PrepScholar Review Summary

PrepScholar hires remote, US-based test prep tutors, college admissions consultants and test content creators. The company pays $30-$50 an hour, and is highly selective in who it recruits, wanting candidates from top US colleges with a 99%ile SAT/ACT score, who can commit to 15+ hours a week.

Pay (per hour):$30-$50
Location / language requirements?USA / English-speaking
Degree / diploma required?Yes or enrolled
Teaching certificate required?No
Teaching experience required?No
Student age (Adults/Children)?Both
Class size:1-9
Minimum hours (per week):15

PrepScholar Pros and Cons:

Pros:

  • Hires admissions consultants and test creators as well as tutors
  • Tutoring materials provided
  • Performance bonus available
  • Positive tutor feedback

Cons:

  • You must have a SAT/ACT score in the 99 percentile
  • They’re highly selective about the undergrad/graduate institution you attended
  • Only recruits on a rolling basis for a limited number of positions
  • Some jobs pay per project not per hour
  • Workload can be demanding

What Is PrepScholar and Is It Legit?

PrepScholar is a legitimate company that has been offering online test prep since 2013. Based out of Cambridge, Massachusetts, it provides one-on-one tutoring on top of video content to help students study for their SAT, ACT, GRE, TOEFL and GMAT. The company’s legitimacy is underlined by strong customer satisfaction scores on Trustpilot and Facebook.

Below, co-founder Allen Cheng discusses some of the test strategies that are used in their program:

How Does PrepScholar Work?

As a Prep Scholar SAT/ACT Tutor, you will run virtual sessions, either one-on-one or for classes of up to 9 students, through Skype or Google Hangouts. Tutors are expected to be comfortable teaching all parts of the test – reading, writing/English, math, essay, and ACT Science – as well as helping with college applications. Tutoring materials can be drawn from PrepScholar’s online program, featuring over 7100 practice questions and 98 skills lessons.

The video below provides some insight into how PrepScholar’s small group sessions are run:

PrepScholar also provides options to join as either a College Admissions Consultant, where you mentor grade 9-11 students through their college application and assist with essay writing, or Test Content Creator responsible for:

  • Crafting realistic, high-quality SAT/ACT questions and effective answer explanations that guide a student clearly through the correct thought process to answer the question and avoid pitfalls.
  • Writing engaging lessons for skills that teach students fundamental content in English, math, reading, and science.
  • Contributing to the pedagogical design of PrepScholar’s education technology.
  • Recording teaching videos for explanations and lessons. As an enthusiastic educator, you’ll engage with students through videos, showing them how to solve questions and apply test strategy. Here is an example:

PrepScholar Salary Information

The PrepScholar pay rate ranges between US$30-$50 per hour. However, some jobs pay ‘per project’, which may take longer (or less) than an hour.

There is also the opportunity for a performance-based bonus.

PrepScholar Hours and Schedule

PrepScholar requests that Tutors/Consultants make themselves available for at least 15 (and up to 40) hours a week. Content Creator is a full-time position.

Group classes are pre-scheduled and last 90 minutes. One-on-one sessions are scheduled by the student directly with the tutor based on their availability, usually for 1 or 2 hours at a time (the student may cancel with 24 hours’ notice).

PrepScholar Requirements

The PrepScholar requirements differ slightly depending on which position you are applying for:

To be a SAT/ACT Tutor you will need to:

  • Know the SAT or ACT inside and out, and have a score in the 99 percentile (2300+/1540+ and 34+ preferred).
  • Have been admitted to a range of top American colleges, with highly selective undergraduate or graduate institutions preferred.
  • Be a college graduate or an undergraduate with consistent schedule openings.
  • Offer 15 hours of availability every week.
  • Possess serious commitment and reliability. You take great pride in your work and never phone it in. You always pull through and deliver, and are rarely the one late to a meeting.

College Admissions Consultants additionally require:

  • Great mentorship skills. You know how to engage with and build rapport with students. You combine firm accountability with a nurturing personality to get the best out of students.
  • Prior admissions consulting experience is preferred. You know the admissions process inside and out. You’re comfortable advising a range of students on application strategy, test prep, essay crafting, and college selection.

The Test Content Creator position is the most distinct, requiring:

  • A BA or BS degree from a highly selective institution.
  • A 99 percentile score on the SAT or ACT.
  • Knowledge of test prep methods.
  • Great teaching skills and teaching experience. You can break down tough concepts into clear logical steps. You know what students struggle with, in both learning and behavior, and you’ve had practice in reaching out to them.
  • Serious commitment and work drive. You always pull through and deliver and take pride in your own work.
  • Experience with other graduate standardized tests (GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, etc) and previous tutoring experience are both beneficial.

PrepScholar Hiring Process

To lodge a PrepScholar application, you must send an email with your cover letter, resume, proof (e.g. screenshot) of your SAT/ACT scores, along with any other standardized test scores (e.g. GRE, GMAT, LSAT), to the relevant department:

  • For SAT/SCT Tutors: [email protected]
  • For College Admissions Consultants: [email protected] (also include a full list of colleges and graduate institutions you gained admission to, plus any previous admissions consulting experience, hours worked and responsibilities)
  • For Test Content Creators: [email protected]

PrepScholar jobs are recruited for on a rolling basis for a limited number of positions, so apply when you can if interested.

PrepScholar Interview Process

The PrepScholar interview process is multi-stage, usually with an initial phone screening, followed by sessions with employees who will test your knowledge of the SAT/ACT. Tutor candidates will answer interview questions such as “How do you handle anxious or nervous students?”, while Content Creators are asked to write sample test questions for the SAT.

PrepScholar Reviews – Is PrepScholar Good to Work For?

The PrepScholar Glassdoor page provides an overall score of 4 out of 5, with a 100% recommendation rate, though this comes from just 12 reviews (at the time of writing). I have extracted the comments from tutors and consultants below, with lots of praise about the flexibility and management, mixed views regarding pay, students, and communication, and some complaints about the workload and upselling:

  • Advantages:
    • “Flexible and you can manage your own schedule. Management is responsive.
    • Flexible hours, self-determined schedule, good students.
    • Make your own hours. Pick your own students. Design your own structure. Package payment so how much you make depends on your efficiency.
    • Flexible hours – supportive management – good pay.
    • PrepScholar allows tutors a pretty good mix of independent work and structures in place to help support. PS tutors work with the online program’s algorithm & quizzes/lessons, which makes things like assigning work and planning ahead a lot easier, and gives the students more different types of exposures to the material.
    • Flexibility of hours, increase in pay after working here for a while, and flexibility of schedule are all nice. You are really your own boss here.
    • Competitive pay – Autonomous and remote – Company values your feedback and is constantly implementing new tools to help consultants.
    • Supportive management and dynamic work.
    • PrepScholar is an exciting company to work for as the company culture is all-around positive and supportive, allowing me to focus and do my best by my students. Not only are leadership positions filled by hard-working, intelligent, and effective individuals, they are also kind and ethical. My peers are impressive, responsive, and thoughtful, and I love working for a company that I know is doing its best to not only ensure that students are prepared for college, but that they are heading to the best fit school and program. This is not always easy to find in a field that can at times feel driven by profit, rather than by student success. I 100% would recommend working at PrepScholar to anyone in the college admissions field that is focused on making a difference in families’ lives.
    • Fantastic management – Great/paid training – Flexible hours – Solid pay.
    • Flexibility, good people to work with.
    • I do not have any complaints. I feel well supported and appreciated in my position by both my supervisors and the families that I advise.”
  • Disadvantages:
    • “It’s pretty time-consuming, and based on the constant amount of work required, the pay is actually quite low.
    • Obsessed with upselling clients, bad pay for amount of work.
    • Students a mixed bag. Sometimes disorganized admin.
    • Infrequent pay schedule – paid per project rather than per hour.
    • The work is pretty reliant on independent scheduling and communication with students, which makes it complicated if/when challenges come up. It’s also a company that relies on the internal program, so most of the work you do/assign will be through that program – if you like it, it’s awesome & saves work, but if you’d rather do something else, it’s not going to be the right fit.
    • They advertise a 50/hr base pay but I never received this…the whole idea with returning students doesn’t really make sense to me. Margins are high for employer, but that is the typical case in the education industry.
    • Can be overwhelming if you are assigned a family that wants to micromanage.
    • Ends up being very time consuming depending on the student and you’re paid per project not per hour.
    • The pay is very low, par for the course for these sort of jobs.”

Conclusion – Is PrepScholar Worth Applying To?

PrepScholar provides a more niche offering for online teachers, that is only available if you have attended a top college and possess a SAT/ACT score in the 99 percentile. For those who qualify, there are interesting roles that go beyond just tutoring, in mentorshop and content creation, and existing tutors generally talk positively about the company. However, some projects can take time, affecting the hourly pay rate.

You can apply through the PrepScholar careers page. Other test prep companies you might consider are Revolution Prep or PrepNow/StudyPoint.

A full list of other online teaching companies can be found here.

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Dr Daniel Spence

Daniel Spence is the founder of Online Teaching Review. He has been an international teacher since 2008, an award-winning academic, author of two books, and holds a PhD, MA, BA (Hons), and TESOL.

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