Why do I give all this SAT advice away for free

?id? Lately, a lot of people have been asking me why I chose to start posting my SAT techniques on the web for free. "Aren't you afraid your students won't need you anymore? they say. Well, no, actually, I'm not! First of all, I post these techniques for the benefit of students who are bright and motivated but perhaps cannot afford to pay for a private tutor. As a product of the public school system myself (kindergarten through senior year of high school), I am proud to know that my advice is helping those who need it most. Secondly, I know that no service will ever replace the benefits of having one's own private tutor. For me, the beauty of one-on-one tutoring is that I "custom fit" each lesson to reflect each student's particular needs and personality, and I don't have to waste time repeating things that the student already understands. Those of you who have taken a class, only to become dissatisfied and start working with a private tutor instead (many of my students are in this categ ory) know exactly what I am talking about. This blog also helps my current students. For example, instead of having to waste valuable lesson time by reciting a list of math formulas to students, I can simply refer them to my "10 Essential Math Formulas" blog entry. This is why most of my SAT prep students only have to work with me for around 15 hours (as opposed to the 30 hours that most tutoring companies will quote you). I know that my services are not cheap, so I pride myself on being a very efficient tutor. This blog allows me to be even more efficient. Another concern that my friends and family have expressed about this blog is that other tutors will "steal" my techniques. Well, I'm not worried about that either. In fact, I don't mind if it happens, so long as they give me the credit (Other SAT tutors nationwide: feel free to refer your students to this site!) After a decade of studying the SAT from every angle, I am convinced that I understand this test as well as anyone else in the country, and I know that imitation is the highest form of flattery. I also encourage all McElroy Tutoring SAT tutors to use these techniques freely--I've put a decade of hard work into them and I can say with assurance that they are the best techniques available. Besides, the true test of SAT tutors is not in their own grades, test scores, company affiliations or college degrees...it's in how much their students' SAT scores improve. And my SAT students have the some of best score improvements in the business (an average of 254 points). I stand by our results, and I'm happy to say that nearly all our clients are referred by another satisfied customer. I am also aware that certain unethical tutors will print out this SAT advice and start passing it off as their own to gain credibility. Hey, plagiarism has existed since the dawn of time, and I'm not going to let that prevent me from posting. Besides, if your tutor isn't smart enough to write any of his/her own materials, what do es that say about the tutor's capabilities? Just the other day, for example, I discovered that a well-known North County tutor had plagiarized an entire section of his website from another tutoring company's site. Would you trust your student's SAT Essay scores to a tutor who can't even write his own copy? Some of you do make a good point about my giving up some future monetary profit by publishing these tips for free on the web. I could probably compile all of these SAT tips into book format, then write a SAT prep book of my own and maybe even make some big bucks if the book sells well. But I'd rather give this advice away for free on the web, because I enjoy sharing my knowledge and experiences with others and I like the immediacy of the internet. Plus, I'm active in politics and philanthropic causes, so I love the fact that this blog allows me to help students of all backgrounds reach their full potential. Of course, the beefed-up google results we receive from the attention of o ur online readers isn't bad for my tutoring company either! By the way, those of you who are studying for the SAT and also have your own web pages should feel free to link your friends to this site. Other SAT tutors have my permission to use the material on this site as well--as we all are taught in high school and college, it's not plagiarism so long as you don't pretend you wrote it. I mean, after all, it is FREE SAT ADVICE that you can print up and study, no strings attached. No hefty credit card fees or secret passcodes to worry about. How can you beat that? Free is good, people. -Brian