Our Services

Test prep strategy begins with you! All of our work with is carefully tailored to your individual needs and goals. With our personalized support and guidance, you can approach your test with confidence and clarity, knowing that you’re equipped with the tools and resources you need to succeed.

Our Services

Test prep strategy begins with you! All of our work with is carefully tailored to your individual needs and goals. With our personalized support and guidance, you can approach your test with confidence and clarity, knowing that you’re equipped with the tools and resources you need to succeed.

Standardized Test Prep

Don’t let a test score stand between you and your dream school.

Mackenzie Lee has taught standardized test prep to hundreds of students over thousands of hours. These students have achieved remarkable results at all levels, from reaching score benchmarks for high school diplomas, to broad 40+ percentile point improvements, to achieving perfect scores to attend some of the nation’s most prestigious universities. These improvements have opened the doors to students’ dream schools and many thousands of dollars in scholarships—some full-ride. Work with these students typically centers on the following topics:

Students’ difficulties in reading often stem from the differences between what these tests demand and what they’re taught in their school English courses. Much of the time, the best approaches to test reading are antithetical to the approaches they’ve been taught in school, leaving even the best readers at a disadvantage from the start. Other common issues we have helped students overcome include issues completing the section on time, maintaining focus through boring passages, comprehending complex texts and antiquated language, interpreting and understanding scientific study design, and others. To solve these issues, we work with students to develop individualized reading approaches (e.g., active reading strategies), “translate” test questions to understand what they’re asking for, and explain how the test writes and structures answer choices.

The math and English language sections on standardized tests require a dual approach emphasizing both strategy and content review. First, we work with students to help them implement strategies for different question types and test sections to address their specific challenges, e.g. making silly mistakes on easy questions in the math section. Secondly, we use initial and periodic assessments to determine where students struggle most with math and English language content, be that interpreting linear models, trigonometric identities, rhetorical devices, or pronoun-antecedent agreement. Command of the content knowledge needed on these tests is comprehensive, so we are able to transition seamlessly between English and math content review to best address students’ needs.

As a trained scientist, Mackenzie greatly enjoys teaching this ACT-specific topic to students. Our work with the science section tends to involve strategies to improve timing and efficiency moving through passages, to identify passage and question types to employ the best approach for each, and to differentiate important study design from methodological details. When applicable, we also work with students through basic topics in physics, chemistry, and biology as well as teach them to read complex data representations like multivariate graphs.

“Mackenzie has worked with many of our students both in large groups and individually, and we have seen huge gains in their scores. His preparation and detailed analysis allow him to use his time with students effectively and communicate their areas for greatest potential growth. Mackenzie’s professionalism and attention to detail are outstanding, and he has gone above and beyond our expectations every time we have collaborated with him. I would not hesitate to have him speak to a group of parents or students or to recommend him to families as a private tutor. He is both data-driven and student-centered. I cannot recommend him highly enough!”

Betsey Bachert
Director of College Counseling, Franklin Road Academy (Nashville, TN)

Group Courses

Don’t go it alone — join or host group courses to bring camaraderie to your test prep!

We offer seminars, group courses, and summer camps tailored exclusively to your students’ goals!

Student progress and achievement are increasingly measured by performance on standardized tests like the PSAT, SAT, and ACT. I work with schools and organizations to develop small- and large-group standardized test prep programs. Each program is uniquely customized to students’ learning levels, schedules, and goals.

The results speak for themselves. After a short PSAT prep program at a local Nashville school, over 70 percent of all juniors improved their verbal scores on test day, and half of those who improved did so by 50+ points. Four of eighty students achieved National Merit semifinalist distinction — a rate 5X the national average. Contact us today to find out how I can help your students excel on standardized tests!

This prep program was implemented to achieve these PSAT improvements: one mandatory 3-hour strategy session (emphasis on verbal), 5 optional follow-up math and English content review sessions, and one 2-hour Q&A small group session for top-performing students.

Testology