<p>I am interested in tutoring SAT students in the 1500-1800 range to help them bring their scores up to the 1800-2100 range, and so I initially thought about working for Kaplan.</p>
<p>However, I have been having second thoughts. Even though they have a VERY liberal hiring quota (I think it is a minimum of 700 M 640 CR 640 W), I would likely have to sign some type of draconian non-compete clause, right? That could come back to haunt me if/when I wanted to branch out on my own.</p>
<p>However, working solo has its share of disadvantages as well (self employment taxes, red tape, spending your time marketing rather than teaching, unsteady hours)</p>
<p>What are your thoughts on this. If you were seeking to tutor “average” students, what road would you take?</p>
<p>Do you have any experience teaching this stuff? Nobody’s going to hire you as a private tutor (at least, nobody who’ll be willing to pay you well) if you don’t have a track record of success. Working as an instructor for a course might be a good way to get the ball rolling for yourself.</p>
<p>That said, I’d stay away from Kaplan and see if you can get a job teaching for a smaller independent company in the area. They usually pay better, care about students more, and will have less draconian noncompetes.</p>
<p>In order to get hired, you need to score in the 90th percentile on each of the three sections. The scores you listed are in the ballpark - give yourself 10-20 points leeway on either side. (Compared to the year I looked at, the math score you list is a little high but CR and W are a little low).</p>
<p>You do sign a non-compete clause that binds you for a year. I have been told that it isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on, because they cannot keep you from earning a living in your chosen field. However, I don’t know if that information is true nor do I have any plans to test it.</p>
<p>As for working solo, I think the biggest disadvantage is that you have to figure out the course plan on your own. Will you just take the students through the Blue Book? Or through the Princeton Review prep book? How much time are you willing to spend analyzing your students’ results so that you ensure you aren’t wasting their time focusing on things they don’t need to review? How confident are you that your method (whatever it is) could actually raise someone’s score enough to justify paying you?</p>
<p>I am also wondering how you would market yourself, given what you say in your post. “Hello . . . if you get average SAT scores and want to get an 1800-2100, call me. If you want a 2200, you need to call someone else. Sorry, I’m just not that good yet.”</p>
<p>I am NOT suggesting you work for Kaplan. (I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, lol!) But - being able to teach yourself enough to get a high score does not mean that you could teach someone else to get a high score.</p>
<p>I am currently teaching SAT prep to high school students in Vietnam, and I have been in charge of building my own lesson plans for this class all year. Because I have a relatively small class size and a good aide, I have been able to spend the time needed to analyze my student’s mistakes. For me, the biggest disadvantage to going solo would be the marketing and legal aspects of running your own business.</p>
<p>I would like to teach SAT classes online full time, as opposed to spending half my time teaching science classes. Unfortunately, my practice test scores are only in the 2150 range right now (assuming “8” for the essay score), so no, I can’t help you increase your 2100 to 2400. Hopefully, this will change in the next 6-9 months! </p>
<p>Perhaps my best bet is to apply at a large company like Kaplan, make contacts, get documented experience and a track record, and continue to study for the SAT. I should be able to crack 2300 by this time next year, so by then it should be easy for me to find my own private clients, or for me to get work at an elite test prep company. One year will have passed, and so I would not be bound by any non-competes.</p>
<p>Other than Kaplan and PR, do you know of any medium sized online SAT instruction companies that pay well, offer a more pesonalized product to clients, and hire instructors with SAT scores of 2150?</p>