Frequently Asked Questions
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Thanks to best-in-class web technology, you can now participate in any Ivy Insiders program right from your home. If you are interested in a class, check out our online classroom course. If you want private tutoring, our online tutoring platform allows you to work with an Ivy Insiders instructor as if they were right in front of you using live web conferencing technology.
Email us. All our tutoring programs are fully customized, so you don't have to worry about scheduling there. Any lecture that you miss in a classroom course, meanwhile, can be made up online, where all course lectures are stored for viewing in Flash video form.
Every Ivy Insiders course features 18 hours of core lectures. However, to meet different student schedules and learning styles, different courses organize those lecture hours differently. Some classes will meet every day for two weeks for 1.5 hours a day. Others will meet for 3 hours every other day for two weeks.
Don't worry. Though taking practice tests is an important part of the Ivy Insiders program, many students end up having conflicts with their course's Saturday exam times due to travel, sports, or family commitments. In general, this is not a huge problem. First, once you are enrolled for a course, you can attend any of our tests held at any location, not just the ones during your class. Second, all students are welcome to come in to take tests or parts of tests during office hours and lecture days, which are held on weekdays. Finally, all of the tests you'll take at Ivy Insiders will be given to you at the beginning of your class in bound book form. As a last resort, you can take missed exams on your own and then come in for office hours to go over questions and get feedback.
No! Though our all-Ivy teaching staff makes us especially well suited to meet the test prep needs of students applying to the Ivy League, such students comprise only a small fraction of the students we work with (less than 10 percent). The only common thread among our students is that they understand the importance of standardized tests and want to have as many doors open to them in the college admissions process as possible.
Our Classroom and Hybrid classes are based on the same core curriculum and have identical lecture schedules. The difference between the two programs is that in addition to lectures, Hybrid Courses features 6 private one-on-one tutoring sessions with your instructor at a dramatically discounted price compared to our regular tutoring rates. For students who seek extensive individual contact with their instructor and customized strategies for their particular test-taking needs, the Hybrid Course is a perfect solution at an unmatched value.
Though Ivy Insiders offers a similar general service to companies like Kaplan and Princeton Review, the difference between Ivy Insiders and our corporate competitors is enormous.
- Value. One of the most obvious differences is value. Ivy Insiders charges $599 for our classroom program. Equivalent programs at Kaplan and Princeton Review are both $1,000.
- Instructor quality. To qualify for a job teaching with Kaplan, you must have a score on the SAT in the 90th percentile. Ivy Insiders instructors have average SAT scores in the 99th percentile and all are either graduates of or undergraduates at Ivy League schools. Not only do our instructors know the test better than their counterparts at other programs; they are also trained more extensively. Once hired, Ivy Insiders instructors also receive more than 20 hours of combined video and in-person training, as well as over 200 pages of curricular content to be used in instruction.
- A track record of real results. Our average score increase on the SAT is over 290 points—well in excess of either Kaplan or Princeton Review (or any other program on the market). For a complete comparison of Ivy Insiders with our major competitors, click here.
Ivy Insiders Classroom
Princeton Review *
Kaplan
Price
Total hours
36
36
Office hours
0
0
Private tutoring hours
0
0
Proctored exams
$3
4
Real exam questions
No
No
Ivy League instructors
No
No
Instructor scores
Top 5%
Top 5%
Avg. lecture size
?
?
Selection: Ivy Insiders instructors are hired for their test-taking smarts, their communication skills, and their passion for teaching. With the student bodies of 7 Ivy League schools to hire from, we select only the strongest candidates on each of these criteria. Our instructors hold average scores in the 99th percentile on the exams they teach, have average tutoring experience of at least 3 years, and very often plan to pursue careers in teaching or academia.
Training: Once hired, Ivy Insiders instructors are trained to deliver our curriculum through a combination of classroom seminars and online video training that totals at least 15-20 hours. Once basic training is completed, instructors are given access to an instructor handbook and instructor version of the student workbook, with over 200 combined pages of additional training and reference for teaching. The goal of both of these training components is to make the teaching level as consistent as possible across our branches.
Historically, students participating in the Ivy Insiders Classroom Courses have increased their SAT scores by between 200 and 350 points, with average score improvements at just under 300 points. Average improvement in our ACT program have been over 4 points. Though these numbers are typical, it is important to recognize that score improvements vary depending on a number of factors related to a student's personal situation, including motivation level, starting score, time spent practicing and studying, and willingness to use our strategies. In general, if you pay attention in class, take all of the practice exams, and follow the at-home study plan you design during your course, you can expect to improve your test scores dramatically regardless of where you are starting or how good you may be at test taking to begin with.
If your base score (score with no prep) is above 700 for any section of the SAT, our goal will be to help you rise into the perfect score range (770-800). Doing so is simply a matter of identifying and targeting a limited number of content weaknesses, developing a systematic approach to test that improves your efficiency and leaves you more time to check answers and focus on tough questions, and practicing enough to eliminate chance variation in your score. Historically, we have had extremely high levels of success bringing students with strong test scores into the perfect score range, in part because this is exactly what most of our instructors did with their own scores.
We do better. If you come to all the lectures in your class, do your homework assignments, and attend the exams, we guarantee your satisfaction 100 percent. If you are not satisfied with your participation in one of our programs, regardless of whether your score goes up or not, we will let you take a full classroom class for free.
Yes. If you recommend other students to the program, we will give you a $50 rebate for each student you recommend. To learn more about our referrals system, click here.
Yes. We are committed to ensuring that all students can access effective test prep, regardless of personal or family financial situation. If you think you might qualify for financial aid, please email us at scholars@ivyinsiders.com. We'll send a financial application back to you within 48 hours.
