About our Courses
Thank you for your interest in our upcoming 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 two Comprehensive Prep courses for the 2017-18 school year...a Summer/Fall course and a Fall/Winter course. Both Comprehensive Prep courses will cover the same material and will simultaneously prepare students for the SAT, ACT and PSAT exams. In addition, we will be offering extension classes to students who wish to continue their training in the spring. You can view and download all of our currently-available schedules on our website at http://fl.higherstandards.biz/schedulesregistration.html.
Both the Summer/Fall and Fall/Winter SAT/ACT preparation courses will 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 students who wish to extend their training to test dates in April, May and June 2018. These are not stand-alone programs, but they can be added to any Comprehensive Prep course. 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 the Summer/Fall or Fall/Winter Comprehensive Prep course prior to taking a Test Analysis Follow-Up course.
For all of our courses, students will be required to have a scientific or graphing calculator and to purchase two books: "The Official ACT Prep Guide” (latest edition) and "The Official SAT Study Guide” (latest edition). All Comprehensive and Targeted class sessions will meet 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).
COURSE RECOMMENDATIONS
First, an important note: Unlike 30 years ago, most students now take the SAT and/or ACT 2 - 4 times, 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 September 2017, our Fall/Winter course is the final chance to enroll in one of our programs before graduation day. The course will prepare students for the February ACT and March SAT exams, but 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 deadlines they may be faced with. They should take the October 2017 exam if they are applying to any schools via Early Action or Early Decision or if the October exam is the last admissible test date for one or more of the schools to which they are applying. For regular deadlines, both the November and December tests are usually admissible (check with your preferred colleges to confirm this), so taking the tests during at least one of those months would be advisable (if it's one OR the other and if it falls within the application deadlines, we recommend the December test in order to have the most training under your belt). At the end of the course, students should plan to take the February ACT and March SAT if ANY of their schools have later application deadlines OR if they are still looking to raise their score levels high enough to make them eligible for scholarships such as the Florida Bright Futures scholarships (all tests taken during the senior year are applicable toward Bright Futures scholarships).
For students who will be in 11th grade in September 2017, our Fall/Winter courses is recommended. It prepares for the February 2018 ACT and the March 2018 SAT exams; while all enrolled students should plan to take the exams in those months, iif students wish to take a second exam along the way, we recommend the December SAT and ACT test dates in order to have more training under their belts. (Students in 11th grade should also be planning to take the PSAT at their local high school in October 2017.) While neither the SAT nor the ACT is inherently more easy or more difficult than the other, some students will find, by the end of the Comprehensive Course, that they will be scoring significantly and consistently better on one test than on the other. In the second half of their junior year, students who wish to further raise their scores can enroll in our abbreviated Test Analysis Follow-Up courses, which extend the training to the April, May and June 2018 test dates. They can opt to continue their training toward both exams or toward the test on which they are strongest. For some students, their scores will be high enough by the end of their junior year so that they can end their test-taking journey early; for students who feel they would like to further improve their scores, they will then have the first half of their senior year to do so. (Note: If for some reason it is impossible to enroll in our prep course during your junior year, you can still elect to enroll in our 2018 Summer/Fall Comprehensive Prep Course. While that schedule is not yet available, you can view the 2017 version on this website to see, approximately, what next year's schedule would look like.)
For students who will be in 9th or 10th grade in September 2017 and who wish to get an early start on their SAT and ACT preparation, our Fall/Winter program will provide full preparation. Note that you should only be considering taking our prep course this year if you plan to take the SAT and ACT exams immediately after the course has been completed. Read the discussion for upcoming juniors (in red, above) for further guidance. If you would prefer to wait until next year, both our 2018 Summer/Fall and Fall//Winter programs will be excellent options. While the 2018 schedules are not yet available, they should be similar to our 2017 courses, so take a look at this year's schedules to get an idea what the 2018 ones will look like. 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 be absent for one or two classes, this is not a problem -- you can arrange to view makeup videos of the exact classes you missed. 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 weeks into the course, (b) you would prefer to extend your main course curricula through to the beginning of 2018, and/or (c) the Summer/Fall course has already reached maximum enrollment.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Last year's Fall/Winter program reached enrollment capacity before the first day of the course, so some students who wanted to enroll were unable to do so. Since it is possible the same may occur in 2017, 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...we will need this information in order to place students into the best score-matched section of the course.
The balance of the course tuition will be due two weeks before the course begins (on June 30 for the Summer/Fall course and on August 29 for the Fall/Winter course). If you are enrolling past that date, please remit the full tuition.
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.
Within 48 hours of your enrollment, 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 two Comprehensive Prep courses for the 2017-18 school year...a Summer/Fall course and a Fall/Winter course. Both Comprehensive Prep courses will cover the same material and will simultaneously prepare students for the SAT, ACT and PSAT exams. In addition, we will be offering extension classes to students who wish to continue their training in the spring. You can view and download all of our currently-available schedules on our website at http://fl.higherstandards.biz/schedulesregistration.html.
Both the Summer/Fall and Fall/Winter SAT/ACT preparation courses will 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 students who wish to extend their training to test dates in April, May and June 2018. These are not stand-alone programs, but they can be added to any Comprehensive Prep course. 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 the Summer/Fall or Fall/Winter Comprehensive Prep course prior to taking a Test Analysis Follow-Up course.
For all of our courses, students will be required to have a scientific or graphing calculator and to purchase two books: "The Official ACT Prep Guide” (latest edition) and "The Official SAT Study Guide” (latest edition). All Comprehensive and Targeted class sessions will meet 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).
COURSE RECOMMENDATIONS
First, an important note: Unlike 30 years ago, most students now take the SAT and/or ACT 2 - 4 times, 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 September 2017, our Fall/Winter course is the final chance to enroll in one of our programs before graduation day. The course will prepare students for the February ACT and March SAT exams, but 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 deadlines they may be faced with. They should take the October 2017 exam if they are applying to any schools via Early Action or Early Decision or if the October exam is the last admissible test date for one or more of the schools to which they are applying. For regular deadlines, both the November and December tests are usually admissible (check with your preferred colleges to confirm this), so taking the tests during at least one of those months would be advisable (if it's one OR the other and if it falls within the application deadlines, we recommend the December test in order to have the most training under your belt). At the end of the course, students should plan to take the February ACT and March SAT if ANY of their schools have later application deadlines OR if they are still looking to raise their score levels high enough to make them eligible for scholarships such as the Florida Bright Futures scholarships (all tests taken during the senior year are applicable toward Bright Futures scholarships).
For students who will be in 11th grade in September 2017, our Fall/Winter courses is recommended. It prepares for the February 2018 ACT and the March 2018 SAT exams; while all enrolled students should plan to take the exams in those months, iif students wish to take a second exam along the way, we recommend the December SAT and ACT test dates in order to have more training under their belts. (Students in 11th grade should also be planning to take the PSAT at their local high school in October 2017.) While neither the SAT nor the ACT is inherently more easy or more difficult than the other, some students will find, by the end of the Comprehensive Course, that they will be scoring significantly and consistently better on one test than on the other. In the second half of their junior year, students who wish to further raise their scores can enroll in our abbreviated Test Analysis Follow-Up courses, which extend the training to the April, May and June 2018 test dates. They can opt to continue their training toward both exams or toward the test on which they are strongest. For some students, their scores will be high enough by the end of their junior year so that they can end their test-taking journey early; for students who feel they would like to further improve their scores, they will then have the first half of their senior year to do so. (Note: If for some reason it is impossible to enroll in our prep course during your junior year, you can still elect to enroll in our 2018 Summer/Fall Comprehensive Prep Course. While that schedule is not yet available, you can view the 2017 version on this website to see, approximately, what next year's schedule would look like.)
For students who will be in 9th or 10th grade in September 2017 and who wish to get an early start on their SAT and ACT preparation, our Fall/Winter program will provide full preparation. Note that you should only be considering taking our prep course this year if you plan to take the SAT and ACT exams immediately after the course has been completed. Read the discussion for upcoming juniors (in red, above) for further guidance. If you would prefer to wait until next year, both our 2018 Summer/Fall and Fall//Winter programs will be excellent options. While the 2018 schedules are not yet available, they should be similar to our 2017 courses, so take a look at this year's schedules to get an idea what the 2018 ones will look like. 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 be absent for one or two classes, this is not a problem -- you can arrange to view makeup videos of the exact classes you missed. 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 weeks into the course, (b) you would prefer to extend your main course curricula through to the beginning of 2018, and/or (c) the Summer/Fall course has already reached maximum enrollment.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Last year's Fall/Winter program reached enrollment capacity before the first day of the course, so some students who wanted to enroll were unable to do so. Since it is possible the same may occur in 2017, 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...we will need this information in order to place students into the best score-matched section of the course.
The balance of the course tuition will be due two weeks before the course begins (on June 30 for the Summer/Fall course and on August 29 for the Fall/Winter course). If you are enrolling past that date, please remit the full tuition.
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.
Within 48 hours of your enrollment, 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
