Sample for illustration only. The Sample Student is not a real student. Every score, miss and note on this page was made up to show what the documents look like. It shows the work, not a result any student got or will get. Individual results vary.

The Sample Student

What the work looks like

Every Score Samurai student gets three things in writing: the Diagnostic, the Roadmap and a written progress update every week. Here is each one, filled in for a sample student.

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The Diagnostic (sample)

Student: Sample Student, grade 11
Practice score: 1140 on a Bluebook practice test (Math 560, Reading and Writing 580)
Next SAT: March 2027
Belt: White, held from the Diagnostic on

Where the points went

Math: 19 questions missed.

Foundations (things not yet learned): 5
The Half-Finished Move: 5
The Shape on Sight: 3
Name It Before You Solve It: 3
Every Number Has a Job: 2
Other: 1

Reading and Writing: 20 questions missed.

The Answer to a Different Question: 6
Cover the Word: 5
Trace the Referent: 4
Can Each Half Stand Alone: 3
Other: 2

What it means: Sample Student's math is mostly sound. Five misses were gaps, so those get taught first. The rest were moves the test is built to pull. Each one has a rule, and a rule carries over to every test after this one.

The three moves costing the most

The Answer to a Different Question (Reading and Writing, 6 misses). Sample Student reads the passage, then picks something true that the question never asked. It is the most common Reading and Writing move at this score.
The Half-Finished Move (Math and Reading and Writing, 5 misses in Math). The right method, stopped one step early. The wrong answer is the student's own unfinished work, which is why it looks right.
Cover the Word (Reading and Writing, 5 misses). The four choices get read before the student decides what the blank needs, so every choice sounds right.

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The Roadmap (sample)

Sample Student's Dojo Roadmap. Belt: White. Next: Green.

Built from Sample Student's own misses, in the order they cost points. Rewritten each time a belt is earned.

Math foundations: percent of a number, what f(4) means, area and perimeter. Taught, not drilled. Desmos: by hand, Desmos adds nothing here.
The Answer to a Different Question (Reading and Writing). The rule: read what they asked for, not what the passage is about.
The Half-Finished Move (Math, then Reading and Writing). The rule: you picked the right move, so finish it. Desmos: by hand, Desmos adds nothing here.
Cover the Word (Reading and Writing). The rule: cover the choices, say your own word, then match it.
Name It Before You Solve It (Math). The rule: name each quantity in words before any algebra. Desmos: by hand for the setup. Desmos solves; it doesn't set up.
Trace the Referent (Reading and Writing). The rule: find the noun the words attach to before you choose.
The Shape on Sight (Math). The rule: check the shape of the expression before you start working. Desmos: when four expressions are offered, graph them and see which one sits on top of the original. When the answer has to be built, by hand.
Can Each Half Stand Alone (Reading and Writing). The rule: if both halves are full sentences, a comma alone can't join them.

Green belt: earned when these moves stop costing points across two practice tests.

Every session ends on the Ghost Round: a fresh question Sample Student has to win alone.

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The weekly note (sample)

Subject: Sample Student, week 2 at the Dojo

Hi [Parent],

Here's how the week went.

What we covered: the last of the math foundations, then The Answer to a Different Question in Reading and Writing.

Closed so far: the math foundations. Belt: White.

The win: on the Ghost Round, Sample Student went back to the question line before choosing, without being told.

Still working on: the first read. The pull toward the first true answer is still there.

Work between sessions: done.

Next week: The Half-Finished Move, in Math and in Reading and Writing.

If anything here raises a question, reply any time.

Sensei Jay, The SAT Sensei
Score Samurai