RESOURCES
Our recommendations for the best materials on the market:
SHSAT
Tutorverse SHSAT
An incredibly thorough book with high quality passages and problems. It follows our tutoring philosophy of starting with a diagnostic test to assess strengths and areas of improvement to target. It then divides the rest of the book into grammar rules, editing passages, reading comprehension passages, and maths (grouped by concept). Questions range in difficulty and include grid-in and multiple choice answers for each math concept. At the end of the book, there’s a final practice test that we’ll use to compare to the diagnostic and see how much the student has improved.
ISEE
Tutorverse Upper Level ISEE
Before Test Innovators, this was the gold standard for ISEE prep. Now it’s an excellent supplement, especially for students who want to take the paper version of the test. There are four different types of Reading passages so students can practice each type. The Math is organized by concept, which makes it incredibly easy to assign homework drills. There are no answer explanations in the book, but with a skilled tutor from Andersen Education, this will be a great supplement to the Test Innovators ISEE package. There are also two tests (a diagnostic and a practice test)! Some students say these questions are harder than the Test Innovators questions, and that’s why we can’t live without it!
Test Innovators for ISEE & SSAT
Endorsed by the ERB and EMA respectively, this platform has a seemingly infinite amount of practice material (2200+ questions!). For the ISEE, you’ll want to purchase the Advanced package, which includes 6 practice tests and two ERB-written tests. For the SSAT you’ll want to purchase the Valedictorian package, which includes 6 practice tests and 3 EMA-written SSAT tests. We love how much data this platform creates, and it’s easily accessible for both students and parents. We can really track progress with this helpful tool!
Tutorverse Middle Level ISEE
We love this book as a supplement to Test Innovators because it has a diagnostic and practice test, along with many drills that are great to assign as homework. The level of difficulty in this book match the Middle Level ISEE. This is for students applying to grades 7-8.
Tutorverse Lower Level ISEE
This is the best book for students who are preparing for the lower level test. We especially love that Tutorverse organizes the synonyms into introductory, intermediate, and advanced tiers. This book is worth the Numbers and Operations drills alone since they will help your student solidify the math foundations that are key to scoring well on this test. This is for students applying to grades 5-6.
SSAT
Test Innovators for ISEE & SSAT
Endorsed by the ERB and EMA respectively, this platform has a seemingly infinite amount of practice material (2200+ questions!). For the ISEE, you’ll want to purchase the Advanced package, which includes 6 practice tests and two ERB-written tests. For the SSAT you’ll want to purchase the Valedictorian package, which includes 6 practice tests and 3 EMA-written SSAT tests. We love how much data this platform creates, and it’s easily accessible for both students and parents. We can really track progress with this helpful tool!
Tutorverse Upper Level SSAT
We love this book as a supplement to Test Innovators, since it has a diagnostic and practice test, and many more practice problems. We love that the Analogies are split into guide and mixed practice so that students can have focused practice and then simulate the testing experience. This is for students applying to grades 9-12.
TACHS/HSPT
Peterson's Master the Catholic
High School Entrance Exams
This book is the gold standard for the TACHS/HSPT. Recently revised, this book not only includes grammar, reading, and math drills, but also an in-depth guide on how to learn and properly study! It’s a must-have for any student who is preparing to take any test, whether it’s standardized or not. We have seen tremendous score increases from the Ability section alone, which shows the different ways figure classifications, matrices, and paper folding can appear on the test.
Elevate Prep's HSPT
This comprehensive book is perfect for students who want to score higher on the HSPT. With 2500+ high quality practice questions that are categorized into drills by content or question type, students can practice applying their knowledge and strategies. There are also three practice tests in the book and two more available online.
HUNTER TEST
Kweller Prep's Hunter
High School Entrance Exam
This book is the best on the market for the incredibly difficult Hunter test. We love that the three sections (Math, Reading, and Essay) are broken down by week, and increase in difficulty. This book pairs well with 2-4 months of test prep with an Andersen Education tutor. The Reading sections are top quality and the math problems are identical in scope to the problems on the two practice tests that Hunter College High School has released on their website. We love their sample problems so that students can be reminded of how to approach a problem in between tutoring sessions.
Kweller Prep's Hunter High School Entrance Exam Bonus Practice Exam
An incredibly thorough book with high quality passages and problems. It follows our tutoring philosophy of starting with a diagnostic test to assess strengths and areas of improvement to target. It then divides the rest of the book into grammar rules, editing passages, reading comprehension passages, and maths (grouped by concept). Questions range in difficulty and include grid-in and multiple choice answers for each math concept. At the end of the book, there’s a final practice test that we’ll use to compare to the diagnostic and see how much the student has improved.
ACT
The Official ACT Prep Guide
We use the ACT Red Book for practice tests. It contains four genuine, full-length enhanced ACT practice tests to choose from. These are official materials published by ACT, which makes them especially valuable for preparation. We encourage our students to take the paper version of the test, so we want them to practice on paper. Taking the test in the same format as the actual enhanced ACT helps build stamina and creates a more authentic test-day experience.
The Complete Guide to ACT English
This book is for students who struggle with the English section of the ACT. Erica Meltzer is the gold standard author for the English/Reading sections of the ACT/SAT. She is incredibly thorough and her holistic approach will help students improve not only their ACT scores but their English and writing grades in school! The strategies are compatible with what we teach and will supplement our work together. There are also extensive drills at the end of every chapter and two practice tests.
The Complete Guide to ACT Reading
This book is for students who struggle with the Reading section of the ACT. The strategies are compatible with what we teach and will supplement our work together. There are also drills at the end of each chapter and practice tests!
For the Love of ACT Science
The ACT Science section is a beast and this book does a fantastic job of breaking it down into passage and question types. We love that it starts with the easier passages and questions then builds to the hardest section: Conflicting Viewpoints. Our absolute favorite part is that each chapter has a full length practice test with question types from that chapter. Each chapter test builds cumulatively, solidifying a student’s foundation while introducing new questions. It’s our secret weapon to understanding the science section of the ACT!
The College Panda's ACT Math
Advanced Guide & Workbook
Nielson Phu has done a great job of taking the ACT Math section (arguably the hardest section on the test) and breaking it down into 27 different and digestible math concepts with multiple sample problems to show all of the possible ways a concept can appear on a test. If a student were to self-pace, they can do a chapter a week for 6 months. If they want to accelerate their journey, they should book a session with one of our experienced tutors!
SAT
The College Panda's SAT Math
Advanced Guide & Workbook
This book is very helpful for students who struggle with the math section (both non-calculator and calculator). It’s great for students who have already worked through the PWN the SAT book. This also breaks the math down by concept. It’s very important that the students know the concepts before we work on strategy.
Reading & Writing Test Book: Digital SAT
Erica Meltzer is always on the cutting edge of SAT changes. Although the digital SAT began in March 2024, Meltzer released this book with 3 practice tests a few months prior. Though the tests are not adaptive, this book will make sure that a student's comprehension and strategies are solid before moving on to adaptive practice platforms.
Dr. Ela Sharma's Digital SAT Math Manual and Workbook
This is the most comprehensive DSAT math book on the market! It's packed to the brim with lessons, practice problems, and Desmos graphing calculator examples. We love that it has practice questions sorted by difficulty.
College Board's Bluebook App
This app created by CollegeBoard has 6 adaptive practice tests on it for students to use in their preparation journeys. This is also the exact same app they will use when they take the SAT, though it will have different settings that will lockdown their computer to avoid cheating. These should be used judiciously through a student’s preparation journey.
APs
Barron's AP Books
Barron’s AP Books are all fantastic since they are well-organized and distill all of the essential information from an AP course into digestible, organized chapters with drills. Remy used these books in order to score 5's on her AP exams! These books help you highlight what you absolutely need to know.
TOOLS
TI-84 Plus CE
Since the SAT now allows the calculator on all math sections and the ACT always has, it’s important to have this tool to help you get a better score. We like the TI-84 Plus because it’s simple and has all of the functions you need in order to succeed on the SAT/ACT. You can enter in custom programs (like the quadratic formula), graph inequalities, find vertexes and x-intercepts, and so much more. Schedule a session with us and we will tell you all of our tips and tricks!
Crush Your Test Anxiety
Dr. Ben Bernstein has written a groundbreaking book on overcoming test anxiety. Each chapter walks through a step in his straightforward model: calm mind, relaxed body, engaged spirit. There is also a chapter dedicated to parents who want to support their kids through the process. We highly recommend purchasing this book if your child tends to do well on practice but not well on test day.
Timer
Once a student has a handle on the content, we start to introduce time pressure in homework to prepare them for the test. You can always use a timer on your phone, but there are no distractions with this timer. We love this one in particular because it’s a great visual aid - the color disappears as the time counts down. There are many different colors to choose from, so you can pick your favorite color. Remy has the purple one!
Balance Board
While this is billed as a tool for rehabbing a sprained ankle, it doubles as an executive functioning tool that helps students who need movement to focus. We like these more than fidget spinners. It can be helpful for remote students to use a standing desk to pair with this balance board. Remy uses one herself!
Wobble Cushion
We don’t take it personally when students fidget and shift around in their seats when we work with them. For some, this helps them focus and we encourage them to move around with this wobble cushion. We love that it comes in many different colors so that a student can pick their favorite. You can inflate or deflate it to fit your student’s needs. Plus, it gives them a great core workout!
ACT Pacing Watch
Every student taking the ACT should have this watch! Even with the new format allowing for more time per question, the timing on the ACT is very tight and many students struggle to pace correctly. Instead of relying on a clock in the testing room, which sometimes students can’t see without craning their necks, use this watch to see how much time is left in each section. But that’s not even the best feature! What makes this watch truly spectacular is the track that traces clockwise around the edge of the screen, visually representing how much time is left in the section. Together a student and tutor will determine where the student needs to be at key points in the tracker’s progress. The G5 model shows Standard and Extended Time (1.5x). The G5 is the only digital watch the ACT publicly states is allowed into the testing room.
Order Out of Chaos Planner
We love the weekly/daily format and that it’s academic-focused. The monthly section is a bit small and it has a wire spine, but these are minor inconveniences.
Hobonichi Techno Planner
We love the GIANT daily space, graph paper, and simplistic modern design. It’s not an academic calendar, doesn’t have a weekly layout, and it’s a little pricier, but if your child will use it, it’s worth it!
Clever Fox Advanced Weekly Planner
This planner is our favorite because it’s the most detailed of all of the planners we’ve listed. There’s lots of space: the week is divided in half (every 2 pages). There’s a habit tracker, reflection section (what worked, what didn't work this week), personal to-do list, and customizable weekly habit tracker. It also comes with stickers!
Moleskin Notebook
Obviously this is SUPER customizable and allows students to be very creative! You can create a mood tracker, grocery list, books/movies read page. However, it may be too free-form for most students. Creating a Bullet Journal requires a lot of preparation and commitment! This option might not be the best for someone at the early stages of strengthening their organizational skills. It’s difficult to mark long-term plans as people usually work with a week to a month at a time.
Expanding File Folder
This file folder is part of the two-part organization system that we use with our Executive Function coaching students. Students usually already have notebooks and folders for their classes, but what they're missing is a home system that will house all of their completed handouts and corrected tests/quizzes. This expanding file folder has bold colors to associate with different classes and will have enough room to save those important papers to use later for finals! With a folder this colorful, how can you lose it? :)
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