At our last monthly tutor meeting, we spent some time brainstorming ways to inspire kids who have become stressed out, burned out, or outright fed up with the college application process. And let’s face it – that’s most high school juniors and seniors. The process is invasive – the Common App asks every question short of a toothpaste brand preference – and it’s demoralizing. With acceptance rates for some schools in the low single digits, it’s easy for kids to feel as though nothing short of a moon landing or cure for cancer will be enough to set them apart.

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For many, even the sound of the phrase standardized test induces an instantaneous state of discomfort—a mixture of disappointment, defeat and anxiety.  For others, a sense of accomplishment, achievement and nearly contagious confidence beam from them when the topic arises. What might explain such contrasting experiences of students who often play on the same sports teams, sit in the same AP classes and sometimes even live in the same house?
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School is out for many Atlanta-area students, but before your child shifts from “school mode” to “summer mode” the June 4^th SAT looms on the horizon. Want to leverage those last four days before the test? Hoping that June 4^th is the last time your child ever has to think about the SAT? Then consider signing up for some or all of the in-depth final review sessions. Perform even better on the SAT with some highly practical, highly structured review in the final days leading up to the test!

Here’s what we’re offering (click on the session for more information):

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As a parent, there are many ways you can support and encourage your child through the test prep process. Here are my top five:

1) Set concrete goals and create a detailed action plan
2) Visit colleges early in the process
3) Do the research
4) Drill vocabulary words
5) Discuss motivation

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Appelrouth Tutoring Services is holding a FREE Everything College Admissions seminar for parents and students in the Atlanta area and would like to personally invite you and your students to attend.

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Having studied student error patterns on standardized tests for a decade, it has become increasingly apparent that careless errors on the SAT/ACT are typically not as “careless” as they seem.  In fact, clear patterns emerge when you sit down to study students grappling with inherent “carelessness.”

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How many Powerball plays does it take to cover the annual mandatory fees for a student at Georgia State University?  1628.  And that’s only for the fees.  As the costs of tuition have sky-rocketed in the last several decades, it was only a matter of time before the proceeds from the Georgia Lottery fell short to cover the costs of the HOPE scholarship program.

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We would like to congratulate Grace Shea, Zack Cook and the four other high school seniors we worked with who were recognized as STAR students by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators Foundation in February. These high school seniors worked hard to be recognized for maintaining a grade-point average in the top 10 percent of their class and achieving the highest SAT score at their schools. Six of the 19 STAR students, which stands for Student Teacher Achievement Recognition program,  from the North Atlanta neighborhoods of Brookhaven, Buckhead, Dunwoody and Sandy Springs, were tutored by Appelrouth.

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Appelrouth’s ability to provide high-quality, score-increase focused results depends on our tutors. In the past our initial training has been extremely rigorous, while our ongoing tutor development was less structured. To help ensure that our tutors set the standard for content mastery as well as instructional method mastery, we are making a few adjustments.

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Maria is a Textile Engineer from Georgia Tech who started her career working in new product Research and Development with Kimberly-Clark Corporation. After having two children, she taught preschool, then graduated to home schooling her children when they reached elementary school age. As they reached middle school and returned to traditional schooling, she worked in the office of and substituted in several private schools for elementary and middle school grades. She returned to homeschooling after adopting two children from Russia, but when they became fluent in English and started in traditional school, she again returned to working in schools. Last November, she joined Appelrouth Tutoring, and is now focused on making your student’s tutoring experience with Appelrouth the best that it can be.

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