Overwhelmingly, students fear the two Math sections the most (cited by over 55% of our incoming students), closely followed by Verbal Reasoning (vocabulary). The good news is that they also improved tremendously in these areas. After completing our course, over 70% of students reported significant improvements in their math and [...]
About half of General Academic's nearly 400 ISEE students start preparing by the end of August. When preparing for a standardized test, the most important tools are a diagnostic test and time. Students need to know where they are and how far they need to go to meet their goals. [...]
Our Study Lounge tutors are some of our most experienced and capable educators. Our permanent staff for the 2025-2026 academic year are Josh Flynn and Kristy Mendoza Rangel. Josh is pursuing a PhD in mathematics at the University of Houston, and Kristy is a recent graduate from Barnard College of [...]
There's a time and place for both Study Lounge and private tutoring. Study Lounge's advantages are: Available for same-day, flexible booking Time for independent study and skill building Study Lounge is great at improving a student's executive function skills—guiding them to get their studies together without doing every step for [...]
Students should start their test prep by taking both a mock ACT and digital SAT. The student's performance and comfort on that diagnostic exam will then guide their choice of which test to ultimately prepare for the most—but preparing for one test also prepares them for the other. Whether your [...]
Students are generally able to take the ISEE twice during the application cycle. In Houston, we recommend that students take the ISEE in mid-November and again in early January (if they were unhappy with their first attempt). Students generally take the test either at their current school (for terminal middle [...]
While it's impossible for us to guarantee specific improvements given every student's unique situation, our research shows that the average General Academic student improves by 2 stanines or up to 30 percentile ranks. Click here to read our analysis about student score improvement.
For the 2025-2026 academic year, the average Houston private school costs $27,952, which was up 4% from the previous year. Catholic schools were generally 20% cheaper. Click here to read our annual analysis of Houston-area private school tuition.
We could debate this topic ad nauseam! Some Houston private schools like St. John's, Awty, and Kinkaid routinely boast of an exceptional number of students who score in the top 1% on the PSAT. However, ultimately the definition of "best" is different for each family, and indeed each child. Click [...]
Taking a full-length mock test under timed conditions is one of the best ways to predict how your child will perform on the actual exam; it also helps them build the mental toughness necessary to perform reliably on test day. There's a big difference between working 10, untimed questions at [...]