Walker Prep's New Student Orientation
Congratulations on taking a major step toward increasing your SAT, ACT, or MCAT CARS score! Here's everything you need to know before your first tutoring session.
Introduction
Welcome to my new student orientation! Please read the following carefully. Understanding these basics will help us hit the ground running in our first session, so we can start boosting your scores as soon as possible.
Even if you aren't one of my ACT, SAT, or MCAT CARS test prep students, feel free to keep reading. I think you'll find the information beneficial, as it provides an outline of how you can effectively self-prep.
If you’re not yet my student but interested in studying with me to improve your SAT, ACT, or MCAT CARS scores, click here to view my Wyzant profile. Alternatively, you can click here to learn about special package deals and find out more about my approach to test prep tutoring.
If you are a new student, welcome! Take a moment now to sign up for a free subscription. I look forward to helping you increase your scores!
What to Expect
In every tutoring session, we'll spend most of our time reviewing your homework, which consists of two major components: study material and practice test material. As I discuss below, most of the study material will be from this site.
1) Prioritize the Study Material
Especially when we're first diving into a new section, you'll have to learn a few general strategies and several question type tactics. I will cover both in our sessions, focusing on the ones most relevant to the types of questions you miss and the kinds of errors you make.
However, the in-session introduction to strategies is just that: an introduction. In order to achieve your highest potential score, it's critical that you learn the strategies and grammar rules inside and out, which will require prioritizing the assigned study material and doing a fair amount of memorization.
Prep Students’ #1 Mistake
Possessing a crystal-clear, detailed understanding of the strategies and tactics is the first step in achieving significant score increases. However, test prep students are often in such a hurry to do more practice tests that they neglect the study portion of the homework. Remember: the purpose of doing practice tests is to apply the new strategies that you’ve learned.
The biggest mistake test prep students make is neglecting the study portion of the homework.
Attempting to cut corners in this manner doesn’t speed things up; it slows them down. Students who don't invest sufficient time in studying and memorizing the strategies find it more difficult to increase their scores.
Remember: for the highest score improvement in the shortest amount of time, you should always prioritize the study portion of the homework assignment!
Memorization Takes More than Mere Reading
It's crucial to do more than just read through the study material; you must actively engage with it to commit it to memory. Here are several methods to enhance memorization:
Active Recall: Instead of passively reading, test yourself on the material. Use flashcards, quiz apps, or have someone quiz you.
Spaced Repetition: Review the material at increasing intervals over time. This method helps move information from short-term to long-term memory.
Mnemonics: Create acronyms, phrases, or stories to help remember lists or concepts. This technique can make recall easier and more fun.
Write It Down: Physically writing out notes, strategies, and rules can aid in memorization more effectively than typing or just reading.
Practice and Application: Apply the strategies and rules you learn by doing Walker Prep drills and practice questions. Then, carefully read the answer explanations. This will help reinforce your understanding and retention.
Visualization: Create mental images or draw diagrams to represent the material. Visual aids can help in recalling information more easily.
These are methods you might already be familiar with from school, but consistently applying them to your test prep can make a significant difference in your performance. Remember, the goal is to internalize the strategies and rules so that they become second nature during the test. Simply reading the strategy guides is not enough.
By incorporating these memorization techniques into your study routine, you'll ensure that you have a deep, functional understanding of the strategies, tactics, and rules, leading to greater confidence and higher score gains in less time.
Your Online Test Prep Book
For the most part, the study portions of the homework assignments will be strategy guides and practice questions from this website. Think of Walker Prep on Substack as your online ACT / SAT test prep book. Based on your performance on each practice test, I’ll assign specific strategy guides and practice questions for you to study.
Know the Key Ideas
The first place to look for key ideas is major headings in the strategy guide. Also, many of my strategy guides conclude with a set of review questions designed to reinforce the key ideas. These questions are listed in the order that the corresponding key ideas appear in the article. To further assist you in locating the answers to the review questions, these key ideas are often italicized and/or in bold.
Sometimes, key ideas are even located in ‘pull quotes’ — like this one!
At the start of each session, I will quiz you on the review questions for any articles I assigned as homework. Make sure you know the answers!
Sign Up for a Free Subscription
Also, to gain access to the full articles, you’ll first need to sign up for a FREE subscription. (Do not sign up for the “free trial.” Rather, register for the free subscription.) Assuming you’ve scheduled a session, I’ll upgrade your free subscription to a complimentary premium subscription, so you can access my full archive of test prep materials.
2) Be Prepared to Go Deep on the Practice Test Material
At the start of each session, after I've checked to make sure you have a firm grasp of the assigned study material, we will begin reviewing your misses from the assigned practice test. Be prepared to do a “deep dive” on your misses, as this has proven to be extremely effective for increasing scores.
For each miss, I'll ask you to read out loud the question and your wrong answer. Then, we'll review the miss together. Here's what we'll be covering on each miss (in order):
What is the question type?
What are the strategies for this question type?
What, precisely, is wrong about your incorrect answer.
Exactly why is the correct answer correct?
The Shared Document
We'll use a Google shared document for every session. The shared document has several purposes:
It serves as my digital “whiteboard.”
I require my students to take notes on the shared doc. That way, I can make sure they are not only taking notes but also getting the important information down correctly. Another advantage of this is that your notes never get lost or misplaced, and the notes are easily searchable when we need to review a concept we've already covered.
I require my students to keep an “Inventory of Misses” on the shared doc. Why is the Inventory of Misses important? It helps us to identify patterns in the types of questions you're missing as well as the types of errors you're making. It also makes it convenient for you to review your misses again between sessions. Make sure to review your misses at least once more between sessions. A minute or two on each miss is all that is necessary, as the point is simply to jog your memory to reinforce what you learned from the miss.
You create the Inventory of Misses during our sessions. As we review each miss, you will enter the following:
The question number
The question type
A one or two sentence summary of what went wrong
I list all homework assignments on the shared doc, as well as links to supplemental material, practice tests, etc. (I also list the homework assignment on the WyzAnt lesson summary).
In addition to my lesson summaries, the shared document provides an easy way for parents to get a detailed picture of what was covered in each session.
3) Required Materials
Official Exams: For the digital SAT, you'll need the official SAT practice tests in the Bluebook app, available on the College Board website. For the ACT, you’ll need a physical book: the “Official ACT Prep Guide.” For MCAT, we’ll be utilizing official prep resources from the AAMC.
Walker Prep’s Online Test Prep Materials on Substack: If you haven’t already done so, register for your FREE access to Walker Prep resources: click here. (Required)
Occasionally, I'll also assign additional material, in the form of PDFs and other web links. I do this when you need additional study or practice that isn't available in the official guide or in my articles.
Conclusion
I'm glad to have you as my test prep student and am looking forward to helping you achieve your goals by reaching your full potential on this challenging exam. I'll see you soon!
~ Dave Walker, Founder and Lead Tutor at Walker Prep
Review Questions
What are the two main components of the homework assignments in the tutoring sessions?
What’s the biggest mistake students make when it comes to test prep?
What happens when students neglect the study portion of the homework assignment?
How can you find the key ideas in each strategy guide?
During the review of practice test misses, what are the four steps that will be covered for each miss?
What is the role of the "Inventory of Misses" in the shared document, and what are the three reasons it’s important for students to maintain it?
Hi David, looking forward to the tutoring session!
Hi Dave! Looking forward to the tutoring session!