HOW DO I GET IN TOUCH?

You can reach us at info@attaboytestprep, yourcoachesfirstname@attaboytestprep, or schedule a phone call here. Our meeting days are often booked from 9am-9pm, so please please excuse a less than immediate response.

WHEN SHOULD I START TRAINING FOR MY TEST?

The earliest reasonable time to start thinking about the SAT or ACT is just before the summer preceding your Junior year. This gives enough time to take baseline practice tests and determine if you're part of the minority of students for whom a fall-of-junior-year test is advisable: mostly varsity athletes expecting to be recruited to play in college and extremely high scorers looking for National Merit recognition on the October PSAT.

Most students will take their first test in the spring of their junior year--leveraging those additional months of learning and maturity. Prep for a March or April test should ideally start in November, but prep for May or June dates might begin just after the new year.

All that said, it's not too late to strengthen your college application if you're a senior! It's not uncommon for scores gains to continue well into senior year with the benefits of an additional year of maturity and scholarship.

WHAT TEST SHOULD I TAKE?

Whichever places you at a higher percentile! Ultimately, this is the only rubric that matters. Which test is that likely to be? Well, in most cases there won't be much of a difference (the tests aren't called "standardized" for nothing). However, if there's one critical differentiator between the two, it's the aggressive pacing of the ACT. If you can match its pace, then the ACT is a good test to consider. Is pacing--not accuracy--your major limiting factor? Then consider starting with the SAT.

The SAT is by no means 'easier'. In fact, because it's not paced as aggressively as the ACT, the SAT compensates by being, in many ways, trickier than the ACT. That said, in our experience students are more often able to master the traps of the SAT than they are able to gain substantial speed on the ACT without a corresponding tradeoff in accuracy.

The best way to determine on which test you're likely to reach your peak percentile is to send us a message and book a diagnostic for each!

IS ONE TEST EASIER?

In this context, 'easier' is a relevant concept only insofar as one is able to reach a higher percentile on one test than another. Yes, sometimes one test section may seem 'easier' in that a student will breeze through on that day--but when a particular test seems unusually easy or hard it's best to remember that it likely seems easy or hard to most other students too, and one's score comes not merely from how many questions he or she answers correctly, but how many one answers correctly relative to the other students taking that test.

WHAT DO MY SCORES MEAN?

The scoring of standardized tests seems almost designed to confuse: 1-36? 200-800? Composite vs. Section scores? Ultimately, the only score that matters on a test is your percentile: the percent of all student's scores that yours matches or exceeds. The percentile is ultimately what colleges will consider in their first look at your application.

RAW VS. SCALED SCORING

The raw score on a standardized tests is the number of points you earn by answering questions. As of 2016, you'll earn a point for each question answered correctly, and risk nothing by guessing. The scaled score is what makes the test standardized: each test is rewritten for each sitting, so to account for any variability in difficulty the testmakers map each raw score to their score scale (1-36 for ACT, 200-1600 on SAT) according to the percentile performance on that particular administration of the test. This way, when admissions officers see the scaled score, they know that the number they're seeing means the same thing as it does for students that took the test on a different date that year, and also the same thing as it did for all the previous classes of applicants they've considered.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD I TAKE PRACTICE TESTS?

Completing full tests as 'practice' isn't an efficient use of prep time. The value of taking a full-length test comes from its use as a diagnostic: producing hard data on which strategic errors a student is prone towards, what testing behavioral changes have been effectively implemented (and which still need work), and what content might benefit from a quick review. You wouldn't train for a marathon by running only marathons, would you? Of course not! You'd take tempo runs, do conditioning work, stretching, etc. in between longer runs to build your endurance. Smart test takers prep for their test date the same way: by getting the best diagnosis possible of the areas in which they can improve, and working through a well-considered program to efficiently effect those improvements.

WILL TAKING MORE TESTS RAISE MY SCORE?

Some! Enough undirected practice is certain to make some difference (even if only by osmosis). But, just as you wouldn't improve much by playing one concerto over and over when what you're really struggling with is a particular musical phrase, you'll gain far more from the limited test prep time in your busy schedule if you focus on effective drilling designed exclusively to your unique strengths as a test taker and which directly target your unique faults for remedy.

CAN I JUST TAKE ONE PART OF A PRACTICE TEST?

Not if it's to have diagnostic value. Focusing on single sections will be an important part of prep, but endurance is an important part of test taking, and a good diagnostic needs to simulate all the challenges you'll face on test day.

WHAT IS ATTABOY’S RESCHEDULING/CANCELLATION POLICY?

Attaboy Coaches optimize each student's curriculum around a planned number of meetings over a similar number of weeks (less holidays and tourneys and such). Before scheduling, students should look ahead on their calenders for any occasion that would take priority over a scheduled meeting--vacations, tournaments, etc. We're also happy to pull a lesson or two off the calendar in the first month after scheduling. The more notice we have, the more availability will remain in our schedule.

Rescheduling

If a student's schedule changes and our calendars allow, we're happy to reschedule students from one regular weekly meeting time to another opening. We're likewise happy to reschedule the occasional meeting to another open time on our calendars within three weeks of said lesson date (or to a wait-list if student or coach availability is unclear). Lessons that are rescheduled to another time that calendar week are not considered cancellations. Unfortunately, one-off rescheduling further in advance too quickly makes a patchwork of our general availability for regular meetings.

Cancellations

Attaboy Students are permitted two missed scheduled 1:1 lessons for any reason each semester without penalty. Subsequent cancellations that cannot be rescheduled to another available timeslot that week will be assessed a fee of 30% of the lesson price. Students may also, of course, suspend or discontinue their coaching with Attaboy without penalty.

HOW DO I RESCHEDULE LESSONS FOR A PARTICULAR WEEK?

For weeks in which a student is scheduled but unable to meet at their regular time they should alert their coach as soon as possible so they can placed on our "Reschedule List". Any available meeting times for that week will be offered to students roughly two weeks in advance in the order they alerted their Attaboy coach of their need to reschedule (and were thus added to the waitlist).

If you see an open timeslot on the calendar that works, you may technically book that timeslot for a one-off meeting, but generally please don't do this beyond the next couple of weeks: any subsequent requests for recurring weekly meetings at that time will take priority regardless of when a one-off meeting time was scheduled.

If such a one-off meeting is cancelled, that student will be added to the the reschedule list at the time of cancellation and will be offered other availability in accordance with the order they were added to the reschedule list (not when the original one-off meeting was booked).

WHAT IF MY CALENDAR IS UNPREDICTABLE?

Irregular meetings can be booked up to three weeks in advance, but we prioritize recurring programs and cannot guarantee availability further out.

We understand that many students these days are booked nearly round-the-clock with sports, clubs, jobs, and other extra-curriculars, but if test prep can't be made a habit, it's likely you'll be best served by delaying prep until such time that it can be. Regular weekly meeting times can be scheduled up to eight months in advance--schedule a phone call to book a time beyond the next 4 weeks.

WHAT PRACTICE MATERIALS WILL I USE?

Attaboy Test Prep uses and recommends only certified SAT and ACT tests that have actually been officially administered and scored. This is the only way our coaches are guaranteed the data quality to accurately assess your performance and direct further improvement.

A number of test companies produce their own material but both the quality of and motivations behind these materials are suspect: Are they perfect analogs for the real thing? Unlikely. Are they designed to be harder than the real thing to reduce expectations? It wouldn't be the first time. With Attaboy, you'll always know exactly what you're getting.

HOW MUCH PRACTICE IS EXPECTED BETWEEN LESSONS

About 3-5 hours of deliberate training spread out over a week will reap the lion's share of the gains to be had. More than 60m daily will have swiftly diminishing returns. 5-10m on a busy day is vastly better than zero.

WHAT IF I CAN'T PRACTICE BETWEEN LESSONS

Practice is prerequisite to improvement. Few students will make appreciable gains without at least a moderate amount of mindful daily practice.

IS THERE A SCORE GUARANTEE?

Test scores depend on too many variables outside of a coach's control to guarantee gains: the student's dedication in training, the student's mental and physical preparation on test week, the competence of the test administration center, etc. There are companies--Kaplan comes to mind--that offer a sort of score guarantee, but if you read the fine print you'll find that guarantee costs Kaplan little and delivers less: you're merely entitled to take their class again--which they were going to offer anyway--and which presumably failed to produce results the first time.

What Attaboy will guarantee is your coach's deep investment in you or your son or daughters preparation and execution on test day, and efforts without equal to position them confidently for their best performance. We, as a company, succeed on our test-takers achievement as much as our coaching technique, and that record speaks well to our abilities. A great coach alone does not a champion make, but it's the rare champion indeed behind which a great coach does not stand.

WHAT DO I HOPE TO GET FROM COACHING?

Test day confidence? A tutor with similar interests or hobbies? Score increases? Test-prep that's engaging?

Attaboy's Answer: We think the ultimate metric is increased scores per given budget of time, effort, and treasure. Different coaches and companies will offer the gamut of niceties and differentiators, but the reason you're hiring a coach at all is to open the doors of colleges that would otherwise be closed. Any differentiator should thus be considered in the light of "do I think this will lead to higher scores when it counts?"

HOW SHOULD I VALUE ANY EXPECTED RETURN FROM TEST PREP?

Attaboy's Answer: Some folks (say, recruited athletes that'll be pink slipped if they hit a given number) have a high certainty of enormous return to even small gains. Other folks may already have scores at or above the range they need to have the rest of their application considered, in which case their time is likely better spent on things OTHER than test prep (polishing College Essay, pursuing life experience, acing academics, etc.).

SHOULD I JUST PREP ON MY OWN?

Maybe! Our founder, Brad, coached himself to perfect scores. With enough time and dedication, raising your own score can be done and there's little harm in trying (provided you leave plenty of time to change course before the test). However, though you might raise your scores, due to the special nature of standardized tests you're unlikely to approach your maximum potential on your own. If you don't need to push the limits of your testing potential to achieve your score goals, great! Otherwise, see how far you can go with our coach's expert guidance.

CAN I JUST TAKE A GROUP CLASS?

If you've ever been an athlete, dancer, actor, or musician, then you already know the value of expert individual coaching. Classes can help with learning content, but books and lectures alone will not a better baller make (nor performer, nor soloist, nor test taker). The root cause of most missed questions on standardized tests is not unfamiliar content, but subconscious carelessness and ineffective strategy. One-on-one direction under a coach's expert eye is the only way to correct these faults effectively.

WHY DO I EVEN NEED TEST COACHING?

Admissions tests have sections called "reading", "writing", "math", etc. and students have a lifetime of practice studying for english and mathematics tests on their own, so why can't they just apply those same study skills to the SAT? That's a reasonable question, founded on an engineered misconception: that because test sections are based on academic subjects, that standardized tests are of a kind with academic tests. In fact, the similarities don't extend much beyond A, B, C, D, E answer choices. Learn about the differences between standardized tests and those you remember from school here.

Standardized tests require training much more akin to that of athletics or artistic performance than academics. One doesn't reach top form for football, violin, or ballet merely by watching videos of world-class performers, they get there in partnership with a coach who has the expertise and perspective to identify the root causes of limited performance, and the versatility to communicate that understanding and guide one towards efficient improvement. Learn about the Attaboy coaching philosophy here.

Who will do the actual coaching?

Is it the person you reach when you call the company, or is that a salesperson? How are tutors matched to clients?

Attaboy's Answer: Every person that works for Attaboy is, first and foremost, a working Test Coach.

Will there be more than one coach?

Agencies usually split up programs so they can lower their hiring standards to those qualified for only part of a test.

Attaboy's Answer: Attaboy coaches cover all aspects of the tests they coach.

How much experience does the tutor have?

Many agencies will tout the experience of their office staff, but send out trainees to actually coach.

Attaboy's Answer: As of 2021, all Attaboy coaches have 7+ years of full-time coaching/tutoring experience.

What scores are an agency's tutors required to have achieved?

Attaboy's Answer: Attaboy's coaches have all achieved scores above the 99th percentile on all of the tests they coach--and perfect scores on most.

Do they have biographies or resumes that they'll share?

• You can read Attaboy's coaches' biographies at our 'about' page.

Where is my investment going?

• How much to the coach themselves, how much to the company?
  • Some companies will charge hundreds per hour only to send a coach they've hired for $40/hr.
  • 80% of all Attaboy revenue is paid out directly to coaches for tutoring. The rest, after operating costs, is distributed to our coaches as bonuses roughly proportional to revenue generated each semester. Our business model is to maximize tutor pay so we can recruit the best tutors, and can therefore offer the best coaching to our clients.

How will progress be measured?

Attaboy's Answer: We have students take proctored practice test using official tests only, anything else is suspect.

How often will progress be measured?

• Some companies will let months lapse between meaningful diagnostics, others may not do them at all.

Attaboy's Answer: We have students take full diagnostic tests every 6 weeks or so, with timed sections assigned as part of homework most weeks in between.

Where will homework material be drawn from?

• Official test questions are the gold standard. Frankly, all 3rd party content is suspect.

Attaboy's Answer: For SAT and ACT we use official test questions exclusively. We've developed a relational database of tagged official test questions that allows us to generate custom problem sets for almost any parameter of the tests.

What is expected from the student between meetings?

• How much practice per week?
• What accountability for practice is there between sessions?

Attaboy's Answer: About 3 hours of practice between session is the sweet spot--usually 20-30m daily with one longer session of timed sections just before each meeting. Students are asked to scan and email their homework to their coaches after each practice session so the coach can ensure that training appears mindful and strategy-focused.

How are lessons scheduled, cancelled, rescheduled?

• Are clients able to do this themselves?

How will progress be reported?

• Is there some sort of organized and shared session notes page or training rubric?