Private Tutoring, Test Prep & College Admissions Counseling in New York

The passing requirement is being phased out; the exams are not being abolished. The Board of Regents adopted the Portrait of a Graduate in July 2025, and NYSED has stated that current graduation requirements remain in effect for all public school students until amended diploma regulations are formally approved. Students will still sit Regents exams for federal accountability, and districts may keep them as one graduation pathway. Check your district’s current guidance rather than assuming the requirement is gone.

Yes, for two reasons. They remain a diploma requirement right now under existing regulations, and the New York State Scholarships for Academic Excellence are selected on a weighted average of Regents scores, with English and Algebra II weighted triple. That makes the Algebra II Regents a scholarship exam for a sophomore in a competitive district, whatever happens to the graduation rule.

Only in New York City. The NYC public school system offers a free in-school SAT to its own juniors. There is no statewide program, so students on Long Island, in Rockland, the Hudson Valley, the Capital District or the Rochester and Buffalo suburbs register and pay for the test themselves. That is a meaningful difference in how the testing calendar gets built.

No. SUNY has suspended the SAT and ACT requirement, and Binghamton and Stony Brook are both test-optional. Because their submitted middle 50% ranges run roughly 1340 to 1490 and 1330 to 1500, students from Syosset, Jericho or Pittsford generally treat a submission as a tiebreaker rather than a requirement, and submit only when the score clears the range.

Realistically 1520 or above out of a well-known feeder district, with Cornell’s 1490 to 1550 middle 50% the benchmark most families calibrate against. These districts send dense applicant cohorts to the same universities every year, so a score is read against the school’s own pool rather than the national average.

Yes. We prepare seventh and eighth graders for the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test for Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech and Staten Island Tech, and we advise on the screened-school process for schools like Townsend Harris. New York City families can also work with our dedicated New York City hub.

It dominates it. The competitive Long Island districts run three-year independent research sequences that feed the Regeneron Science Talent Search, and a strong junior’s summer is often a university lab placement rather than a test-prep intensive. We generally move the heavy testing block into the summer before junior year or the fall, so it does not collide with research deadlines.

Yes, through dedicated pages. Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Riverdale are covered on our New York City hub, and Scarsdale, Chappaqua, Rye, Bronxville and Edgemont on our Westchester hub, both with in-person availability. This statewide page covers the rest of New York.

Yes. Our instructors are trained in ADHD, CAPD, dyslexia and executive function support, and we handle College Board and ACT accommodations requests for you, including extended time, breaks and separate settings. We also coordinate with a school’s existing IEP or 504 team so the prep plan matches the supports already in place.

For the class of 2026, the most recent year with officially confirmed cutoffs, New York required a Selection Index of 223. The Selection Index runs from 48 to 228 and is calculated from the PSAT/NMSQT taken in October of junior year, doubling the sum of the Reading, Writing and Language, and Math section scores. Cutoffs are set separately for every state and shift by a point or two each year, so treat 223 as a planning benchmark rather than a guarantee. Cutoffs for the class of 2027 are announced each September.

The New York average was 1045 for the class of 2025, with 62% of graduates tested. The participation rate matters more than the number. A state that tests nearly every graduate posts a much lower average than a state where only college-bound students sit the exam, so comparing raw state averages without participation is misleading. For students in the competitive districts we work with, the relevant benchmark is the admitted range at their target colleges, not the state mean.

The SAT is the regional default and NYC students get one free in-school administration. Everywhere else in the state you register and pay, so the calendar is yours. We diagnose both, though most New York students stay on the SAT. The two tests are scored differently but weighted equally by colleges, and every US college that accepts one accepts the other.