Test & College Prep
Advanced
Strategies + Scores
Homework Support
Improved
Processing + Grades
Organization
Enhanced
Mindset + Planning
Admission
Greater
Readiness + Success
The Team that Transforms Students’ Lives
Jeannette Gerber
Personal Learning Coach & Master Tutor
Jeannette left a successful career in global finance to dedicate her life to teaching, coaching, and mentoring.
In 2006, she founded Smart Test Prep; established a unique and highly successful learning and test prep curriculum; and has since helped transform hundreds of students into effectively aware learners.
Jeannette offers office hours to her students for life and takes great pleasure in hearing how the smart strategies have shaped students’ lives in college and beyond.
Fun facts about me:
- English is not my first but my fourth language. I also speak Swiss German, German, and French fluently and another five languages (🇪🇸, 🇯🇵, 🇸🇮, 🇮🇹, and 🇮🇱) at various skill levels.
- A graduate of the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, I am the first in my family to have pursued higher education.
- Some mornings before work, you’ll spot me enjoying a cappuccino & croissant at First Village Coffee in Ossining.
- My favorite pastime is pulling clay on my pottery wheel.
- Among other things, my husband Matko (a woodworking artist) and I make our own lemon balm and elderflower syrup, jar jams and preserves, hike with our dogs at Teatown, dog sit for our friends, watch films at the Jacob Burns Film Center, and tend to our vegetable and flower gardens.
Chelsea Finger
College Essay Expert & Tutor
Chelsea is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and former reporter.
Initially working in an administrative role, Chelsea quickly became so inspired by the effect of Smart Test Prep strategies on students that she not only decided to start tutoring, but has dedicated herself to pursuing a Master’s Degree in Secondary Education at Pace University.
Fun facts about me:
- I used to report on Westchester schools, businesses and art events for local news outlets.
- I play the piano, listen to all kinds of music genres, frequent the theatre, play volleyball with friends, and love spending time with my big, boisterous family.
Our Interns
Every year, we offer our highly sought-after internship program to several HS seniors. The program provides an opportunity for motivated students to gain marketable career and people skills and develop confidence
Why Our Students Refer Their Friends
I gained confidence beyond academics.
Briarcliff Manor student
Studied at Smart Test Prep during HS junior year
Smart Test Prep made me realize that everything I learn is connected: math, science, reading, grammar, history. Since coming here, my learning has become much more effective.
Ossining first generation student
Studied at Smart Test Prep during HS sophomore/senior years
I thought that I was doing well enough in class and got good grades. Now I realize that I’ve never been challenged.
St. Ursuline Student
Studied at Smart Test Prep during HS junior year
Before Smart Test Prep, my testing confidence was low. I would frequently second-guess my choice, which would ultimately result in wrong answers.
Croton-on-Hudson Student
Then I learned that most questions can be broken down and made considerably easier by looking for recognizable patterns. By applying logic to eliminate incorrect choices and proving those that are correct, my confidence in my answers on tests in school—and on the SAT—improved significantly.
Studied at Smart Test Prep during HS junior year
I feel like I’m learning much more efficiently and lessons are so much more focused. I really like the fact that we focus on what we need to work on and there is no busywork.
Croton-on-Hudson Student
Studied at Smart Test Prep during HS junior year
Every strategy and topic I had been taught at Smart Test Prep I now apply in college, which makes freshman year not nearly as challenging as I had expected.
Ossining First Generation Student
Studied at Smart Test Prep during HS sophomore/senior years
Why Parents Recommend Us
Bringing my children to Smart Test Prep is the best investment I could have made. My son was offered half of his college tuition because of his improved grades and test scores and my daughter – after initial hesitation – has finally learned to appreciate academic rigor.
Ossining Parent of First Generation Students
Smart Test Prep taught my son that having a strategy is the first step to overcoming challenges, the second step is to connect all learning.
Briarcliff Manor Parent
We do not all have rockstar academic children, so while you think your high-school student might not be college-bound or test-ready, Jeanette’s life-coaching skills are equally as amazing as her test prep prowess.
Bronxville Parent
Jeannette was the first person to treat my daughter as an adult and helped her take on more challenges. My daughter wouldn’t be so successful in college without everything she had learned here.
Croton-on-Hudson Parent
Jeannette’s approach and her soothing environment make me want to sign up for lessons myself.
Sleepy Hollow Parent
I first contacted Smart Test Prep to get my son prepared for the ISEE. After seeing the effect this positive learning environment had on him, I signed him up for the entire schoolyear. Within a year, he improved his grades from the high 70s to the high 80s. The first quarter of Freshmen year, all his grades are As and B pluses.
Ossining Parent
Building Blocks of a Transformative Learning Experience
Curiosity
connect new concepts to current knowledge by asking smart questions
Practice
master new strategies and concepts by regularly testing them
Process
review results analytically, without judgement
Collaboration
build a support team that promotes accountability
Failure Immunity
turn mistakes into steppingstones to future success
SAT or ACT? – It Depends!
While the tests look and feel differently, preparing for them greatly overlaps. Understanding the key differences and taking a practice test of each will help informed decision making. Colleges accept both tests equally, without preference. About 2 out of 3 test takers do equally well on both tests and sign up for both.
| SAT | ACT | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 hr 50 min 5 sections | Total Time No. of Sections | 3 hr 35 min 5 sections |
| • Reading: 65 min • Writing: 35 min • Math (no calculator): 25 min • Math (with calculator): 55 min • Essay: 50 min | Time per Section | • English: 45 min • Math: 60 min • Reading: 35 min • Science: 35 min • Essay: 40 min |
| 4 passages • 44 Qs / 35 min • 11 Qs per passage • some include data sets | Writing/English (Grammar) | Multiple choice • 60 Qs / 60 min • 15 Qs per passage |
| • No calculator: • 15 multiple choice • 5 grid-ins • With calculator: • 30 multiple choice • 8 grid-ins | Math | Multiple choice • 60 Qs / 60 min (no TI89 calculator) |
| • 4 single & 1 pair of passages • 52 Qs / 65 min • 10–11 Qs per passage (or pair) • some include data sets | Reading | • 3 single & 1 pair of passages • 40 Qs / 35 min • 10 Qs per passage (or pair) |
| n.a. | Science | 5–7 passages • 40 Qs / 35 min • 6–8 Qs per passage |
| optional, 3 scores of 2–8 pts ea. (not incl. in overall score) | Essay | Optional, 1–36 pts (not incl. in overall score) |
| Only the math questions go from easy to hard | Order of Difficulty | Only the math questions go from easy to hard |
| No penalty ➝ answer all | Wrong Answer Penalty | No penalty ➝ answer all |
| Reading & writing: 200–800 Math: 200–800 Total score (sum): 400–1600 | Scoring | English: 1–36 Math: 1–36 Reading: 1–36 Science: 1–36 Total score (avg): 1–36 |
| 1059 / 1068 | National / NYS Averages (2019) | 20.8 / 24.5 |
| Moderate | Timing | Moderate (English & Math) Tight (Reading & Science) |
| College Board | Registration | ACT |
| SAT Composite | National Percentile | ACT Composite | National Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1570–1600 | 99 | 36 | 99 |
| 1530–1560 | 99 | 35 | 99 |
| 1490–1520 | 98–99 | 34 | 99 |
| 1450–1480 | 96–98 | 33 | 98 |
| 1420–1440 | 95–96 | 32 | 97 |
| 1390–1410 | 93–95 | 31 | 95 |
| 1360–1380 | 91–93 | 30 | 93 |
| 1330–1350 | 89–91 | 29 | 91 |
| 1300–1320 | 86–88 | 28 | 88 |
| 1260–1290 | 82–85 | 27 | 85 |
| 1230–1250 | 78–81 | 26 | 82 |
| 1200–1220 | 74–77 | 25 | 78 |
| 1160–1190 | 68–73 | 24 | 74 |
| 1130–1150 | 64–67 | 23 | 69 |
| 1100–1120 | 58–62 | 22 | 64 |
| 1060–1090 | 51–57 | 21 | 58 |
| 1030–1050 | 46–49 | 20 | 52 |
| 990–1020 | 38–44 | 19 | 46 |
| 960–980 | 33–36 | 18 | 40 |
| 920–950 | 27–31 | 17 | 33 |
| 880–910 | 20–25 | 16 | 27 |
| 830–870 | 14–19 | 15 | 20 |
| 780–820 | 8–13 | 14 | 14 |
| 730–770 | 6–7 | 13 | 9 |
| 690–720 | 3–5 | 12 | 4 |
| 650–680 | 1–2 | 11 | 1 |
We expect more and more schools to offer paperless ACTs and, starting soon, the ACT will allow students to:
- retake individual portions of the ACT (computer-based testing only)
- report their own super-score
Flexible Plans
for
Demanding Schedules
Ad Hoc Sessions, a Timed Package, or a Full-Year Program?
At the End of the Diagnostic Assessment, we Help you Design a Custom Program.
Ask for our Expert Advice On
Learning Strategies
- Organization Skills
- Grades
- Homework & Project Support
- Reading
- Math
- Grammar
- Essay
Standardized Test
- SAT
- ACT
- AP
- Subject Test
- GMAT
- GRE
- LSAT
- MCAT
- ISEE
- SSAT
- TACHS
- COOP
- HSPT
Learning & Test-Taking Skills are Transferable Across Subjects and Tests
Our Personal Learning Center has Reopened with the Following Safety Procedures in Place:
- Before each visit: students sign off COVID Protocol, fill out questionnaire, have temperature taken, & use hand sanitizer at entrance
- During each visit: we all use our own writing material, wear masks, & are seated 6-feet apart
we assign a dedicated college drinking glass & swatch for practice tests - After each visit: we clean all tables, seats, doorknobs, bathroom, & any other exposed surface
we schedule our sessions with 15-minute gaps to minimize student interaction & leave time to clean
Contact Us
Transformative Learning and Test Prep lasts a lifetime. Contact us today for a free consultation.