Frequently Asked Questions

How do you determine what each student needs?
The first thing a student does is to take a diagnostic test, which is automatically graded. The student is then assessed on his or her understanding of nearly 200 concepts (the 200 that are tested by the SAT). The student is then assigned lessons to cover the concepts she does not fully understand.

Are kids accountable? That is, are you checking to see whether they actually do the work assigned to them? I don’t want to waste $299.
Every student is assigned a certain sequence of lessons, spread across a weekly calendar. If the student gets behind in the lessons, both the student and the parent (if the parent has signed up for it) receive an email reminder, saying that the schedule is not being kept. Similarly, if a student gets ahead of schedule, s/he receives an email saying that s/he's outperforming the calendar, and suggesting that s/he commit to more lessons in order to get even more out of the system.

What is the best time of year to prepare for the SAT?
Summer is ideal because students are less busy in the summer. However, if they are traveling around on holiday or working full-time jobs, the school year can also work.

Is it best for students to prepare for the SAT between their sophomore and junior year or at some later point?
It's best for a student to wait until s/he's seen at least 1 semester of algebra and 1 semester of geometry. For some students, that can be as early as freshman year. For some, it can be as late as junior year. It's not the age of the student that matters, but the education background. Having said that, the majority of students have seen at least 1 semester of algebra and 1 semester of geometry by the end (usually the middle) of sophomore year.

What if my child needs more time to study? Does the Lumina Prep subscription have a time limit?
The standard subscription lasts six months. If a student wants to continue studying beyond that period, Lumina will generally grant a continued subscription. We need to protect our copyrighted material, but we don’t want to discourage motivated study!

What’s this taxonomy all about again?
The taxonomy carves the SAT at its joints. We’ve broken the test down into its parts, and found that the SAT tests about 200 concepts. Every question a student answers on the Lumina Prep system is coded for the concept(s) that it tests. By assessing which questions a student answers correctly, we can determine which concepts s/he does not fully understand. We then assign the student lessons targeting precisely those concepts.

Does a person actually teach my child? What kind of interaction are we talking about?
Lumina Prep is a completely automated system. That means your child can study at any time of the night or day without scheduling a tutor to watch over his or her shoulder. If your child does have a problem with any aspect of the Lumina Prep system, we are available to answer questions and resolve issues. We have never let a problem linger for more than 24 hours.