SAT Prep Course Description

SAT prep at APLUS is renowned for its highly qualified teachers. Students are grouped based on their pre-test score to ensure effective teaching and learning. Average class size is 8 students and the maximum is 12. All SAT prep courses include twelve 3.5-hour sessions, nine of which are instruction sessions and three are practice tests. Each instruction session is comprised of 1.5 hours for mathematics and 2 hours for verbal. Verbal will cover both reading comprehension and writing strategies. Students will also have an opportunity to practice their writing which will be graded by a writing teacher based on College Board guidelines.

APLUS SAT prep course is structured to effectively raise the student’s SAT score. To achieve the highest potential, students are expected to complete their classwork and homework as advised by our instructors. On the average, students can expect to increase their SAT score by 265 points after completing our SAT prep course. In spring 2010, our SAT prep class made an unthinkable achievement of 360 points increase.

Our Students

Since 1998, our program has helped many students achieve their best SAT score and resulted in many acceptances from colleges such as Stanford, Yale, Swarthmore, University of Pennsylvania, Duke, Georgetown, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, University of California at Berkeley, University of Maryland, Northwestern, and many others.

Fee & Refund Policy

The total tuition fee is $1,150 for 10 week prep, including materials. Two practice tests are also included. If you decide to withdraw after the first class, a deduction of $150 will be applied. There is no refund after the second class.

Our Teachers

A team of highly experienced SAT teachers has distinguished our SAT prep course from others. Our SAT teachers are professional teachers with extensive SAT teaching experiences.

• Dr. Délice Williams joined APLUS Learning Center in Fall 2013. She holds a Ph.D. in English from Washington University in St. Louis and has taught writing and literature at both high school and college levels for over 10 years.
• Ms. Jennifer Marks began teaching for Montgomery County Public Schools in 1998. Since then, she has taught at Watkins Mill and Richard Montgomery High Schools, at all levels including AP and IB. For the past 15 years, she has worked as a tutor with all grade levels, K-12 and college. Ms. Marks earned her B.A. in English from Cornell University.
• Mr. Charlie Yeh, M.A., is the Founder and Director of APLUS Learning Center. He has over two decades of experience in teaching math and statistics at the K-12 level.  
• Dr. William Wuu has taught Algebra, Geometry, AP Calculus BC, Multivariable Calculus and various high school and college levels of physics. Dr. Wuu earned two M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Applied Math as well as his Ph.D. in Engineering at Brown University.

Comparison between SAT and ACT

	SAT	ACT
1. Description
	SAT is more of an aptitude test, testing verbal abilities,  critical thinking and problem solving	An achievement test, measuring what a student has learned in school. ACT is content-based.
2. Content Comparison
How many components?	3 components, including Math, Critical Reading, and Writing	5 components, including Math, English, Reading, Science, and optional Writing
Math	Including Algebra 2	Including trigonometry
Vocabulary	More	Less
Including science section?	No	Yes
Grammar?	Grammar usage and word choice in writing section	Include English grammar
Multiple choice questions?	All multiple choice questions, except that math includes 10 grid-in questions.	All multiple choice questions. English, reading, and science section each includes several reading passages with 5-15 questions per passage, and math section includes 60 questions with 5 possible answer choices.
Penalty for incorrect answers	Yes	No
3. Time for testing
	Math: 70 minutes Critical reading: 75 minutes Writing: 60 minutes Total: 3 hour and 30 minutes	English: 45 minutes Reading: 35 minutes Science: 35 minutes Math: 60 minutes Writing (optional): 30 minutes Total: 3 hour and 25 minutes
4. Test dates
	October, November, December, January, March, May, and June	September, October, December, February, April, and June
5. Score Scale
	200-800 for each section. A perfect score is 2400	Composite score range: 1-36
6. Acceptance by most schools?
	YES	YES

7. Which should I take? SAT or ACT?
	SAT	ACT
1. You did great on PSAT	V
2. You are good in vocabulary	V
3. You can ace grammar	V
4. You find it easier to write essays that use illustrative examples rather than argument.	V
5. You consider yourself quick-thinking	V
6. You had a PSAT or SAT score inconsistent with your academic performance in school.		V
7. Your vocabulary is not as strong as your reading		V
8. You are great at writing papers but haven't had formal grammar instruction.		V
9. You prefer to write essays that are argumentative, persuading with ideas even if you lack perfect recall of facts and figures		V
10. You are more academic than "test savvy."		V
8. Your decision?
The SAT is designed more for documenting a student's ability and knowledge in how to take a test while the ACT is more of an observation of what you have learned while in high school.   Based on that, it seems if you have the book smarts and do a great job in class, then shoot for the ACT. If you're the type who picks up fast and can take a test without too much studying, then the SAT has your name on it. Think about which skill set you want to show to colleges and make your decision; the bottom line is what kind of intelligence you think you have.
9. Still have questions
Call 301-838-9668 for more information APLUS Learning Center    www.apluslearningINC.com 215 West Montgomery Ave., Rockville, Maryland 20850 11425 Isaac Newton SQ., Suite 200, Reston, Virginia 20190