Luke the Tutor - SAT & ACT Expert

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Luke the Tutor - SAT & ACT Expert Hi! My name's Luke and I've been tutoring for over 8 years.

I help students crush the SAT and ACT so they can save thousands on college with the massive scholarships they earn (plus, they get into some of the best schools in the country too).

09/24/2026

I'm an ACT tutor, but I don't think every student should keep retaking the ACT.

Here are 3 situations where I'd tell your teen it may be time to get the test behind them:

#1: They already have the score they need.

If your teen's current score accomplishes their admissions and scholarship goals, chasing another point just for the sake of having a higher score may not be worth the time.

#2: ACT prep is taking away from more important priorities.

Turning a 32 into a 33 might be nice, but not if the extra studying comes at the expense of their grades, college essays, extracurriculars, or other important parts of their application.

At some point, your teen's time may be better spent elsewhere.

#3: There's very little time left before an important deadline.

If your teen needs a significant score increase but only has a week or two to prepare, I'd be realistic about how much improvement is possible. Depending on their situation, that time may be better spent strengthening the rest of their application rather than trying to cram months of ACT prep into a few days.

The goal isn't to get the highest ACT score your teen could possibly get.

It's to get the score they need for their college and scholarship goals—and then get the test behind them.

Follow for more ACT and college admissions advice.

09/23/2026

Even strong math students forget some of the concepts the ACT loves to test.

After helping over 900 students raise their ACT scores, here are 3 topics I consistently see students struggle to remember:

#1: Geometry

Area, perimeter, volume, angles, circles... the list goes on. Many students haven't taken a dedicated geometry class in years by the time they take the ACT, so these rules and formulas may need a refresher.

#2: Probability

Your teen should understand basic probability, along with how to handle "and" and "or" probability questions. These can be easy points to lose if they don't remember the underlying rules.

#3: Types of numbers

Make sure your teen understands the differences between real and imaginary numbers, as well as rational and irrational numbers. Imaginary numbers in particular can catch students off guard if they haven't reviewed them recently.

Your teen doesn't want to see one of these questions on test day and think, "I remember learning this...I just don't remember how to do it."

Reviewing older concepts before the ACT can turn those forgotten topics back into points.

Follow for more advice on helping your teen raise their ACT score.

09/22/2026

If your teen scores higher on ACT practice tests than they do on the real exam, they may not need to learn more content.

The problem could be what changes on test day.

One common issue is time management. At home, your teen may comfortably finish every section. But on the real ACT, they get stuck trying to solve one difficult question, start double-checking everything, and suddenly run out of time.

The fix is to practice the SAME timing strategy they plan to use on test day. They need to know when to move on from a difficult question instead of letting it cost them easier points later.

The second issue is test-day nerves.

Have your teen recreate the real ACT as closely as possible before their exam. Take full-length practice tests in the morning, in one sitting, under strict timed conditions. The more familiar the experience feels, the easier it can be to stick to their normal process on test day.

I also recommend doing a few warm-up questions the morning of the ACT so they're already thinking through English, Math, and Reading before the test begins.

If your teen has already proven they can hit their target score at home, the next step is figuring out how to reproduce that performance when it actually counts.

If you want help, comment "accelerator" below and I'll send you my free ACT Accelerator with the process I've used to score a 36 three years in a row and help over 900 students raise their scores.

09/21/2026

Your teen may NOT need to improve every section of the ACT to raise their overall score.

That's where superscoring can completely change how they approach their prep.

Instead of trying to improve English, Math, and Reading all at once, your teen can focus heavily on just 1–2 sections before their next ACT.

For example, if English and Reading are their biggest weaknesses, they can spend most of their study time mastering those sections. Then, on a later ACT, they can shift their attention toward Math or whichever section still needs improvement.

Because many colleges superscore the ACT, they may consider your teen's highest section scores across multiple test dates when evaluating their score.

This can make ACT prep much more manageable. Instead of trying to become better at everything at once, your teen can narrow their focus, spend more time fixing their specific weaknesses, and build toward their target superscore over multiple attempts.

Just make sure to check the superscoring policies of the colleges on your teen's list before building your strategy around it.

Follow for more advice on helping your teen raise their ACT score and get the test behind them.

09/13/2026

There's a big difference between studying for the ACT and studying in a way that can produce a 5+ point improvement.

Here's what that difference can look like:

A student looking for a small improvement might study for 30 minutes here and there for a few weeks. A student trying to make a much bigger jump may need 30–60 minutes of focused work almost every day for several months.

A student might take one or two practice tests and hope their score improves. A student aiming for 5+ points will use practice sections regularly to identify weaknesses, while taking full-length tests every few weeks to measure their overall progress.

And instead of simply checking the answer key after a missed question, they'll figure out WHY they missed it, track the topics that keep causing problems, and spend time actually learning those concepts before testing again.

Even test day looks different. Rather than rolling out of bed and heading straight to the testing center, I recommend doing a short warm-up and reviewing the most important rules and strategies so they're already thinking like an ACT test-taker before the exam begins.

Big ACT improvements usually don't come from one secret strategy. They come from consistently studying, learning from mistakes, and making each practice test more productive than the last.

Follow for more advice on helping your teen raise their ACT score.

09/12/2026

If your teen is a few points below their target ACT score, they may be much closer than their official score suggests.

Here are 3 signs I'd look for:

#1: They've already hit their target score on a practice test.

That's proof they're capable of performing at that level. The next step is figuring out what's keeping those practice scores from translating to test day—whether that's timing, nerves, or consistency.

#2: They're a strong student outside of the ACT.

If your teen earns strong grades and succeeds in advanced classes like AP or IB, they likely already have a strong academic foundation. The challenge may be learning how to apply that knowledge to the ACT's specific style of questioning.

#3: They immediately understand their mistakes when reviewing them.

If your teen looks back at a missed question and says, "I can't believe I got that wrong," that's actually a good sign. They may not need to learn a bunch of new material. They just need to get better at slowing down at the right moments, reading carefully, and eliminating avoidable mistakes.

That's a very different situation from a student who reviews their missed questions and still has no idea how to solve them.

So don't judge how far your teen is from their goal based only on their official score. Look at what's actually causing the gap.

Follow for more advice on helping your teen reach their target ACT score.

09/11/2026

Does your teen actually need an ACT tutor?

Before spending thousands of dollars on ACT prep, I would ask these 3 questions:

#1: How many points does your teen need to improve?

If they only need a small improvement, I'd consider having them self-study first. But if they're several points away from the score they need, getting expert help may make more sense.

#2: How competitive does their score need to be?

Getting a 25 is a very different goal from trying to reach a 30, 32, or 34. The higher your teen's target gets, the smaller their margin for error becomes. A tutor can help identify the specific skills and mistakes keeping them from reaching those higher scores.

#3: How much time do you have?

If your teen has several months before their score matters, they may have time to self-study, see how much progress they can make, and hire a tutor later if necessary.

But if an important admissions or scholarship deadline is only 1–2 months away, you have much less room for trial and error.

Not every student needs an ACT tutor.

The decision should depend on how far your teen needs to go, how competitive their target is, and how much time they have to get there.

Follow for more advice on helping your teen raise their ACT score and navigate the college admissions process.

09/10/2026

Emery went from a 24 PreACT to a 32 ACT in just a month and a half.

She was already a strong student—a 3.8 GPA, multiple AP classes, and aspirations of attending competitive schools like UVA or UNC.

But her ACT score wasn't reflecting what she was capable of academically.

Instead of having her study everything, we figured out exactly what was costing her points on each section.

For English, her biggest weakness was punctuation. We broke down the specific rules she needed to know and taught her how to identify the different clauses in a sentence before choosing an answer.

For Math, we found several advanced concepts she simply hadn't learned or remembered from school, including harder geometry and trigonometry topics. We focused her studying specifically on those gaps.

For Reading, the problem was comprehension and timing. We worked on identifying the important information in each passage, finding details more efficiently, and eliminating the ACT's tricky wrong answers.

Then we continued testing, identifying the next set of weaknesses, and fixing them one by one.

The result: 24 → 32 in about six weeks.

Emery didn't suddenly become a better student in a month and a half. She already had the academic ability. She needed an ACT strategy that allowed her score to reflect it.

If your teen's ACT score isn't lining up with how well they do in school, send me a message. I'd be happy to look at what's going wrong and help you build a plan to raise their score.

09/10/2026

If your teen wants a 30+ ACT, they probably shouldn't spend the same amount of time studying every section.

Let's say your teen has a:

24 English
26 Math
28 Reading

Instead of splitting their study time evenly, I'd build their prep around those individual scores.

First, spend the most time on English because it's their biggest weakness. They may need several weeks of focused practice to identify the specific question types they're missing and get that 24 closer to a 28 or 29.

At the same time, Reading may only need a week or two of focused review. They're already starting at a 28, so the goal is to push that stronger section above 30 and lock in the best score they can.

Then, they can use another ACT attempt to focus more heavily on Math and take advantage of superscoring to bring everything together.

The goal isn't to make every section perfect at the same time.

It's to be strategic about where your teen spends their limited study time, improve the sections that give them the biggest opportunities, and build toward their target superscore over multiple attempts.

If you want help building your teen's study plan, comment "accelerator" below and I'll send you my free ACT Accelerator. It includes the process I've used to score a 36 three years in a row, plus a sample study plan based on what I've used to help over 900 students raise their scores.

09/06/2026

If your teen is struggling to break a 30 on the ACT, their mistakes probably fall into one of three categories.

Mistake #1: Content mistakes.

This happens when a student doesn't know what a question is testing or doesn't know the rule they need to solve it. You might hear them say, "I had no idea how to start" or "I got it down to two answers but couldn't decide." These students need to identify the concepts they're missing, learn the rules, and practice recognizing when the ACT is testing them.

Mistake #2: Timing mistakes.

This happens when students spend too long on difficult questions and don't have enough time for the rest of the section. These students need to improve their efficiency and learn when to skip a difficult problem, grab the easier points first, and come back to it later.

Mistake #3: Ex*****on mistakes.

These are the frustrating ones. Your teen knows the content, finishes on time, and then looks back at a missed question and says, "How did I get THAT wrong?" These students need to slow down at the right moments and build in time to double-check their work for misreads, calculation errors, and other careless mistakes.

The key is figuring out WHICH type of mistake is costing your teen points. Once you know that, you can build their ACT prep around actually fixing the problem instead of just studying more.

If you want help doing that, comment "accelerator" below and I'll send you my free ACT Accelerator guide with the same process I've used to score a 36 three years in a row and help over 900 students raise their scores.

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