Tel: 713.205.1807
For their recent article titled “What is a good PSAT score?”, U.S.News interviewed Woodlands Test Prep’s founder, Susan Powers. Make sure to check out their article to hear Susan’s thoughts on PSAT scores, as well as other great info on how your child’s PSAT score affects their path to college admissions.
Woodlands Test Prep is celebrating its 10-year anniversary in 2022! Growing from a solo tutoring practice to a full-service educational services company, Woodlands Test Prep has carefully put together a full set of tutoring services, including test prep for the SAT, PSAT, and ACT and academic and AP tutoring for math, science, history, language arts, and foreign language subjects.
We sat down with Susan to talk about her ten years in business: how her company was created and how it has impacted The Woodlands community. What originally began as a small side hustle has ended up becoming one of the most influential tutoring services in The Woodlands.
Meet the Founder
Susan started tutoring in 1995 as a hobby. When asked what drew her to tutoring, she said:
“I’ve always loved standardized tests. I just think they’re fun. Even as a kid, I thought they were fun. So I’ve obviously always been a little bit weird ha ha!”
Indeed! This “weird” love for tests made Susan an engaging tutor, which she found was exactly what students needed to succeed. After taking a break from teaching SAT and GMAT classes in order to raise children, she was ready for a side hustle and realized that what had been her fun hobby could become her business. Susan said:
“I asked myself, what do I like doing? And I thought, okay, I like tests. Then I started Woodlands Test Prep, and it honestly grew far beyond any expectations I ever had. Pretty soon I had a number of tutors working for me and was doing practice tests for the library and for schools here in the area. It’s been a joy from the beginning.”
It’s obvious that she and her team of tutors not only have fun teaching students how to succeed on their college entrance exams but are experts in the field of test prep as well. Over the past several years, Susan’s average scores have been a 1580 on the SAT and a 35 on the ACT, and she only hires tutors who show a similar affinity for these tests. With a love for tests and tutoring and Susan’s honed curriculum, she and her team of expert tutors are ready to help any student succeed.
To stay up-to-date, Susan is an active member of the NTPA (National Test Prep Association), where she collaborates with other test prep professionals. She also was featured on the podcast Tests and the Rest on episode 231. All this professional development is passed on to her tutors and also shared via her blog on Woodlands Test Prep’s website. You can read expert information along with Susan’s professional thoughts and opinions on everything from the new digital SAT to what test optional really means for your student.
About Woodlands Test Prep and Its Services
Woodlands Test Prep is experienced in helping every student meet their greatest potential. Taking the SAT, ACT, or PSAT is a skill that can be learned and polished. Whether your student needs help with math, science, language arts, or social studies, they can help. No matter where your student is starting, focused test preparation and academic tutoring helps not only improve a student’s score or grades, but also their confidence. Susan commented:
“Our team of tutors is really without peer. I feel so lucky to have each and every person on the team. Only tutors with both heart and serious academic chops make the cut to join our team. Each tutor is genuinely an expert in the topic or skills he or she is teaching, besides just being a ton of fun to be around.”
They provide customized test preparation several ways: one-on-one in-home tutoring, small class format, and proctored practice tests. Working this way allows them to uniquely target your student’s needs. They provide proven, successful strategies and skills. Plus, they identify and polish any test content areas that need attention.
For high-achieving students, they offer a “Goal 1600 Class” each summer designed to push them even further. In the last five years, 25 of their students went on to become National Merit Semi-Finalists!
Test prep tutoring is an investment in your student’s future, but it is also a financial investment that can have a significant return. Not only can it help students get the score they need to get into college, but it can open doors for grants and scholarships that might have been previously closed. Here’s what one mom had to say about it:
“My daughter took one-on-one tutoring this summer to raise her ACT score to get accepted to A&M. She met with an amazing tutor once a week who coached her, and then she also took the practice tests available through your organization before taking the ACT a second time. Thanks to her score, as well as other aspects of her application, she is now going to be Texas A&M Class of 2026!
The return on investment was outstanding, as her backup school was offering her $3,000/year renewable for four years due to her ACT score and her class rank. For anyone wondering if your service is worth the cost, please let them know it was for us.“
If your student needs support for academic success or if college is a part of your student’s future, Woodlands Test Prep is just what your student needs to succeed. Call them today to learn how they fit into your child’s journey to college and beyond.
Click here to learn more about Woodlands Test Prep or call (713) 205-1807 to set up a session today!
Taking the SAT can be a real challenge. Trying to get a top score on the SAT is an even bigger challenge. Students aiming for these near-perfect scores have unique needs.
Our Goal 1600 class is specifically designed for students aiming for National Merit Semifinalist and top percentile SAT scores. This class goes quickly through the regular content and focuses then on strategy and practice for the hard questions. In order to help ensure students are in a class that best suits them, students must meet a minimum SAT score (or equivalent PSAT score) of 1300 to be admitted to the class.
According to Susan Powers: “Students in Texas are in an extremely competitive arena. National Merit Semifinalists can only miss one or two questions per section of the test.” This means that error prevention is a main focus of the class, with strategies notably different from basic SAT strategies. “When creating this class, I focused on what this specific group of students needs because this type of class isn’t available elsewhere in The Woodlands.”
Woodlands Test Prep’s founder and CEO, Susan Powers, was recently featured on Tests and the Rest podcast, a podcast devoted to the college admissions process. Tests and the Rest hosts Mike and Amy said Woodlands Test Prep “improves students’ scores, supports students’ academic success, and helps families navigate the college admissions testing process with much less stress.”
Parents and students often wonder: When should I start thinking about the SAT and ACT? To best position yourself or your student for the college application process at the beginning of senior year, students should start creating their college admissions testing plan at the end of their sophomore year or toward the beginning of junior year, ideally. If you’re later than that, you’re still ok! Here are the steps to get you started:
1. Get a baseline score for both the SAT and ACT.
While many students took the PSAT as sophomores at school this year, many students did not due to the pandemic. Also, in general, far fewer high schools give practice ACT tests so those opportunities are more limited. Students can take an official practice SAT or ACT or both in several different ways: at home at the kitchen table for free, via our new proctor videos, or participating in one of our live proctored exams (Test Flight Club). There’s no need to take a national test date in order to find out which test suits your student better.
2. Once you have a baseline for both SAT and ACT scores, decide which test is the better fit. We can work together to decide which test is a better fit for your student.
3. Decide what testing calendar best suits your student. Here are some general suggestions:
4. Plan on allocating at least two months to test prep.
Test prep is really much more about practice than it is about content. You do need to decide what tactics work best for you, how to best allocate your time, and how to recognize the many patterns on the test, but really making a difference in your score comes down to putting in the practice. We offer Test Flight Club twice a month where students have the opportunity to take a full length proctored practice test, receive immediate results, and have a two hour Q&A-style group tutoring session with one of our most expert tutors. We have seen amazing results with students who have put in the practice!
Remember also that almost every student will take either the SAT or ACT twice, and most students will take it three times. So keep in mind that the process is more of a marathon than a sprint and be patient with yourself.
We know that there are a lot of moving pieces when deciding how and when to work on test prep. Let us know how we can help! We love helping people with their questions!
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