Private Tutoring, Test Prep & College Admissions Counseling in Ohio

Neither, as a statewide instrument. Ohio law requires every district to provide a free state-funded college-admission test to eleventh graders, but each district chooses whether that is the ACT or the SAT. There is no single statewide exam, and since spring 2025 a parent or guardian may formally elect for their junior not to sit it. Any source telling you Ohio requires the ACT is oversimplifying.

Competency is demonstrated by scoring 684 on both the English Language Arts II and Algebra I end-of-course exams. Students who miss are remediated and retake at least once, after which alternative pathways open, including College Credit Plus coursework, a qualifying ACT or SAT score, a career and technical skill demonstration, or military enlistment. Ohio also requires two readiness diploma seals.

No, and this surprises people. The Governor’s Merit Scholarship pays five thousand dollars a year, renewable up to four years at an Ohio public or private nonprofit institution, and it is awarded on top-5% class rank. Schools nominate automatically. ACT or SAT scores are required only for homeschooled and dropout-recovery students. In a district like Solon or Mason, that makes rank unusually consequential.

Walnut Hills admits into seventh grade by entrance exam, which means Cincinnati east-side families make a high-stakes testing decision roughly two years before most of the country does. Cincinnati Public Schools charges a per-attempt fee with a limited number of attempts per year. We prepare students for it, and we treat it as the first of two testing cycles rather than a one-off.

Often both, and the balance is genuinely an Ohio question. College Credit Plus is free to families and produces actual transferable credit at Ohio State, Miami or UC, so strong students here bank transcript-visible college credit rather than relying on AP alone. Out-of-state selective colleges read AP more fluently. We map the load against the college list rather than assuming one is better.

Most of our Ohio students start in the spring of sophomore year or the summer before junior year, so the district’s spring administration lands after real preparation. Students carrying a heavy College Credit Plus schedule usually start earlier, because junior spring fills up with college coursework deadlines and end-of-course exams at the same time.

Our families come from the Columbus north corridor (Dublin Jerome, Upper Arlington, New Albany, Olentangy Liberty, Bexley), Cincinnati’s east side (Indian Hill, Mariemont, Wyoming, Walnut Hills, Mason), the Cleveland east suburbs (Solon, Orange, Shaker Heights, Chagrin Falls), Hudson, and the independent schools, principally Seven Hills, Cincinnati Country Day, Columbus Academy, Western Reserve Academy, University School, Hathaway Brown and Hawken.

Yes, and most families use both. Counseling covers college list construction with acceptance probability modeling, the Common App personal statement with unlimited revisions, every supplement, activities positioning, early decision strategy, financial aid and mock interviews. Ohio lists need the rank-versus-score tension worked out explicitly, since the in-state merit money and the out-of-state admission decision reward different things.

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, Ohio required a Selection Index of 219. 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 219 as a planning benchmark rather than a guarantee. Cutoffs for the class of 2027 are announced each September.

The Ohio average was 1018 for the class of 2025, with 20% 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 first thing to establish is which test your district actually gives, because that decision was made for you and it is not the same across neighboring districts. Once we know, we diagnose both and decide whether to go with the district test or prepare the other one on your own schedule. The two tests are scored differently but weighted equally by colleges, and every US college that accepts one accepts the other.