SAT & ACT Tutoring

Why I’m still doing this to make my living:

After over 15 years helping students improve their scores on these exams, I believe that the process of preparing for the SAT and ACT yields benefits far beyond college admissions and securing scholarships. By testing for college readiness, these exams reveal what knowledge, skills, and creative thinking are needed to get the most out of secondary education, providing students with an opportunity to fill gaps in their learning. My own test scores earned me the funding to attend college and travel the world, and my study practice improved my reading abilities and concentration so that I could succeed with heavy course loads spanning a variety of subjects. It is my calling to help others actualize their potential to learn as much as possible.

My role:

Often, students don’t know where to look or what to do to grow in areas where they struggle, despite a wealth of books and online resources available. Even those motivated and equipped to track down the relevant materials may become frustrated by the time required to simply figure out the right plan for improvement. Knowing how to strategically prioritize certain topics over others further complicates the test prep process, and this can create or compound anxiety and frustration. I help students isolate problem areas, resolve confusion, and locate the most useful additional practice.

Furthermore, the structure provided by scheduled appointments helps students stay accountable to their own goals and balance the big picture with the specific topics to be tackled.

The relationship:

For most students, I serve as a coach as much as a tutor. I look at their goals and current performance holistically, helping them capitalize on their strengths while identifying areas for improvement. My approach is grounded in testing and retesting, through which students develop content knowledge, skills, and strategies simultaneously, and deepen their familiarity and comfort with the format and style of the exams. Concept review, mini-lessons on new material, and targeted practice round-out the work, and in each meeting, the student and I reflect on progress and hang-ups, adjusting our methods to best serve the student’s unique needs and learning style. It is this metacognitive aspect of my practice that I believe most distinguishes my approach from that of other tutors. I help students better understand their own minds, equipping them with a custom toolbox for getting the most out of the academic opportunities that await.

Consultations

To answer any questions you have about the tutoring process, and to make sure we are a good match, I am happy to provide a free introductory meeting with parents and/or students via phone or Zoom. Here we can discuss current standing, goals, and timelines.

Most students follow one of two main study plans:

  1. SUSTAINED — Weekly 1-hour meetings for students with at least three months to prepare for an exam

  2. INTENSIVE — 2-4 hours

Scheduling

All meetings via Zoom

The first session is spent discussing the student’s goals, academic background, and learning style, and developing a plan toward attaining the desired score. Students take practice exams independently between sessions, so that most meeting time is used to address missed or troublesome questions. Tracking patterns in areas of struggle, Conway develops customized lessons and targeted practice to fill gaps and reinforce understanding. Throughout, the emphasis is on helping students better know their own minds. In fact, her goal is to help students learn to better teach themselves, so that gradually they are able to do more and more corrections on their own. Conway’s areas of specialty include creative problem solving questions (particularly in the math section), time management, test-taking psychology, and helping high-scoring students further improve, but her priority is to adapt to the unique needs of each student, while building upon their greatest strengths.

Natalie Conway attended the University of Arkansas on a National Merit Scholarship, Honors College Fellowship, and Governor’s Scholarship. Graduating magna cum laude with her BA in Psychology and Philosophy in 2012, she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. After making a living as a freelance tutor for several years, from 2017 to 2022 she taught art at Fayetteville High School, including AP Art History. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Painting at Boston University.