Consider the value of advanced placement courses for college admission. College admissions boards are becoming more and more selective about who they accept into their universities. About 37% of students in the class of 2017 took at least one AP course in high school. The pool of students challenging themselves with AP courses is growing. This is a huge factor behind why college is becoming harder to get into! Make yourself a part of this…
Boston Tutoring Services is excited to share the Open House dates of local schools. Take the time to research these schools and visit the ones that seem like a good fit for your family. Open Houses are a great way to experience a day on campus and meet the staff. This week we are featuring The Dana Hall School located in Wellesley, MA. The upcoming Dana Hall School Open House dates are as follows: Middle…
The key to mastering the reading sections of the ISEE/SSAT tests is two-fold: reading the passage effectively, and answering the questions efficiently. The reading section of the ISEE/SSAT tests is designed to assess how well you are able to grasp the main idea and tone of a passage. The most important thing to remember is that you are not expected to retain details as you read. This is different from how you probably read other…
You may be wondering whether early decision or early action is right for you. If you are going into your senior year, you’re probably feeling a lot of excitement and relief that you only have one more year until you’re off in the real world. Finally, no more high school. But there are some serious decisions you need to make very soon, and the best way to know where you’ll want to apply is to…
The key to structuring your standard essay for the ISEE or SSAT is to ensure you have the proper format. Here’s the general format for a successful standard essay: Introduction Sentence 1: Thesis/Answering the question Sentence 2: Introduce your first supporting paragraph (what you’re going to say in the second paragraph) Sentence 3: Introduce your second supporting paragraph (what you’re going to say in the third paragraph) Sentence 4: Sum up your ideas and transition…
The key to mastering the ISEE essay is preparing yourself for the difficulty of developing a full essay within 30 minutes. Before we discuss the details of the essay assignment, there’s something you need to know: your ISEE essay is not being scored. It will be sent along with the rest of your test to the schools to which you are applying. It is going to be looked at alongside your admission essay (if the…
The synonym section of the ISEE/SSAT tests is very challenging due to the difficult vocabulary, as well as the traps that the test-makers include to confuse you. The first trap to look out for is the Secondary Part of Speech Trap. Sometimes the word has a secondary meaning when it is used in a different part of speech. For example, words can be both a noun and a verb, and have different meanings depending on…
Summer is coming to an end, so it’s time for your child to practice getting back into a routine for school. Getting back into a new routine is so hard for so many, but practice makes perfect. Starting the school year off on the right foot leads to good grades during the semester. The hardest part is getting back into a routine, especially if they were used to sleeping in all summer. They should be…
The 2019-2020 SSAT test dates have been released. Your child can take the middle and upper level SSAT test up to 8 times, or the elementary level twice. It’s important to review the test dates below and make sure you register your child in time. Standard Test Date Regular Registration Starts Aug 1, 2019 & Ends: Last Day for Registration (Without Testing Accommodations) Sat, Oct 19, 2019 September 28, 2019 Wednesday, October 16, 2019 Sat, Nov…
The key to performing well on the verbal sections of the ISEE and SSAT tests is mastering vocabulary. One of the main ways to understand how words are built is to study prefixes and roots. It is important to be able to break words that you do not recognize into pieces and decipher the meanings, because it’s better to be able to understand how words are made up than to just memorize them by rote. …
