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About Us
Mr. Miles Pewitt, CEO of Studyworks, has more SAT Prep and ACT Prep experience than anyone else in the world. This is not an unsubstantiated claim. For 30 years, in a full time capacity, he has researched the SAT and ACT. He has written and published numerous SAT books, study guides, and software programs. He has personally taught more than 10,000 students. He has established SAT and ACT programs coast to coast and internationally. Of course, he can’t teach every course, and that’s why Studyworks is purposefully a medium sized company. Miles Pewitt is the underlying source of all of our programs. Training, material, and quality control are all personally maintained, not just in accordance to his standards, but by him personally. Click here to learn more about using Mr. Pewitt as your teacher.
Better test scores…guaranteed
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MISSION STATEMENT show/hide
Studyworks, founded in 1975, is a worldwide privately held standardized test preparation company whose only purpose is to help deserving students gain admission into the college of their choice. This objective is accomplished by providing each student and parent unlimited counseling and support through a personalized action plan along with the highest quality test preparation instruction available. With an unwavering commitment to providing highly educated, well trained and dynamic instructors teaching a proven curriculum, Studyworks guarantees greatly improved test scores for all their students.
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OUR PHILOSOPHY show/hide
When it comes to “test prep” you will hear many different opinions. It’s no surprise to anyone that we strongly believe the Studyworks prep program is the best in the world. We are fully aware that we are not the only great true test prep program in the world. However, considering the number of people, schools, learning centers and other companies offering test prep we appreciate this opportunity to educate you on the Studyworks philosophy.
Most school programs and learning centers consist of an administrator asking a Math or English teacher to simply buy a book and run a test prep course. While we would never criticize these groups for trying to help kids be more successful, we do take exception when they claim to be as effective as a professional prep company at preparing students for a standardized exam. We spend countless hours analyzing each and every question published by the actual test makers for the SAT, ACT, SAT Subject, AP exams, etc. so that we can be assured that our strategies are not only relative but effective. We develop new strategies each and every year because the test is always evolving in subtle ways.
We would never make the claim "we teach math better than a professional math teacher or a traditional school," but schools and people teaching test prep on the side rarely return the courtesy when it comes to test prep. We don't feel schools do this to be spiteful or for greed, we think they just don't understand how different "analytical reasoning" based exams are from your more typical subject based school exams. It’s not very common to find a high school teacher that admits you really don't need advanced "traditional" math skills or "proper" English skills to do well on this exam. Matter of fact, students that approach an analytical reasoning exam in the same manner as they would a "big final exam" often times find themselves frustrated, confused, running out of time and susceptible to making silly mistakes.
Students need to understand these exams are not primarily testing their knowledge, they are testing the student’s ability to think and problem solve in a limited amount of time. Most schools do not teach "analytical reasoning skills" they teach content knowledge. Why would a parent think a true math or English teacher would suddenly start using analytical reasoning skills in their teachings simply because the course name contains the words “test prep”? We always tell our students this one line that sums up the difference between our course and any course they would receive from a school program or learning center...
"Most high schools are "knowledge banks" while most colleges are "thinking tanks" and the SAT/ACT is a segue between the two."
For this very reason, professional test prep is a major industry and exams such as the SAT and ACT are highly criticized. Have you ever noticed that people do not speak out against similar standardized exams for college graduate schools such as the LSAT, GMAT and GRE? One reason for this is students taking those exams have already completed college and are now familiar with analytical reasoning based instruction and exams.
It is possible that a high school or learning center prep course is as good as ours, but highly unlikely. If school courses or local tutoring companies were as effective at test prep as companies such as Studyworks we would not exist. Yet, we have been in business for well over 30 years with test prep being our only service.
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HISTORY show/hide
Studyworks was an early pioneer of test preparation. We had our first students in 1975, starting in a basement of a suburban Washington, DC home. Its founder, Miles Pewitt, had recently finished law school but was interested in creating a business that utilized his best skill: doing well on standardized tests. Forsaking a legal career was a dubious choice in those days. Prep courses were not popular and in some cases were even considered to be gimmicky business activities. At that time, many people considered that tests such as the SAT measured a student's math and reading ability. Miles knew that, for the most part, this test really measured the student's ability to take standardized tests. This claim seemed contemptuous to the educational establishment. For years and years the SAT creator, the Educational Testing Service (ETS), claimed that prep programs were a waste of time and money. Their reasoning - they claimed that the SAT was not manipulable and measured long-term skills that could not be taught in short periods of time. With such claims coming from such a prominent source, Studyworks' early years were difficult. Slowly Studyworks grew and times have changed. We are now the third largest SAT prep group in America and have courses coast to coast. More remarkable is the fact that ETS promotes its own preparation programs.
Although we have grown substantially, we endeavor to maintain the quality and concern that we have had for 30 years. Our teachers are the highest-paid and best-trained SAT teachers in the country. Our teachers must not only have advanced degrees, but must also prove that they can motivate students. Studyworks' philosophy to test preparation has always been that teachers should not only know their subject material - they must also know how to deliver it in a fun and interesting fashion. Although our decision to limit our service to just the SAT and PSAT has enormous drawbacks economically, it allows us to concentrate on the strategies that are exclusive to these exams. But our focus on the SAT and PSAT and our teaching philosophy are not the only things separating us from our competitors.
We have distinctively better guarantees, schedules, and prices. Our maximum class size is 15 students. However, it is rare for all classes to fill up to their maximum and, on the average, you should expect about 10 students in your class. We also have a 300-point guarantee, which is the best in the industry. Even if your score improves, we will give you $1 for every point you fall short of the 300-point goal. This guarantee gives the student some assurance that Studyworks is dedicated to their improvement. More importantly, it gives Studyworks the best record of how well its students improve. Kaplan and Princeton claim certain score improvements, but their claims are based on unofficial and statistically inadequate surveys. Since Studyworks requires a copy of the official results from students if they do not improve 300 points (and actually pays the student for sub-300 point improvements), only Studyworks has a statistically valid way to measure student performance.
We hope this has provided an adequate summation of how Studyworks has evolved over the past 30 years. If you have any further questions or would like to discuss our curriculum with an instructor, please do not hesitate to call us at 1-800-783-1728.
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SERVICES show/hide
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LOCATIONS show/hide