When it comes to college exams, your child’s future depends a lot on how well they spend the year before the SAT test. In other words, how efficient will their test prep and SAT tutoring be?

This is a crucial time to build confidence and gain extensive knowledge and skills to tackle more advanced academic goals.

So, the main question is: how should parents approach strategies for SAT prep? Are digital SAT practice tests enough to get high SAT scores? Let’s weigh all the pros and cons and find out!

Preparing on Your Own vs. Preparing with a Tutor

The main question lies here — should you let your kid prepare all by themselves or make it a guided study? After all, there is access to every single area of the digital SAT, which makes it possible to study alone. But is this approach really effective?

Quite often, students need not just a study plan but also support from teachers. It is no wonder — the SAT test is quite hard to tackle without proper guidance. You need to know how to work with the tools and the format offered by the College Board.

Benefits of Working With a Tutor

Receiving quality tutoring is incredibly beneficial for most students. There are many reasons for that. First of all, learners can deliberately work on their mistakes. Thus, they will improve their scores while preparing for particular exam sections. 

Taking practice tests under the eye of an instructor who can explain mistakes in Math or Reading and Writing can help students be more confident. Besides, if your kid has specific needs when it comes to the format of the SAT prep, quality teaching can make a huge difference. 

We also have to consider emotional support, which is a part of any teaching. Tutors can offer encouragement for the kids who have to juggle test prep and schoolwork. They also provide a safe studying environment, eliminating the worries about asking “wrong questions.”  

What else? One of the biggest benefits of a digital SAT private instructor is feedback. SAT tutors explain the curriculum and create personalized test prep that is very close to different parts of the real exam. 

One of the advantages of SAT tutoring is that a tutor can structure digital SAT practice tests to mirror the actual exam closely. 

Here are a few more reasons: 

  • Digital SAT tutor will keep a student motivated; 
  • Besides tutoring, a teacher can help with preparing for getting into a specific university; 
  • Tutors provide excellent study resources; 
  • They can measure a student’s progress and address typical flaws in the test prep. 

All that is only true, though, if you find a good tutor who’s a real match.

Benefits of Studying on Your Own

Yes, preparing for the digital SAT all by yourself is an option for many students. There are so many good ways to study literally anywhere — on a commute or in the coziness of a bedroom lamp-lit space.

The SAT prep includes many components, from going through the Reading & Writing and Math section to understanding how multiple-choice questions work and writing essays all on your own. 

That’s why you have to develop a different set of skills to actually succeed. Is it possible to do it on your own?

In a way, yes. A student should get more information about SAT prep in all its variety, including AI tools and online courses. 

Even some gamified, slightly silly things like flashcards or Math section cheat sheets could be extremely helpful, especially when your child feels bored. Ideally, they should dedicate time to practice the Reading and Writing section, work hard on Math, and test different prep strategies.

Without a tutor, students will have less feedback, so it is important to carefully evaluate a projected score. This way, it will be easier for your kid to create a more suitable form of SAT prep to achieve higher scores.

Overall, if you compare both approaches, you will see that SAT tutoring gives students more structure and feedback. Studying alone means relying on self-organization and the ability to stay motivated.

Of course, for some students, the second approach might work quite well. But it also means tackling challenging tasks all by themselves. For instance, writing essays or going through analytical Reading and Writing sections.

Will Digital SAT Practice Tests Work Without a Tutor?

From our comparison, it is clear that students will have more chances to score higher with a digital SAT tutor. However, it doesn’t mean that students can’t study fully by themselves and still achieve very high scores. There have been many cases of successful SAT prep without any tutoring.

The only question is a student’s ability to stay accountable and motivated. If you are sure your child can manage it, you can give it a try. After all, some kids thrive when they can learn at their own pace.

In this case, there is still the task of eliminating distractions to proceed through the materials with confidence.

Don’t forget to consider your child’s current knowledge level and the goals they have. Every university requires different scores, and they don’t always need perfect results. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try your best in the multiple-choice sections or the essay you write (if you do).

However, understanding your digital SAT goals might lead you to better strategies for achieving desirable SAT test results.

Conclusion 

Probably the best option possible is to combine private tutoring with free online resources. This way, a student can practice Reading and Writing or Math with College Board practice tests alone. Then, a private tutor can cover their doubts in person or through online tutoring sessions.

If there is a chance to get a scholarship, you’ll definitely need to do tutoring plus extra self-studies. 

For example, your kid might find that some areas, like problem-solving and data analysis in the Math section, are certainly better to handle with a teacher. But other parts of the test might come naturally to them.

Anyway, your kid’s digital SAT prep should focus on getting better SAT scores with or without any help.