Less interesting passages may then be gradually incorporated into SAT Reading test prep to provide a more realistic sense of what the actual exam might be like.

Alternatively, you might want to look into one of our group courses. These are essentially an SAT Reading class consisting of the instructor, your student, and several other students preparing for the same test. Students are free to interact with each other as well as their teacher, potentially creating a collaborative learning environment that helps everybody pursue their academic goals together. Multiple students also split the cost of a group course, giving you more value for your SAT Reading test prep dollar.

Group courses also tend to be a little more formal than other SAT Reading preparation options, providing an extra bit of structure that some students may appreciate. Most importantly, all group course attendees can book private time outside of their standard SAT Reading prep with the teacher to go over anything that isn't sticking for whatever reason. That's right: your student can study in a group setting without compromising their right to individualized SAT Reading prep!

Either way, your student can study on our proprietary Live Learning Platform, an online classroom leveraging powerful features such as video chat functionality to provide a face-to-face learning experience without the headache of trying to get together in person. We believe that no student should need to rearrange their life just for SAT Reading test prep and design all of our SAT Reading prep products to accommodate your schedule to the greatest degree possible.

If you would like more information about our SAT Reading test prep options or simply want to talk it over with an expert, Educational Consultants are standing by to help you in any way they can. Choose Varsity Tutors for all of your SAT Reading prep needs!