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

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the cost of this program?

The tuition is $999 per student. Some of our partner schools subsidize all or a portion of the tuition, so you may be eligible for a discount on this and other Playbook prep programs.

What are the qualifications of the instructor?

Our course instructor is renowned in test preparation and has sterling academic credentials: he is Ivy League-educated, earned a National Merit Scholarship in high school, and has earned dozens of perfect scores on the verbal portion of the SAT, GMAT, and GRE. But much more importantly, the instructor who will be leading the program is patient, funny, nurturing, and 100% dedicated to his students. Since 2006, he has coached thousands of students to reach their highest potential on the Reading and Writing and Language sections of the SAT.

How many students are in each session?

The course averages 15 students per session. Participants benefit not only from the expertise of our instructor, but also from each other. Unlike other courses, which combine students of varying aspirations and abilities, AIMING FOR 800 unites bright, ambitious young men and women into a cohesive group of students committed to maximizing their score. Students benefit from questions posed by other top students and from one-on-one feedback from our instructor.

What is the average score improvement?

The vast majority of participants begin with an SAT Verbal score in the 600s out of 800. Students whose starting scores range from 600 to 650 average 110 points improvement. Students whose starting scores range from 660 to 700 average 80 points improvement. Students whose starting scores range from 700 to 730 average 50 points improvement. And students whose starting scores range from 740 to 760 average 30 points improvement. Aiming for 800 is ideally suited for students aiming to improve from the 600s to the mid-700s (or higher) in SAT Verbal. We do not recommend our course for students who have already attained a score of 770 or higher. (The course is simply unnecessary for such students.)

What if I’m below 600? Will this course be too advanced or fast-paced for me?

Yes, quite possibly, but it depends on how many times you have already taken the SAT and on what coaching or test preparation you’ve already had. If you are concerned that this course may be too rigorous for you, please email us at info@LearnThePlaybook.com and we will gladly address your questions and provide guidance. 

What if I haven’t taken the SAT yet?

That’s not an issue. Many course participants have yet to take an official SAT exam, though the majority have at least taken a practice test to gauge their current score levels in Math and Verbal.

What age group is this course intended for—rising juniors? Seniors? How about rising sophomores?

Historically, half of the participants are rising juniors. Rising sophomores and seniors evenly comprise the other half of the participants. The rising tenth graders who take this program tend to be academically precocious and are looking for a major head start on their test preparation.

Can SAT Reading even be “coached?” I know that the SAT’s Writing and Language Test is coachable—so many of the questions simply test students’ knowledge of proper written English—but what about SAT Reading? That section seems to be really hard to master if a student has not been much of a reader.

Our answer is an emphatic yes: SAT Reading is just as coachable as SAT Math and SAT Writing and Language—arguably more so than those other test sections. Admittedly, SAT Reading is easier to tackle if a student has been an avid reader his or her whole life. However, very few students—even ones who are voracious readers—spend their free time reading densely-worded passages on such fascinating topics as soil decomposition and geese migration in Southern New Zealand. In other words, very few students spend their time reading the kind of passages featured on the SAT’s Reading Test, which is why even A.P. English students who have Jane Austen posters in their room find the SAT’s verbal sections challenging. We have devised a proven system that teaches students how to tackle each type of passage they’re going to encounter (Literature, Social Science, Natural Science, and History); how to quickly identify the main idea in lengthy reading passages; and how to differentiate between tricky answer choices that seem to be the same.

Do you cover both the SAT’s Reading Test and Writing and Language Test? What about the optional Essay?

We cover all aspects of the SAT’s Reading Test and Writing and Language Test, but we do not address the optional SAT Essay, which is currently being phased out of college admissions.

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.