Excel High School’s SAT® Prep Course

Many experts recommend that students start preparing for the SAT® as early as the eighth grade and make their first attempt at the test as a sophomore in high school. Why should your student start so early? The SAT® isn’t like any other standardized test that your student has been exposed to, and since they can use their best scores as submissions to whatever college or university they’d like to attend, this is great advice.  With many colleges and universities still expecting students to submit their scores prior to admission, earlier is better when it comes to SAT® prep. 

Excel High School offers a self-paced SAT Prep course that will help your student get ready for the challenges of this specific standardized exam. Enrolled students are given a full twelve months to complete their coursework, so your student will have the chance to take their time making sure that they understand the content and feel confident in their progress. Without a rush to complete their prep course, they can easily add it to their busy academic and social schedule. If your student enrolls in this course as a sophomore, they can be ready to take the exam and be proud of their score before the junior year college application process begins. If your students already took the SAT and wasn’t happy with their score, then our prep course can be completed more quickly so that they can feel better prepared for their next attempt at the test.

What does our prep course offer? Because of the importance of these tests, there are several benefits for taking our self-paced SAT prep course:

  • It helps student increase their knowledge across both the Math and the Language tests, 
  • It will help improve students test-taking skills, and
  • It will build their confidence before the test.

Math and Language Tests

Before you enroll your student in this course, your first decision is whether they need practice in both the Math and Verbal section or just one of the two. Because the course prepares students not only for the content but for the test itself, we do recommend that students take both sections. In fact, in addition to the value of the content, students can earn a full elective course credit if they take both the Math and Verbal sections of our prep course. 

The lessons, practice, and assessments in the Math course focus in-depth on three essential areas of math: Problem Solving and Data Analysis, Heart of Algebra, and Passport to Advanced Math. Problem Solving and Data Analysis is about being quantitatively literate. Heart of Algebra focuses on the mastery of linear equations and systems, which helps students develop key powers of abstraction. Passport to Advanced Math focuses on the student’s familiarity with more complex equations and the manipulation they require. This course includes hundreds of examples and practice problems to help the student prepare for success.

The English prep course consists of two sections: Reading and Writing & Language. This course covers both of these main sections and will prepare a student with instruction as well as hundreds of examples and practice problems. Specific topics covered include Vocabulary in Context (VIC), Evidence-based Paired Questions, Main Idea of the Passage, Style/Tone of the Author, Function of a Phrase or Sentence in the Passage, Data Analysis on the Basis of Diagrams, Charts, or Graphs.

The instruction and practice questions directly align with the content of the SAT and will help solidify many concepts for your student and identify what areas they need more direct help with before taking or retaking the exam. If through their exposure to the exam, your student finds that they have gaps in learning due to experiences during the COVID pandemic, then reaching out to flexible online tutoring programs like Train the Brain can help them bridge those gaps before they sign up for the SAT®.

Test-taking Skills

Embedded in each course are strategies for good test-taking. Strategies like how to carefully read and interpret the test instructions and questions as well as how to approach longer sections of the test will help your student prepare mentally for the exam. With a special focus on careful reading, our prep course will help your student zoom in on the most important words in questions. The test itself is sometimes the biggest hindrance on students’ performance, so “cracking the code” of the SAT® style, language, and format is a wonderful boost before taking the test.

In the verbal portion of the course, we cover the key testing words that students need to be aware of in order to properly interpret the test questions. We teach your student how to pace themselves to be sure they have enough time for each section. We don’t want our student to end up with the last-minute panic of finishing too many questions without enough time to properly think about the answers. Keeping calm and confident while taking the test is often as important as the knowledge needed to answer the questions correctly on the SAT®.

Confidence Building

With instruction in the core areas of the SAT tests as well as test-taking skills, our prep courses are a great opportunity to build a student’s confidence before they sit down to take the exams. Practice questions are included with every lesson, and practice exams are embedded in the course. Students have an opportunity to apply the skills they learned and know what they need to review in more depth. 

When a student completes our SAT® prep course, they will be able to walk into the test with their eyes and mind completely open to the realities of the exam. They have invested the time and effort into their own success, and that is a confidence booster in itself. Having knowledge of the “tricks” and the strategies for successful completion of this standardized exam will give them the confidence they need to remain calm and focused when the test begins. 

For students who struggle with any kind of anxiety about test-taking, giving them the time to practice and review through Excel High School’s Math and Verbal SAT® prep course is a valuable asset for subduing their complex emotions. For students who struggled with the exam and want to earn a better score, a prep course can be the key to helping them face their next attempt with confidence. We know why experts recommend plenty of preparation for this exam, so we’re here to help give that experience to our students. Enroll to unlock this growth opportunity today!

Ready to start your journey with Excel High School?

It's simple. Just click the button below and we will help you begin!