SAT: "concentrate on specific concepts to narrow the focus"

quotes below are from
"An Ivy approach to SAT preparation"
By Kristin E. Holmes
Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted on Sat, Jun. 20, 2009
www.philly.com/philly/news/local/
48667252.html?cmpid=15585797

Nicholas Green, ... 24-year-old Harvard University graduate, achieved a series of perfect scores on the SAT while a teenager. Later, in 2003, he founded a test-preparation firm that trades on the mystique of the Ivy League and a skepticism of college entrance exams.
His company, Ivy Insiders, based in Cambridge, Mass., is blanketing the Philadelphia area for the first time this summer....
"We show that the test is beatable," Green said. "It's not about being a genius, but about understanding the content and how it's being tested. That can be a very empowering thing for students wrapped up in the myth of the SAT."
The myth, he said, is the belief that college admission tests measure the knowledge students have crammed into their brains by the time they sit down with an answer sheet and a No. 2 pencil....
It's the approach that matters, and he describes his as game-oriented and irreverent.
The Ivy Insiders course concentrates on specific concepts to narrow the focus in subjects such as English and math. Students then learn the types of "predictable" questions that test those concepts, Green said. Repeated practice on actual exams rounds out the curriculum.
...
Last year, Green said, his company's 1,600 students averaged a 265-point gain. Fees range from $699 for class sessions (34 hours plus four practice tests) to $2,399 for 30 hours of individual tutoring. Discounts and financial aid are available.
Test coaching typically costs about $400 for online courses, $1,100 for in-person classroom workshops, and $100 to 200 per hour for in-person tutoring, the NACAC study said.

(underscores added by blogger)