Brian McElroy's Tutoring Blog

San Diego SAT & ACT Prep Courses Starting this August at McElroy Tutoring

Posted 2021-07-11

Brian McElroy will be offering a series of affordable SAT & ACT Prep Classroom Courses for San Diego high school students, starting 8/11/09 and continuing until June 2010. All classes and practice tests will be held at our Pacific Beach headquarters. Space is limited to 8 students per class. Keep Reading

SAT and ACT Prep Classes at McElroy Tutoring -- now just $675!

Posted 2021-07-11

We are now offering SAT and ACT prep courses (minimum 4 students, maximum 12 students) at our San Diego headquarters for only $675. Sign up now to prepare for the September and October round of tests! Keep Reading

Upcoming Changes to the GMAT

Posted 2021-07-11

GMAC will be introducing a new "Integrated Reasoning" section to the GMAT in summer 2012. Keep Reading

SAT Word of the Day: DERIDE

Posted 2021-07-11

from dictionary.com:
DERIDE verb (used with object), rid ed, rid ing. to laugh at in scorn or contempt; scoff or jeer at; mock.
Brian’s visual trick / sentence: PIMP DE RIDE, DEREK DERIDES THE RIDES
DE-ride “DE” = THE
de-RIDE
PIMP DE RIDE
—-
Eventually, Xzibit “Pimped THE RIDE,” but first he and his customizer pals DERIDED the beat-up car’s owner for its being so old and busted.
—-
... Keep Reading

SAT Writing Error #2: Comparison Errors

Posted 2021-07-11

Please correct the following sentence:
1) “I like both tea and coffee, but I drink more tea than coffee.”
Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Here’s the correct version:
2) “I like both tea and coffee, but I drink more tea than I drink coffee.”
or, even better:
3) “I like both tea and coffee, but I drink more tea than I do coffee.”
This is what I call a COMPARISON problem. If you prefer, you can think of it as ... Keep Reading

SAT Word of the Day: DEPRAVITY

Posted 2021-07-11

from dictionary.com:
DEPRAVITY -noun Moral corruption or degradation. A depraved act or condition.
Brian’s visual trick / sentence:
DEPRAvity “DEPRA” = DEBRA
DEPRAVITY rhymes with: CAVITY
DEBRA’S CAVITY or even better: DEBRA’S PAINFUL CAVITY
(visual trick: imagine the crazed, ravenous look on DEBRA’s face as she eagerly stuffs candy into her mouth!)
—-
DEBRA’S PAINFUL CAVITY was the result of ... Keep Reading

SAT Word of the Day: Extant

Posted 2021-07-11

from dictionary.com:
EXTANT. -adj Occurring or existing in act or fact: actual, existent. Having existence or life: alive, around, existent, existing, living.
Brian’s visual trick / sentence:
extANT ANT, elephANT
EXtant EX = EXCLAIMED, EXISTENCE
(visual trick: imagine the defiant look on the ANT’s face as it proudly EXCLAIMS its EXISTENCE to a far larger animal.)
“I may be small, but I still EXIST!” EXCLAIMED the ANT to the eleph... Keep Reading

SAT Vocabulary Lesson - Extant

Posted 2021-07-11

FREE SAT PREP VIDEOS : McElroy Tutoring founder Brian McElroy explains how to memorize the word "extant" using a mnemonic device. Keep Reading

Free SAT notes by Brian McElroy

Posted 2021-07-11

Hello everyone,
It’s been few weeks since I posted any free SAT tips, so I went ahead and made some copies of my recent SAT notes (in PDF format) for students and parents to peruse:
studentSATnotes_summer07.pdf
All of these explanations correspond to problems in the College Board’s Official Guide to the SAT. If you don’t have this book already, you should!
Soon we are thinking of implementing audio explanations as well, to accompany the visuals.
Keep Reading