Private Tutoring, Test Prep & College Admissions Counseling in Virginia

Your division must now offer one. HB 410, signed in April 2026 and effective July 1, 2026, requires Virginia school divisions to offer the SAT during the school day to juniors and seniors beginning in the 2026-27 school year, in a fall or spring window. Note the wording: the law requires divisions to offer the exam, not necessarily to fund a seat for every student, so confirm with your division whether there is a cost.

Virginia graduation pairs a standard course credit with a verified credit, earned by passing the end-of-course SOL for that course or an approved substitute test. Students entering ninth grade from 2018-19 onward need five verified credits for the Standard Diploma, in English twice, math, lab science and history or social science. The Advanced Studies Diploma requires more.

Yes, and this is new. HB 1957, passed in 2025, moves SOLs to a 100-point scale, requires SOL results to count for at least ten percent of a student’s final course grade, and confines testing to the last two weeks of the school year. Beginning in 2026-27 the state is also phasing in higher reading and math cut scores. An SOL that used to be a compliance formality now moves a transcript.

Neither does right now. Virginia Tech has extended test-optional through Fall 2028 entry. UVA is confirmed test-optional for Fall 2026; it has announced no reinstatement, though its published guidance does not currently extend past that cycle. Because both are optional, the practical question is whether your score helps, and at UVA the submitted middle 50% runs roughly 1410 to 1540.

Not a statewide one. Virginia has no HOPE or Bright Futures equivalent. The state’s main admissions lever is instead the Guaranteed Admission Agreements between the Virginia Community College System and the public four-year institutions, which is a genuinely different strategic route that we factor into list building for families outside Northern Virginia.

Most of our Virginia students start in the spring of sophomore year or the summer before junior year, so the school-day administration lands after a full prep cycle. Governor’s school students often start earlier, since their course loads and commutes compress junior year, and TJ students in particular apply into an unusually dense in-school applicant pool where the score has to do more work.

Yes, through a dedicated page. McLean, Great Falls, Vienna and the surrounding communities, along with Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Potomac across the river, are covered on our Washington DC Metro hub, which includes in-person availability. This statewide page covers the rest of Virginia.

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. Virginia lists need care because UVA and William & Mary read applicants in the context of a well-known feeder high school, and because the guaranteed admission route is a real option many families never consider.

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, Virginia required a Selection Index of 224. 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 224 as a planning benchmark rather than a guarantee. Cutoffs for the class of 2027 are announced each September.

The Virginia average was 1112 for the class of 2025, with 48% 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.

HB 410 puts a school-day SAT in front of your student this year, which tilts the default toward the SAT. We sequence prep so that administration lands after a full cycle rather than as a cold first attempt, and we run an ACT diagnostic alongside in case it suits the student better. The two tests are scored differently but weighted equally by colleges, and every US college that accepts one accepts the other.