GTP Method:
Data, Technique, & Logical Foundations
1.
Never pay for test prep services that do not track data on performance. See sample data from our 8 page reports below, which are generated immediately following the completion of an exam.
2.
Data is critical to improvement and for developing targeted practice strategies. Without data, you are lost in a sea of mistakes, unable to discern patterns that need to be addressed.
3.
The SAT© presents familiar concepts in unfamiliar ways. Technique is a necessity. The SAT is testing specific skill sets not taught by high school curricula, so you need specific tools for this specific exam.
4.
Most test prep teachers are not allowed to prepare for class and are only paid for teaching hours. This leads to basic, improvised explanations rather than nuanced methods.
5.
Practice does not make perfect. Many students plateau, making the same mistakes over and over. The solution lies in method grown from insight. The solution is to change your decision making process during the exam.
At GTP, we consistently offer free classes so you can assess our methods yourself before committing to a course of study. Join us on March 11th for our next session.
Data is
fundamental
to your score improvement.
Never practice without
tracking your data.
Our score reports use graphs,
figures, and detailed stats to
make your practice as efficient as possible.
Gateway Test Prep Technique:
SAT© Reading
Look at the images from a real exam below...
What
The annotations make something obvious that is hidden to many test takers: -ly ending words. Our first goal as coaches is to illuminate patterns that are nearly invisible when practicing whole exams. I once had a student who pushed back when I was teaching the significance of -ly endings; there are only 2 in this question, he said. For homework, I had him annotate the whole exam and there were 32 total. He was shocked because he had never noticed them before.
WHY
The -ly ending words are very useful for the test writers because they can subtly transform essentially correct answers into technically incorrect ones without anyone noticing. In #26 above, the passage might indeed say these cancer cells are destructive but never mention that there is a wide public belief about those cells. Most of us don't know much about specific cells. The "destructive" nature is a 'correct' concept from the passage, but then "widely" introduces a subtle and technical error.
Apply
These -ly ending words are seen in every genre throughout the reading section, and even crop up in some writing questions, too. They constitute a blinking neon sign that the answer just got riskier because it is more narrow, specific, and limited. An easy example: Martha went to the store quickly. In the passage, Martha may indeed go to the store, but it never specifies how quickly she went. Unfortunately, most people will pick this trap answer and never notice the technicality. Now you will.
Every Student Needs Data
No data, No insight
No insight, No technique
