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FAQ
All seminars consist of six meetings plus a single practice test in the middle. All seminars cover the same material.
In all formats, you should expect three to four hours of homework per session. In session, the seminars are split evenly between verbal prep and math. While school is in session, choose our Weekend Seminars consisting of six four-hour meetings with one meeting per weekend (except for the practice test weekend, on which you'll need both Saturday and Sunday). During school breaks, we offer Intensive Seminars where we meet daily during the week, and once more right before the test. If you prefer to prep over the summer, select one of our two-week Summer Intensive Seminars that meet about every other day, and once right before the test. In an Intensive Seminar, we cover the same material as our Weekend Seminars by meeting daily during school breaks. When you add in two to four hours of homework per session, it's a full day. So our students finish their SAT prep in one week without taking any time away from academics.
Success with the Intensive format depends on a high level of focus. You need to commit to bringing your "best self" to each of the seminar's five days. This commitment will ensure you've given yourself every opportunity to maximize your SAT score. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish in five days! This commitment means:
Because we want to underscore for our students and their parents that their experience will be far from the experience of the usual test prep class, with its often-tedious lectures and in-class exercises.
BodSAT is a small, advanced, undergraduate-style experience designed for high school students who are looking for an intense, dynamic experience guided by two highly experienced and engaging teachers and shared with other like-minded students. Students are asked to complete three to four hours of preparation prior to each session. Usually, they:
In part, this is what makes BodSAT seminars skills-based SAT preparation. Yes. At every meeting, we hold an office hour, during which students are invited to stay to further discuss SAT problems.
If yet more help is needed (e.g. because a student misses a seminar), we do our best to make time available for private sessions (at an additional cost).
Our standard seminar fee is $1200. Please also note the following offers are available:
A BodSAT seminar is a rewarding, but challenging experience. That challenge is often easier with a friend. Refer one or more friends, and we will be delighted to give you each a referral credit. Finally, in some circumstances, we have scholarships available. This program will not expire. Feel free to contact us to see whether you qualify.
The PSAT serves only two purposes:
The danger in taking the PSAT to determine what kind (if any) of SAT prep you need is that the results won't be known until late December. By then, your options for preparing for the SAT are reduced. Yet if you wait until the May or June SAT dates, you are preparing for the SATs at the same time as the SAT Subject Tests, APs and academic final exams. BodSAT offers a solution for gifted students: prep much more quickly with our seminars, which can be begun after you receive your PSAT scores, and finished before the next available SAT dates. Three to ten students. Small seminars encourage students to think of themselves as a necessary part of the overall experience. This helps keep their preparation and contribution at an appropriately high level.
Justin and Wes teach all classes. Nobody else we know has our combination of academic background and thousands of hours of SAT experience. We feel that both qualifications are required to conduct an elite group of students who would quickly lose interest in a class that teaches to the middle. The success of students like these depends in part on teachers who can lead them to their limits.
Each student must have the equivalent of an SAT 1800+ which means any of the following:
The success of a skills-based seminar depends in part on exercising those skills by way of Socratic discussion, which in turn relies on students having nearly mastered math, reading and writing fundamentals. In this environment, students benefit as much from each other as from the teachers, both in skills and inspiration.
We are teachers at heart, and we thrive on the interest and growth of our students. By working only with the most effective students, we create an experience that honors our students' time and effort as well as our own.
Yes! We enthusiastically welcome all visitors, from students to parents to college counselors.
The only practice tests we use are official College Board tests, because no third-party test questions can properly illustrate the most effective SAT strategies.
Our Student Manual carefully guides students through the rigorous process of self-examination at the core of our methods. However, students expecting to take no notes will be disappointed; it's up to each student to highlight and/or to capture those methods and nuggets of wisdom that best serve him or her. Our students own the responsibility for their own progress, and we have and will provide every resource we can to nurture and support that progress.
Check the welcome email you received for the username and password, then go here for all the materials you'll need.
Yes! We would be happy to accept your help in arranging a meeting that would better suit the needs of your son or daughter and a few others. Just contact us for details.
For students who don't even have the time for our extremely efficient seminars, working with us one-on-one can be the best choice.
For students who require more work on their fundamentals before taking our seminar, we're happy to help privately. Just contact us for details.
Bodhisattva seminars are about learning how to learn. The joy of facilitating that process is why we have stayed in the SAT business for so long.
We have found that even the smartest students typically move quickly -- often too quickly -- from test to test. By contrast, we teach our students the skills required to dig deeply into the learning opportunities created by missed questions. We guide them to learn from asking themselves what went wrong and figuring out what would have put them back on the right track. It is not enough for our students to learn how to do a specific SAT problem, for they will never run into that exact problem again. To maximize improvement from test to test (and therefore to minimize the number of tests it takes to reach their goal) requires learning skills for rigorous self-examination. In addition, students learn how to analyze and write compositions, improve their grammar and style, strengthen their math fundamentals, and master standardized test strategies. That depends on why you feel BodSAT isn't for you.
If BodSAT seems right, but no seminar works within your schedule, consider private work with Justin and Wes. If you don't qualify for our seminars, then consider either private work with us or others to bolster your fundamentals, or another company's offering. When evaluating SAT prep options, keep in mind as a general rule that the bigger the enterprise, the less the teachers are paid, which in turn lessens the likelihood of working with an excellent teacher. Know your needs: if your fundamentals need a lot of work, look for a class that has a lot of extra practice tests and review sessions. Some important questions to ask about prospective SAT classes:
To cancel your participation in a BodSAT seminar, you must contact us by email (beth@bodsat.com) or by phone (800.291.4661).
When contacting us to cancel, please be ready to provide your name and contact information. Please note that deposits are non-refundable. To quote a point increase is to treat each student as a statistic, so instead, we simply guarantee your satisfaction. We promise to be the very best of the SAT prep options for smart, hard-working students.
Our business comes to us primarily by word of mouth, and we want that word to be good, so we do whatever is required to keep our students and their parents openly enthusiastic about our work.
If you are not satisfied with our help for any reason, we will make it right. Period. Other questions? Just call us (Justin 510.910.9003 / Wes 415.254.9248) or send us an email. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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