The Institute for Higher Learning

SAT / ACT Tutoring

So Much in Life Depends on a Strong College Education. Get Off to the Right Start with IHL.

Overview of SAT/ACT Program

IHL offers elite SAT and ACT tutoring for aspiring college students. We have been providing SAT and ACT preparation services since 2001. Our program is effective, comprehensive and custom-tailored to the needs of each student.

IHL founder and managing partner Mayssoun Bydon has spent over a decade developing and refining a proprietary curriculum that covers every section of the exam. Our lesson plans, coursepacks and study guides include specific strategies for each section of the exam. We also incorporate effective time-management strategies designed to help students of every skill level achieve the highest possible score.

Besides our in-house materials, we also use officially released SAT and ACT exams as well as an ever-evolving list of third-party sources that we view to be the best for a particular topic or subject matter. Since we do not rely exclusively on proprietary materials, we are able to cherry-pick the best materials from as many sources as possible to augment our curriculum.

Our Tutors

You are not getting just "study-buddies" with our tutors — they are passionate, experienced and dedicated instructors who motivate their students to achieve. Our SAT/ACT tutors have typically scored in the 99th percentile on an official administration of the relevant exam, and all are currently attending or have graduated from top academic institutions including Princeton, Columbia, NYU, Penn, Michigan, Yale, Stanford and others.

While all of our tutors are fluent in IHL's proven teaching methodologies, they are also flexible, dynamic educators who are able to adapt to a wide variety of individual learning styles. During the preparation process, students may work with multiple tutors who specialize on particular sections of the exam and/or teach different strategies and approaches. Our students benefit from IHL's team-based approach: Mayssoun Bydon and Chad Biggert (IHL's Executive Director) take great care in matching students with tutors; Chad also oversees each student's file on an ongoing basis and tracks progress regularly.

The Preparation Process

Many of our students take both the SAT and the ACT, and many choose to begin their preparation process as early as sophomore year of high school. At minimum, we advise our SAT/ACT students to dedicate four months to the preparation process.

Most of our students work with us exclusively, although if you are working with other programs and are interested in focusing on particular areas and/or fine-tuning your performance via exam review with us, we welcome this approach as well. Our tutors are familiar with most mass-market companies' curricula and can supplement or augment accordingly.

For most new students, the preparation process begins with a diagnostic exam, allowing us to assess individual strengths and weaknesses. Along with these diagnostic test results, we also consider factors such as learning style, learning disabilities, age, budget, strengths/weaknesses on particular sections, as well as interests and goals before matching you with the tutor or tutors best suited to your individual needs. Outside of tutoring sessions, you will dedicate a significant amount of time to session review, homework, practice exams and other drills. We expect a lot from our students, but the IHL team is there to offer guidance and support every step of the way.

SAT and ACT tutoring is available in-person at one of our offices or remotely via Skype, WizIQ or other videoconferencing platforms. We have worked with many students remotely and have found it to be as effective as in-person consultation.

Practice Exams

As part of our SAT/ACT program, we offer you the opportunity to take practice exams in our offices. These exams offer students the important opportunity to practice their test-taking skills in a real-life setting, complete with other students, ambient noise, time pressure and other factors. Practice exams help us track student performance and provide valuable feedback to our tutors, who are then able to identify problem areas, introduce new test-taking strategies, and address gaps in knowledge.

Other College-Related Services

If you are interested in learning more about our SAT and/or ACT tutoring program, or any of our other services, please do not hesitate to reach out to us by phone at (212) 889-8378 or (734) 623-8378. To enroll, please click here.