SSAT Online Classes with Manhattan Review

These days, gaining acceptance to elite private middle and high schools is more competitive than ever. While strong essays, high grades, and impressive letters of recommendation are important, high-ranking private schools continue to place a significant emphasis on SSAT scores. This means that in order to be considered by leading secondary schools, your child will need to obtain a very SSAT score in order to ensure their application stands out. It is important to understand that taking the SSAT is not simply about completing an examination—it's a way for your child to lay a solid foundation for countless future successes, giving them the tools they need to create the life you want them to live. At Manhattan Review, we offer comprehensive SSAT prep classes designed to not only meet but exceed your expectations, helping your child obtain their place in an extraordinary school certain to open important academic and collegiate doors.

Best Instructors in the Business

The quality of an instructor can turn a good preparation course into an unforgettable one. That's why at Manhattan Review, we pride ourselves on hiring only the most gifted and talented instructors in the test prep business. We are pleased to work with instructors who are not only remarkable teachers but who have also achieved impressively high standardized test scores themselves. These knowledgeable and experienced mentors possess a wealth of practical insights and useful test-taking strategies, as well as a genuine commitment to seeing their students succeed.

SSAT Online Courses – Advantages & Disadvantages

For many years, Manhattan Review has offered both in-person preparation courses and tutoring, as well as online prep. With the discovery of Covid in 2019 and the ensuing pandemic, the world experienced a global shift towards online learning options. While Manhattan Review will continue to offer in-person courses and tutoring in locations where there is significant demand, it is worth considering the advantages of online preparation options. It is also worth considering where such services might potentially fall a bit short of the needs or expectations you have for your child. Here are a few advantages to online learning that are frequently mentioned to us by our online students and their families:

More time to study

Getting your child to a physical location to prepare for an exam can be incredibly time consuming and stressful, whether you are driving them or arranging their transportation. Many families are thrilled to ditch travel times so children can spend the time they've gained on what really matters, which is prepping for the SSAT. With Manhattan Review's virtual SSAT prep courses, there is no commute, no parking, no waiting for your child to be finished, and no waking them up when they inevitably fall asleep on the drive home but still need to complete homework or manage other commitments. You can save yourself and your child a lot of wasted time and unnecessary stress by utilizing online test prep options.

Increased flexibility

We all have busy schedules, and children's days are filled with school, extracurricular activities, music lessons, language enrichment programs, religious commitments, and more. Trying to fit an in-person SSAT preparation course into an already busy routine can be overwhelming and sometimes may simply be impossible. Our online courses allow students to prepare for the SSAT on their schedule, at times that work for parents and caregivers. Instructors can easily be reached via email in between sessions, making our online group courses a perfect fit for busy students who are still very serious about attaining a stellar score on the SSAT.

If an in-person class is offered at a specific location, this will typically occur at the same time every week. With our online courses, which follow the exact same syllabus as the in-person courses, students have the ability to choose between a variety of attendance and participation options, allowing you to work with your child to select the option that best suits their personal learning needs, as well as your family's current schedule.

Lower Cost

While there are many advantages to choosing online SSAT courses, perhaps the one that is most overlooked is the price. Since Manhattan Review does not have to rent expensive classrooms, we can pass on the savings to parents and caregivers, meaning our online course is offered at a significantly lower price with the same content as our in-person class. If you are looking for a budget friendly, high-quality option, then our online SSAT prep course is the best choice for your child's test prep needs.

While there is plenty to like about online prep courses, there may also be some potential disadvantages. These are some concerns that are occasionally mentioned to us, as well as how we address them:

Lack of Social Interaction

Many children prefer learning in the company of others. They are motivated to work harder and focus better by being in the physical presence of other learners. Other children, however, may experience anxiety at attempting to learn complex information in the presence of their peers. They may struggle with being around new people. Alternatively, they may prioritize the social aspect of being around their peers and fail to pay close attention to the topics being presented. If you know your child performs better with fewer in-person distractions, consider Manhattan Review's virtual SSAT courses. These classes promote learning without sacrificing connection, as there are numerous ways for your child to interact with their teacher, as well as their virtual classmates, in ways that enrich their learning experience.

Dependance on Technology

Many parents and caregivers worry that they might not be able to install the required programs for their child to participate in an online course. While this could have been a legitimate concern years ago, technology has become so stable and easy to install that this is not a point of concern anymore. At Manhattan Review we use Zoom, a popular online teaching platform many children already know from school and many adults are familiar with from their own jobs. So, while there were valid concerns about online learning tech years ago, this is no longer an issue as systems become increasingly stable every year.

What Sets Manhattan Review Apart: Our Instructors

We are proud of the reputation we have developed for our very selective hiring process of instructors and tutors. Since Manhattan Review is a boutique test prep company offering customized SSAT preparation, we have the ability to dedicate more resources than most firms to our hiring process. We expect two things from our instructors: a great standardized test score and a passion for helping students obtain their own high SSAT score through guided progress and supportive, personalized feedback. Ultimately, we only hire those instructors with both superb test-taking and teaching skills, ensuring our students receive the highest quality instruction so they can enjoy their own SSAT success. 

We have learned a great deal from our extensive experience in the test prep industry. Specifically, we understand that taking an exam and teaching others how to take it are two separate skills. Our instructors are skilled at tailoring the information they teach to each student's learning style, and the quality of our instructors is simply another reason Manhattan Review continues to stand out from other test prep companies. 

To truly understand what makes Manhattan Review so unique, it helps to consider the origins of the firm. Manhattan Review was conceived and started at an Ivy League business school, specifically, Columbia University Business School in New York City. Manhattan Review's Founder was not only pedagogically trained but went on to become a leading academic, eventually accepting a position as a professor at a prestigious business school in Europe. The experience the founder gained by being an active member of collegiate hiring committees, as well as evaluating the teaching potential of countless applicants, cannot be overstated or acquired through other contexts. That is why Manhattan Review's preparation options are widely considered the best choice for serious SSAT students.

Given the highly selective hiring process conducted by Manhattan Review, our instructors are more than capable of teaching all aspects of effective test preparation. This includes administering diagnostic tests, planning the most useful lessons, and guiding students through applicable test content. We do our best to make sure each student receives the attention and expertise they deserve when preparing for an exam as important as the SSAT.