The Digital SAT is coming. Get ready to ace it.

EMOJI-WORTHY RESULTS, One Student at a time

At The Playbook, our success stories speak (and text) for themselves. We’re proud to have the highest satisfaction rating of every test prep and admissions firm on TrustPilot, a reputation we continue to build one student at a time. 

We provide tutoring and prep courses for the SAT and ACT and guidance on all aspects of college admissions, from helping students discover schools that match their unique preferences and aspirations to crafting application essays designed to linger in the minds of admissions officers. 

Every member of our team is a subject matter expert with that rare combination of enthusiasm, emotional intelligence, and empathy that separates mere tutors from teachers capable of insiring students to reach their utmost potential.

Whether you’re looking to ace the new digital SAT and PSAT, dramatically improve your performance in SAT Reading, or enhance your chances of admission to your first-choice college, we have a proven playbook to help you achieve your goal.

WEEKEND BOOT CAMPS

Efficient, effective and engaging. Our weekend Boot Camps are the most popular way to learn how to ace the SAT or ACT or perfect your college applications essays.

ONE WEEKEND. EVERY STRATEGY YOU NEED TO KNOW.

SAT Boot Camp

Shortcuts for tricky Math questions. Strategies for uncovering hidden clues in Reading passages. Techniques for avoiding sneaky trap answers. March into the SAT with confidence, momentum, and every key strategy fresh in your mind.
ONE WEEKEND. EVERY STRATEGY YOU NEED TO KNOW.

ACT Boot Camp

Strategies for Reading faster without sacrificing comprehension. Techniques for deciphering confusing Science passages and graphs. Shortcuts for math problems that stump 95% of test-takers. March into the ACT with confidence, momentum, and every key strategy fresh in your mind.

ELITE COURSES

Specialized programs for highly-ambitious students targeting perfect or near-perfect scores.

ADVANCED VERBAL STRATEGIES FOR A.P. STUDENTS

Aiming for 800

The ultimate course for ambitious students who wish to go from a very good SAT Reading and Writing score to a truly elite score. Ideal for A.P. students who are gifted in STEM and capable of earning a top score in SAT Math but have yet to achieve an SAT Reading and Writing score of 750 or higher.

9

The average years of teaching experience for our instructors and admissions advisors.

260

The average SAT score-improvement for our students during the 2021-’22 academic year.

4.9

The average student rating, out of 5, for all of our courses – the highest rating of any test prep and college admissions firm on Trust Pilot.

0

The average number of naps taken by our students during our courses and programs.

LOCALLY SOURCED. ECO-FRIENDLY.
AND 100% NON-GMO.

From an engineer who plays the banjo to a linguist who leads mission trips to Haiti, our instructors are creative, conscientious, intellectually-feisty, and—above all—committed to you.
Meet the mighty minds who call The Playbook home.

ADAM

University of Michigan-educated. Handsomely bespectacled. And gifted with any instrument capable of being strummed.

CORRINE

Duke-educated. Super into skiing. And head over wheels for roller derby.

ADAM

Northwestern-educated. Devoted to data. And keen on anything relating to writing, performing, and live music.

9

The average years of teaching experience for our instructors and admissions advisors.

260

The average SAT score-improvement for our students during the 2021-’22 academic year.

4.9

The average student rating, out of 5, for all of our courses – the highest rating of any test prep and college admissions firm on Trust Pilot.

0

The average number of naps taken by our students during our courses and programs.

“We’re so thankful to have The Playbook as our exclusive prep partner. Jared and his team have been beyond dedicated to our school, even helping students outside of class with free academic support and admissions advice. And our average SAT and PSAT scores have soared. The Playbook’s Future National Merit Scholars program doubled our number of National Merit Scholarship winners, and the vast majority of our juniors improved by 100 to 300 points over their previous SAT score.”

Holly Barbarossa
The Mary Louis Academy
Jamaica Estates, NY

ACTUAL STUDENT TEXTIMONIALS

“Ivy League Tutors is awesome! I love studying SAT algebra every Saturday morning!”
– Billy B., Hamilton High School

Oh, come on. Do you think that any high school student in the history of teenagers has ever said anything that glowing about an SAT prep class – even one of ours?

At The Playbook, we don’t fabricate reviews or pay people to proclaim their love for us. The testimonials and textimonials you see throughout our site are all real, all recent, and all from actual students just like you.

LATEST ARTICLES & ADVICE

We can’t tell you how to achieve a flatter tummy or the 11 secret superfoods you should be eating (though we at The Playbook are pretty fond of Goji berries, for what it’s worth).

However, we can tell you all about college admissions and testing, so check out our latest articles for up-to-date information and advice, from the questionable value of being well-rounded to COVID’s impact on the SAT and ACT.

The pandemic has affected the role of standardized tests in college admissions, but don’t throw away your No. 2 pencils just yet.

Way back in the early ‘90s, when we, the non-Millennial members of The Playbook, were in high school, there was a popular TV show, Doogie Howser

Does the PSAT actually count for anything or is it simply practice?

THE HIGHEST-RATED

We’re proud to have the highest rating of every test prep and admissions firm on TrustPilot. Here are recent reviews from students, parents, and schools.

Apr 10 - May 29 Schedule

Class 1: WED, APR 10, 2024, 07:30 PM – 9:00 PM EST

Class 2: WED, APR 17, 2024, 07:30 PM – 9:00 PM EST

Class 3: WED, APR 24, 2024, 07:30 PM – 9:00 PM EST

Class 4:  WED, MAY 1, 2024, 07:30 PM – 9:00 PM EST

Class 5: WED, MAY 8, 2024, 07:30 PM – 9:00 PM EST

Class 6:  WED, MAY 15, 2024, 07:30 PM – 9:00 PM EST

Class 7:  WED, MAY 22, 2024, 07:30 PM – 9:00 PM EST

Class 8: WED, MAY 29, 2024, 07:30 PM – 9:00 PM EST

Aug 27 - Oct 4 Schedule

Class 1: SUN, AUG 27, 2023, 12:30 PM – 02:30 PM EDT

Class 2: WED, AUG 30, 2023, 07:00 PM – 09:00 PM EDT

Class 3: WED, SEPT 6, 2023, 07:00 PM – 09:00 PM EDT

Class 4: SUN, SEPT 10, 2023, 12:30 PM – 02:30 PM EDT

Class 5: WED, SEPT 13, 2023, 07:00 PM – 09:00 PM EDT

Class 6: SUN, SEPT 17, 2023, 12:30 PM – 02:30 PM EDT

Class 7: WED, SEPT 20, 2023, 07:00 PM – 09:00 PM EDT

Class 8: SUN, SEPT 24, 2023, 12:30 PM – 02:30 PM EDT

Class 9: WED, SEPT 27, 2023, 07:00 PM – 09:00 PM EDT

Class 10: WED, OCT 4, 2023, 07:00 PM – 09:00 PM EDT

Jul 17 - Aug 16 Schedule

Class 1: MON, JUL 17, 2023, 07:00 PM – 09:00 PM EDT

Class 2: WED, JUL 19, 2023, 07:00 PM – 09:00 PM EDT

Class 3: MON, JUL 24, 2023, 07:00 PM – 09:00 PM EDT

Class 4: WED, JUL 26, 2023, 07:00 PM – 09:00 PM EDT

Class 5: MON, JUL 31, 2023, 07:00 PM – 09:00 PM EDT

Class 6: WED, AUG 2, 2023, 07:00 PM – 09:00 PM EDT

Class 7: MON, AUG 7, 2023, 07:00 PM – 09:00 PM EDT

Class 8: WED, AUG 9, 2023, 07:00 PM – 09:00 PM EDT

Class 9: MON, AUG 14, 2023, 07:00 PM – 09:00 PM EDT

Class 10: WED AUG 16, 2023, 07:00 PM – 09:00 PM EDT

100 THINGS MOST TEENAGERS WOULD RATHER DO THAN PREP FOR THE SAT OR ACT

1. Visit the orthodontist. 2. Watch PBS. 3. Go an entire week without rolling their eyes at their parents. 4. Watch C-SPAN. 5. Retake their AP Chem final. 6. Intern at a local CPA’s office. 7. Turn off their cell phone. 8. Mop the kitchen. 9. Clean their bathroom. 10. Renounce social media. 11. Write a 10-page history paper. 12. Get a bunch of allergy shots. 13. Wait in line at the post office. 14. Watch the Weather Channel. 15. Be abducted by aliens. 16. Attend a clarinet recital. 17. Tour a Soviet-era nuclear plant. 18. Eat a healthy and nutritious dinner. 19. Do calisthenics. 20. Bake snickerdoodle cookies for that guy who’s always loitering by his van. 21. Watch a black-and-white foreign film without subtitles. 22. Clean out the rain gutters. 23. Pretend they’re 42 and recently divorced. 24. Listen to NPR’s Weekend Edition. 25. Read a newspaper. 26. Visit the DMV. 27. Eat crispy fried tarantulas (considered a delicacy in Cambodia). 28. Serve as a “breath odor evaluator” for a toothpaste company. (Yes, this job actually exists.) 29. Go on a double date with their parents. 30. Undergo dental surgery. 31. Babysit their annoying stepbrother. 32. Empty Mr. Whisker’s litter box. 33. Take out the trash. 34. Clean the rain gutters. 35. Tell their parents they’d like to sit down to discuss the Birds n’ the Bees. 36. Stare at a blank television screen for several hours. 37. Be fitted for orthodontic headgear. 38. Organize their closet. 39. Vacuum their entire house. 40. Eat that substance their school cafeteria claims is Sloppy Joe. 41. Kiss Tucker Carlson. 42. Make origami turtles for the residents of a local nursing home. 43. Do a few hundred burpees. 44. Try Uncle Morris’s beef stew. 45. Watch Hillbilly Handfishin’ on Animal Planet. 46. Eat “bird’s nest” soup, which sounds kind of scrumptious unless you know the broth is made from bird SALIVA. 47. Set up an Facebook account for Grandma. 48. Start a backyard garden. 49. Dust home furnishings. 50. Do an exercise known as the “Bulgarian Split Squat.” 51. Help Dad trim his back hair. 52. Hunt for spare change between the sofa cushions. 53. Hunt for leftover Cheez-Its between the sofa cushions. 54. Mow the lawn. 55. Learn how to knit. 56. Research Wikipedia’s entry on the history of Q- tips. 57. Count how many times they can blink in one hour. 58. Compose a haiku. 59. Do one of the American Dental Association’s oral disease-themed jigsaw puzzles. 60. Watch televised bowling. 61. Give Grandpa a foot massage. 62. Give Grandma a foot massage. 63. Play tea party with their six-year-old stepsister. 64. Read The Red Badge of Courage. 65. Browse Burlington Coat Factory’s fall collection. 66. Floss. 67. Listen to The Scarlett Letter on audiobook. 68. Watch televised bowling. 69. Lie really, really still and pretend they’re deceased. 70. Join their twelve-year-old sister and all of her friends for a dance party!!! 71. Wash their parents’ minivan. 72. Journal about their feelings. 72. Give themselves a haircut. 73. Make homemade kombucha. 74. Learn to crochet. 75. Get a head start on their LinkedIn profile. 76. Watch a black- and-white movie marathon. 77. Visit the library. 78. Run a relay race. 79. Eat slimy san-nakji, which is considered a delicacy in Korea. 80. Eat khash, a traditional dish in Southeastern Europe that is so disgusting you’re just going to have to Google it to find out what it’s made of. 81. Eat the Swedish delicacy blodpättar, which kind of sounds like what it is. 81. Eat bat soup, a traditional dish in Micronesia. 82. Eat harkarl, rotten shark meat that is considered a delicacy in Iceland. 83. Eat the Scottish dish known as haggis. 84. Eat escamol, a Mexican dish that kind of looks like it’s made of rice but definitely isn’t. 85. Eat “Rocky Mountain Oysters,” which, despite the name, may not be from the Rocky Mountains and definitely are not oysters. 86. Wrestle an alligator. 87. Be a “professional apologizer,” a person whose actual full-time job is to apologize on behalf of other people. 88. Be an ostrich babysitter, which is apparently something people do in South Africa. 89. Ponder what life would have been like if they had been born in Kazakhstan. 90. Take a transatlantic flight on Biman Bangladesh Airlines, widely considered the worst airline in the entire world. 91. Eat fugu, a potentially lethal blowfish. 92. Do a form of running exercise known as “laps of misery.” 93. Walk the neighbor’s dog. 94. Clean their room. 95. Frolic naked through the mall. 96. Do a handstand on two fingers. 97. Do one-armed chin-ups. 98. Do a form of exercise known as a “flying human flag abdominal crunch.” 99. Watch the 2011 movie Tree of Life. (Trust us, it’s booooring.) 100. Use sock puppets to practice their future networking skills.