Standardized tests are a constant factor in student’s lives. SAT and ACT scores are used by top colleges to decide which students to admit. LSAT and MCAT scores are paramount for law and medical schools. AP exam results can earn years of college credits. These are high impact tests, and students often stress about their performance on them.
Test prep is an integral component for making sure students are ready to apply to colleges. Students work one-on-one with our director of test prep, Alex Nelson, who helps them master the strategies that let them excel on these tests.
Our results speak to the benefits of this strategy. The average increase students see in their SAT scores after working with Alex is 180 points. This is more impressive as many students have quite high scores already when they come to us. Here is how we achieve these results:
The tests are standardized; students are not. Alex works 1:1 to identify the exact areas where they’re struggling, and devises individualized study and preparation plans to target those areas. Every student is unique, and so too is every plan.
Your Program Manager will monitor your child's progress and, if necessary, work with you and your SAT tutor to make adjustments.
We're extremely selective for intellect and teaching ability, and unlike many other companies, we provide comprehensive training.
Coming from a family of teachers, job trainers, and a college professor, Alex had hundreds of volunteer tutoring hours under his belt by the time he first took the SAT at age 16, scoring a perfect 1600. Once he was a student on a full-ride scholarship to Rice University, he secured his first paid position with a national test prep company and within a decade was their top tutor in the Houston area and their regional trainer for the SAT and LSAT. With twenty years of experience in helping students prepare for standardized tests, seven of them as Ivy Scholars’ lead test prep mentor, he is truly a master of the field, keeping abreast on the latest developments in question and format shifts while mastering the techniques and approaches that let students maximize their scoring potential.
His approach is personalized and tailored to each student
This is reflected in how his approach is personalized and tailored to each student. The purpose of hiring an expert is for this individualized approach; the techniques that serve one student well would actually hurt another’s chances. A student who stresses too much doesn’t need to be told to study harder, one who has issues with math doesn’t need to focus on parsing reading passages. The curriculum isn’t built from scratch each time, but different skills and techniques are used to help each student, where a standardized approach often does more harm than good.
Alex creates each lesson with the student in mind, reviewing their latest homework and practice tests, and often creating problems from scratch to push the envelope of a student’s understanding of a concept just the right amount for their pace of study. The goal is to strengthen each student’s skills, and help them get the scores they are capable of.
For more on how Alex has helped students prosper, check out our test prep case studies.
In this meeting, you will speak with Alex directly about your current testing situation and goals, and he will help you plan out an approach. What this approach will be depends entirely on where you are now, and where you want to end up. He will review past and practice tests, and help you establish what reasonable goals are.
Ivy Scholars bills at $400 an hour, in ten-hour retainers of $4,000. Engagements with Alex generally last between ten and thirty hours, for a total cost of $4,000-$12,000. The exact amount depends on the student and their needs; Alex will provide you both an initial estimate in your consultation, and a refined one after his third meeting with your student.
This is a bespoke plan and one-on-one tutoring from a world-class expert in test prep. This isn’t a cookie cutter formula where students are simply cogs in a machine.
Alex Nelson is a master of more than just the SAT and ACT. If you are looking for help with other tests, from AP exams, to the entry tests for high school, to the tests that graduate schools require for entry, then he can help you with those preparations as well. Schedule a complementary consultation if you are looking for expert help in preparing for these exams. All test prep services bill at the same rate of $400 per hour.
Here are some of the other tests Alex has experience tutoring students on:
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