About our Courses
Thank you for your interest in our SAT / ACT prep courses. The below information is provided in order to assist you in determining which of our courses are right for you.
GENERAL COURSE SUMMARIES
We are offering three Comprehensive Prep courses in 2018...a Winter/Spring course (which runs from January through June), a Summer/Fall course (which runs from July through October), and a Fall/Winter course (which runs from September 2018 through March 2019). All three Comprehensive Prep courses will cover the same material and will simultaneously prepare students for the SAT, ACT and PSAT exams. You can view and download all of our currently-available schedules on our website at http://fl.higherstandards.biz/schedulesregistration.html.
All three Comprehensive Prep courses have a $1295 tuition. Students will be required to have a scientific or graphing calculator and to purchase the most recent versions of two books: The Official ACT Prep Guide and The Official SAT Study Guide. All regular class sessions will meet at in the conference room at the Hampton Inn at 8200 SW 70 Avenue, located behind Dadeland Station two blocks north of Dadeland Mall (near the corner of North Kendall Drive and South Dixie Highway).
We also plan to offer Test Analysis Follow-Up courses to Summer/Fall and Fall/Winter students who wish to extend their training to test dates in April, May and June 2019. These are not stand-alone programs, but they can be added to the Summer/Fall and Fall/Winter programs. During the follow-up courses, students take practice tests for homework; in class, we will go over the tests and analyze them in order to identify each individual's strengths and weaknesses. The primary goals are for each student to gain increasing familiarity & mastery over the SAT or ACT and for the student to focus his or her studies upon those identified areas of weakness so that the scores on subsequent practice exams and, ultimately, the actual exam continue to rise. Tuition discounts will be given to students who enroll in the follow-up courses on or before the first day of the Comprehensive Course. Pre-requisite: Students must take one of our Comprehensive Prep courses prior to taking a Test Analysis Follow-Up course.
COURSE RECOMMENDATIONS
First, an important note: Unlike 30 years ago, most students now take the SAT and/or ACT 2 - 4 times (sometimes more), taking advantage of the widespread use of “super-scoring”. For example, if the student takes the SAT exam in June and scores a 650 in the verbal sections and a 400 in the math section, and then that same student takes the SAT again in October and scores a 620 in the verbal section and a 640 in the math section, most schools (and scholarships such as the Florida Bright Futures scholarships) will combine the high verbal score (650) from June and the high math score (640) from October, leading to a 1290 score, which is the scoring level necessary for the highest level of the Bright Futures scholarships.
For students who will be in 12th grade in January 2018, the sole remaining option for a course that will finish before graduation day is our 2018 Winter/Spring course. The Winter/Spring course is geared toward the June SAT and June ACT exams, but 12th grade students are strongly encouraged to take additional exams along the way in order to take advantage of "super-scoring" and in order to meet the differing scholarship and college admission deadlines they may be faced with. Note that the Florida Bright Futures scholarships super-score test results from any and all test dates all the way through to the end of June in the year you are graduating. IMPORTANT NOTE: Since the course began in January, many classes have already met. While it is possible to join the course and even to catch up on some of the classes you missed (we videotape every class), if this is something you are interested in, contact us immediately.
For students who will be in 11th grade in January 2018, our top recommendation would be our 2018 Summer/Fall course our 2018-19 Fall/Winter course.
(1) The 2018 Summer/Fall course is the better choice for students who are currently in 11th grade. The course meets twice a week from mid-July through August, then once a week on the weekend once the school year begins. It is a much better option than the Fall/Winter course because it is geared toward the October SAT and ACT exams (students can take a second test along the way if they would like); this means it will be completed before the application deadlines for virtually every college and university. It also allows for a handful of subsequent test dates for students who wish to then tweak their scores even higher.
(2) The 2018 Fall/Winter course would be the best choice for students who were, for whatever reasons, unable to enroll in either the Winter/Spring or Summer/Fall course. The Fall/Winter course begins in September and will prepare for the February ACT and the March SAT exams that will take place in the student's senior year. Since it will end after some college application deadlines, the Summer/Fall course is preferable. However, it will still be good toward scholarships such as the Florida Bright Futures Scholarships as well as for schools with later or rolling application deadlines.
For students who will be in 9th or 10th grade in January 2018 and who wish to get an early start on their SAT and ACT preparation, boht of our upcoming course options are excellent choices.
(1) We recommend our Summer/Fall course if (a) you are available beginning in mid-July to attend classes twice a week during the summertime and once a week on the weekend once school begins, (b) you would like to have completed the main course curricula during the summertime (when conflicts with school are at a minimum) and very early into your junior year (by mid-October) and to then take your first SAT and ACT exams in the fall, and (c) you would like to have the undergone the full training in advance of the October PSAT (since the PSAT and SAT exams are nearly identical save for the inclusion of an essay on the latter, most of your SAT training will be equally applicable to the PSAT exam). Note that if you must miss two or three classes during the summertime because of a planned vacation, this is not a problem -- as long as the vacation ends a week before school begins, you can usually arrange to view makeup videos of the exact classes you missed.
(2) We recommend our Fall/Winter course if (a) you would have to miss several classes during the summertime and/or you are enrolling more than two or three weeks into the course, (b) you would prefer to extend your main course curricula through to the beginning of 2019, and/or (c) the Summer/Fall courses has already reached maximum enrollment.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Our programs often reach enrollment capacity, so we strongly urge interested students to enroll as soon as possible.
To guarantee a seat by reserving your space now, you can remit payment (either a $50 deposit or the full tuition) in either of two ways:
(1) Through credit card or bank withdrawal via PayPal. On our Schedules/Registration page, simply open the drop-down window beneath the course schedules you are interested in and select your preferred option.
(2) By sending a check or money order through the United States Postal Service to the following address:
Higher Standards
PO Box 161374
Miami, FL 33116-1374
Regardless of the method of payment, make sure to include a note with the payment (or in a separate e-mail to drjeff@higherstandards.biz) that provides both the student's and parents' names, contact phone numbers and e-mail addresses, as well as a note indicating the course into which you are enrolling. At the time of enrollment, please also mail or e-mail copies of all previous SAT, PSAT, ACT, PreACT and ASPIRE exams so that we have the most complete picture of the student’s scoring history...additionally, for our Summer/Fall and Fall/Winter programs, we will need this information in advance in order to place students into the best score-matched section of the course.
The balance of the course tuition will be due two-to-three weeks before the course begins (on June 30 for the Summer/Fall course, on August 29 for the Fall/Winter course, and on December 31 for the Winter/Spring course). If you are enrolling past the corresponding due date, please remit the full tuition at the time of enrollment.
If you have questions you need to first ask -- about the course, about payment, about the exams, or anything else -- you can call Michele at 305-969-2012 and she will be happy to answer any additional questions you may have.
A few weeks before the course begins, you will receive a set of around 10 e-mails providing a lot of information (regarding course schedules, makeup videos, directions to the course location, extended time testing, test registration and more). Since we communicate mainly via e-mail, make sure that your e-mail account is set to receive drjeff@higherstandards.biz as a friendly e-mail address.
Again, thank you so much for your interest in Higher Standards for your test prep. We look forward to hopefully working with your family!
Sincerely,
Dr. & Mrs. Jeff & Michele Rothkopf
GENERAL COURSE SUMMARIES
We are offering three Comprehensive Prep courses in 2018...a Winter/Spring course (which runs from January through June), a Summer/Fall course (which runs from July through October), and a Fall/Winter course (which runs from September 2018 through March 2019). All three Comprehensive Prep courses will cover the same material and will simultaneously prepare students for the SAT, ACT and PSAT exams. You can view and download all of our currently-available schedules on our website at http://fl.higherstandards.biz/schedulesregistration.html.
All three Comprehensive Prep courses have a $1295 tuition. Students will be required to have a scientific or graphing calculator and to purchase the most recent versions of two books: The Official ACT Prep Guide and The Official SAT Study Guide. All regular class sessions will meet at in the conference room at the Hampton Inn at 8200 SW 70 Avenue, located behind Dadeland Station two blocks north of Dadeland Mall (near the corner of North Kendall Drive and South Dixie Highway).
We also plan to offer Test Analysis Follow-Up courses to Summer/Fall and Fall/Winter students who wish to extend their training to test dates in April, May and June 2019. These are not stand-alone programs, but they can be added to the Summer/Fall and Fall/Winter programs. During the follow-up courses, students take practice tests for homework; in class, we will go over the tests and analyze them in order to identify each individual's strengths and weaknesses. The primary goals are for each student to gain increasing familiarity & mastery over the SAT or ACT and for the student to focus his or her studies upon those identified areas of weakness so that the scores on subsequent practice exams and, ultimately, the actual exam continue to rise. Tuition discounts will be given to students who enroll in the follow-up courses on or before the first day of the Comprehensive Course. Pre-requisite: Students must take one of our Comprehensive Prep courses prior to taking a Test Analysis Follow-Up course.
COURSE RECOMMENDATIONS
First, an important note: Unlike 30 years ago, most students now take the SAT and/or ACT 2 - 4 times (sometimes more), taking advantage of the widespread use of “super-scoring”. For example, if the student takes the SAT exam in June and scores a 650 in the verbal sections and a 400 in the math section, and then that same student takes the SAT again in October and scores a 620 in the verbal section and a 640 in the math section, most schools (and scholarships such as the Florida Bright Futures scholarships) will combine the high verbal score (650) from June and the high math score (640) from October, leading to a 1290 score, which is the scoring level necessary for the highest level of the Bright Futures scholarships.
For students who will be in 12th grade in January 2018, the sole remaining option for a course that will finish before graduation day is our 2018 Winter/Spring course. The Winter/Spring course is geared toward the June SAT and June ACT exams, but 12th grade students are strongly encouraged to take additional exams along the way in order to take advantage of "super-scoring" and in order to meet the differing scholarship and college admission deadlines they may be faced with. Note that the Florida Bright Futures scholarships super-score test results from any and all test dates all the way through to the end of June in the year you are graduating. IMPORTANT NOTE: Since the course began in January, many classes have already met. While it is possible to join the course and even to catch up on some of the classes you missed (we videotape every class), if this is something you are interested in, contact us immediately.
For students who will be in 11th grade in January 2018, our top recommendation would be our 2018 Summer/Fall course our 2018-19 Fall/Winter course.
(1) The 2018 Summer/Fall course is the better choice for students who are currently in 11th grade. The course meets twice a week from mid-July through August, then once a week on the weekend once the school year begins. It is a much better option than the Fall/Winter course because it is geared toward the October SAT and ACT exams (students can take a second test along the way if they would like); this means it will be completed before the application deadlines for virtually every college and university. It also allows for a handful of subsequent test dates for students who wish to then tweak their scores even higher.
(2) The 2018 Fall/Winter course would be the best choice for students who were, for whatever reasons, unable to enroll in either the Winter/Spring or Summer/Fall course. The Fall/Winter course begins in September and will prepare for the February ACT and the March SAT exams that will take place in the student's senior year. Since it will end after some college application deadlines, the Summer/Fall course is preferable. However, it will still be good toward scholarships such as the Florida Bright Futures Scholarships as well as for schools with later or rolling application deadlines.
For students who will be in 9th or 10th grade in January 2018 and who wish to get an early start on their SAT and ACT preparation, boht of our upcoming course options are excellent choices.
(1) We recommend our Summer/Fall course if (a) you are available beginning in mid-July to attend classes twice a week during the summertime and once a week on the weekend once school begins, (b) you would like to have completed the main course curricula during the summertime (when conflicts with school are at a minimum) and very early into your junior year (by mid-October) and to then take your first SAT and ACT exams in the fall, and (c) you would like to have the undergone the full training in advance of the October PSAT (since the PSAT and SAT exams are nearly identical save for the inclusion of an essay on the latter, most of your SAT training will be equally applicable to the PSAT exam). Note that if you must miss two or three classes during the summertime because of a planned vacation, this is not a problem -- as long as the vacation ends a week before school begins, you can usually arrange to view makeup videos of the exact classes you missed.
(2) We recommend our Fall/Winter course if (a) you would have to miss several classes during the summertime and/or you are enrolling more than two or three weeks into the course, (b) you would prefer to extend your main course curricula through to the beginning of 2019, and/or (c) the Summer/Fall courses has already reached maximum enrollment.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Our programs often reach enrollment capacity, so we strongly urge interested students to enroll as soon as possible.
To guarantee a seat by reserving your space now, you can remit payment (either a $50 deposit or the full tuition) in either of two ways:
(1) Through credit card or bank withdrawal via PayPal. On our Schedules/Registration page, simply open the drop-down window beneath the course schedules you are interested in and select your preferred option.
(2) By sending a check or money order through the United States Postal Service to the following address:
Higher Standards
PO Box 161374
Miami, FL 33116-1374
Regardless of the method of payment, make sure to include a note with the payment (or in a separate e-mail to drjeff@higherstandards.biz) that provides both the student's and parents' names, contact phone numbers and e-mail addresses, as well as a note indicating the course into which you are enrolling. At the time of enrollment, please also mail or e-mail copies of all previous SAT, PSAT, ACT, PreACT and ASPIRE exams so that we have the most complete picture of the student’s scoring history...additionally, for our Summer/Fall and Fall/Winter programs, we will need this information in advance in order to place students into the best score-matched section of the course.
The balance of the course tuition will be due two-to-three weeks before the course begins (on June 30 for the Summer/Fall course, on August 29 for the Fall/Winter course, and on December 31 for the Winter/Spring course). If you are enrolling past the corresponding due date, please remit the full tuition at the time of enrollment.
If you have questions you need to first ask -- about the course, about payment, about the exams, or anything else -- you can call Michele at 305-969-2012 and she will be happy to answer any additional questions you may have.
A few weeks before the course begins, you will receive a set of around 10 e-mails providing a lot of information (regarding course schedules, makeup videos, directions to the course location, extended time testing, test registration and more). Since we communicate mainly via e-mail, make sure that your e-mail account is set to receive drjeff@higherstandards.biz as a friendly e-mail address.
Again, thank you so much for your interest in Higher Standards for your test prep. We look forward to hopefully working with your family!
Sincerely,
Dr. & Mrs. Jeff & Michele Rothkopf