OUR FOUNDER AT A GLANCE:

  • SAT prep specialist for 10th-12th graders
  • 16 years full-time experience teaching SAT & ACT Prep
  • Perfect Score of 1600 on the SAT test
  • Perfect Score of 36 on the ACT test
  • Over 1800 individual SAT / ACT students taught
  • Over 6500 SAT / ACT lessons taught
  • Over 11,000 hours of SAT / ACT teaching experience
  • 4.93/5 Average Tutor Rating across platforms
  • Author of 13 textbooks and online courses for SAT & ACT prep and college readiness
  • Hundreds of glowing student & parent testimonials
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About Christian Heath, Founder of Love the SAT Test Prep

Christian Heath is an Austin native, veteran SAT prep tutor, textbook author, and founder of Love the SAT Test Prep.

A true veteran of test prep, Christian has been tutoring SAT & ACT prep full-time since 2011, working with over 1,800 high school students and logging an astonishing sum of over 11,000 hours of classroom experience in the field.

Christian got his start in the classroom as an AmeriCorps member with Austin’s own College Forward program in 2009-2010. Shortly afterwards he started Love the SAT Test Prep, which has grown into Austin’s top-rated SAT prep center and now reaches students across the country.

His dedication and experience have earned him a reputation as a world-class SAT prep tutor, gaining students not only from the USA, but also from as far away as China, Australia, and Canada.

SAT & ACT Teaching Experience:

  • The #1-Rated SAT Prep Tutor in Austin, TX on Yelp, Google, and Facebook!
  • 16 years of full-time specialized experience tutoring SAT & ACT prep to high school students.
  • Over 1800 individual tutoring & group class students.
  • More than 6,500 private lessons & group classes taught.
  • 11,000+ hours of private tutoring & group class teaching experience.
  • Training & managing a team of SAT/ACT tutors and practice test proctors.

Personality & Attitude: High-energy, intense, and highly motivated. Works with a spirit of urgency, but also ready at any moment to relax, crack jokes, and take a quick break from the pressure of test prep.

Teaching Approach & Philosophy: Christian’s mission is simple: “Help high school students get higher SAT scores with more confidence on test day.”

High schoolers have unique and interesting personalities! Christian tailors each lesson to each student, even depending on how the kids are feeling that day. His lessons meld highly refined professional-grade strategies & test-taking processes with total content mastery to open students’ eyes to the mysteries of the SAT test.

But on test day, students have to do all the work themselves. Everything Christian teaches is based around a solid core of hands-on practice, targeted homework assignments, and thoughtful analysis of practice problems and wrong answers.

News Coverage: Interviewed by KXAN Austin local news as an expert on the changes to the SAT test in March 2014.

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Authorship of SAT Books, Courses & Articles:

Christian is the author of 11 books & online courses and over 200 free blog articles, all focused on SAT & ACT prep and college readiness. Among them are:

History of Love the SAT Test Prep: Love the SAT Test Prep is a homegrown small local business focused on delivering the best possible service within our tightly-focused niche of SAT prep.

Founded by Christian in January 2011, the company began by advertising for SAT prep students on Craigslist and driving from house to house or meeting students in coffeeshops around Austin.

As his schedule filled with new students and his reputation grew with friend and family referrals, Christian started renting a tiny broom-closet office in Northwest Austin to centralize operations and meet more students per week. He also studied the ACT test in-depth to add it to his repertoire. At this point he was teaching SAT & ACT prep for up to 12 hours per day!

The next step was to start building a team. Without any prior experience or training in business, Christian started hiring and training a team that included customer service, practice test proctors, and new SAT tutors. During this time we tightened and focused our SAT curriculum and improved the professionalism of the support and service we offer to families along the journey.

During the pandemic era, we were able to navigate the changeover from in-person to entirely online lessons over Zoom. Student attendance rates and on-time arrivals skyrocketed now that students didn’t have to fight through traffic, and we’ve never looked back. Zoom SAT Tutoring is the future - we love it.

Although circumstances and life led us back to a 1-man tutoring business over the years, Christian is excited to write the next chapter of Love the SAT in the near future - perhaps building a dedicated team of SAT pros once more.

Christian’s Proudest Teaching Moments:

  • A score improvement so big that it was temporarily flagged as “cheating” - after just 3 tutoring lessons.
  • Getting our first-ever perfect 1600 student SAT score result.
  • Helping a student win a $20k+ college scholarship for his score improvements.
  • Being there when kids remember that they actually like to read for fun.
  • Hearing the classic “oh, that’s actually so easy!” moment of student realization. (Never gets old!)
  • Parents saying their kid is finally confident in math after fearing it for so long.
  • Working with dozens of younger siblings of successful former students by positive word-of-mouth.
  • Completing and publishing a two-volume, 1000+ page textbook on SAT Math - and better yet, hearing students say it helped them.
  • Getting invited to teach SAT prep in China three times (see sidebar).
Current Test Scores:

  • Perfect 1600/1600 on SAT
  • Perfect 36/36 on ACT
  • Perfect scores on all test sections

High School & Test Scores:

  • Graduate of St. Stephen’s Episcopal High School in Austin (2005)
  • High School SAT Score: 1590 out of 1600
  • National Merit Semifinalist
  • 1360/1600 on the PSAT as a 7th Grader.
  • Invited to & attended Duke TIP awards ceremony, talent program & summer camp.
  • Perfect 800/800 on the Writing SAT II Test
  • 790 on the Math II SAT 2 test
  • 760/800 on the Physics SAT II Test
  • AP Test Scores:
    • 5/5 on Calculus AB
    • 5/5 on Physics
    • 5/5 on AP English

College Education & Awards:

  • Pomona College, Claremont CA
  • B.A. in Music with additional concentration in Piano Performance (2009)
  • Organized & led three chamber music ensembles and participated as guest pianist with Pomona College Orchestra
  • William F. Russell Prize in Music (2008)
  • Rudolph Polk Award in Music (2009)
  • William G. Blanchard Prize in Music (2009)

A Few Testimonials to Christian’s Teaching:

“the Mr. Miyagi of the SAT…” (Travis, Senior ’14)

“…an excellent SAT teacher, but more importantly a remarkable life coach!” (Alia, Junior ’14)

“Thank you! Jacob received his SAT scores yesterday and did fantastic! We are so proud of him and thankful for the SAT sessions he did with LOVE THE SAT! His will have endless opportunities at great schools. Again thanks, can’t wait for my daughter to start her SAT tutoring.” (Valerie, mom of Senior ’18)

“I’d like to thank you for the top-notch SAT prep course that my daughter Olivia took this past summer. Her scores have gone up quite a bit and she credits Love the SAT for that. The Zoom prep class made a huge difference for our family. Under normal circumstances, we have many obligations throughout the week, so the online option made the course more accessible.” (Elizabeth, mom of Junior ’21)

“I took your class right before my SAT, and you asked me to tell you what I got. I just got my score back and I got a 1600!! Thank you so much for all of your help, I couldn’t have done it without you and your strategies.​” (Dorsey, Junior ’24)

Teaching SAT Prep in China: in 2015, Christian’s articles and social media attracted the attention of CDIS, an international school in Chengdu, China. He was invited to teach SAT prep to top students in China, and has traveled there three times: 2016, 2017, and 2019, with plans to return.

His Chinese, Korean, and American expat students consistently mention his life-changing impact on their education and motivation. These teaching adventures on the other side of the planet make him the first and only person in his family - which includes a lifelong commercial airline pilot - to visit China!

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More Testimonials for Christian’s SAT & ACT Prep:

“Hi Christian, sharing the happy news!! We are all thrilled with his score (1520, up +110 points from his previous test)!! Your coaching was incredibly valuable; it held him accountable and challenged him in a really positive way. Thank you!” (Andrea, mom ’26)

“Hi, there! I wanted to let you know that she scored a 1240 on her SAT…almost +200 points higher than her first score. Thank you so much for all of your help with her!!! I will definitely recommend your sessions!” (Rachel, mom ’25)

“I hope all is well. I wanted to let you know I improved tremendously on my SAT score with a 1110 (+160 points)! I wanted to reach out and appreciate everything you have done for me and the support. Be in touch soon! Thank you” (Lily, Senior ’25)

“I just checked my scores and wanted to let you know I improved by over 200 points! I got a 1400 on it, improving from an 1160 (a +240 point improvement). Thank you guys so so much!” (Finn, Senior ’22)

“Hello Christian, we wanted to update you that she was able to improve her SAT score nicely. She took the Oct 2 SAT and got 1370 score. That’s up from 1220 in her March SAT. A whole +150 point points improvement. Thank you for your help. Clearly she invested more, and I am certain the structure you guys provided helped a lot as well!” (Moshe, dad ’21)

“I just wanted to let you know my son increased his SAT score 150 points from his first test. He felt the class definitely helped him. Thank you!” (Tim, dad ’19)

“Hi Christian!! I just wanted to check in and say hi… And let you know that next year I’ll be attending the University of Georgia to study international affairs. I wouldn’t have been able to get into all my schools or had all the decisions I did if it hadn’t been for your help!! Thanks so much.” (Caroline, Senior ’16)

“I didn’t like to memorize things. I hated to memorize things. I thought i wasn’t good at memorizing things. I met a teacher, his name was Christian. He always smiled, everytime had a happy look in his face. He was also really energetic, he went from one side to the otherside of the classroom. First day of summer school. He taught us about the basics of a SAT course. He made a pyramid and on the bottom there was motivation. He told us that motivation was the most important thing that students needed. Those words just struck in my mind. I wasn’t even close to the top of the pyramid. I figured out that I didnt have any motivation. I thought about my life after school. The first thing that I do when I go back to home is watching a television show. Even from this I could feel that I didn’t have motivation. Throughout the summer school, every single class Christian told us that we need to have motivation in order to be good at anything in this world. After hearing these words for a week. I finally got some motivation. I closed everything, every electronic device that would bother me. I spent just 20 minutes everyday after school memorizing vocabs. After few months I figured out that I had learned more then 500 words perfectly. I realized that it wasn’t me who was bad at memorizing things. It was myself who didn’t have motivation to do things. I was going the easy, lazy way. Although it was a short time being with Christian, I had learn alot of things from him. He was the engine that started me to get going. If I meet him again I really want to thank him. I wish i could eventually meet him again.” (Anonymous student in Chengdu, China, ’15)

“Thank you so much for working with her! She was very happy with her PSAT scores and how much she improved over the past year.” (Ann, mom ’14)

“Your class definitely made him more confident and excited about the SAT. I have told a number of family and friends about your class and will continue to spread the word.” (Carina, mom ’14)

“You explain the material from the test-taker’s perspective, and it helps tremendously. SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH 🙂 However, I don’t think that interactive smiles can express the level of my gratitude to you ;)” (Anonymous online student, ’14)

“I’ve spoken at length with Christian about the SAT and his philosophy toward tutoring and test prep. I’ve always been very impressed with his insights and approach to instruction. As a test prep professional myself, I meet a lot of charismatic people who sell their personality over substance or emphasize fake tricks and tips over real learning. I’ve never suspected Christian of falling into this camp. He’s a highly motivated educator, who cares about his students and works diligently to hep them succeed. If you’re in need of test prep, I highly recommend you give him a call.” (Matt McCorkle, Cofounder of Clear Choice Test Prep, ’16)

“You have helped me over the past year (and you worked with my sister a few years ago) to raise my SAT score tremendously which I am very thankful for.  The first time I took the SAT I received a 1170 with a 540 in English and a 630 in Math. I ended up with a 1400 with a 700 in both Math and English (a +230 point gain). Once again, thank you for all of your help over the past year and I definitely would not have the score I do without you.” (Cate, Senior ’25)

“I’ll be enrolling at Bates College in the fall and I’m so excited! Bates is extremely selective and was a huge reach for me, and I don’t think I could have done it without Christian’s help. He’s a fantastic tutor, and I’m very grateful. Thank you Christian and Love the SAT for the help!” (Kate, Senior ’24)

“Thank you so much for all the help! I wouldn’t have been able to do this without your teaching. Getting the reading section to a 790/800 was due to pre-answering and using your technique, I wouldn’t have been able to do it on my own. Thank you! ” (Avyay, Junior ’23)

“Hey Christian - we just received his SAT score from the August 28th test- 1570!  We can not thank you enough and we will be writing rave reviews for Love the SAT! This is a +180 point gain from his score previous to your program- so I am confident it made huge difference. For the record, even though he excels in reading and writing over math in school he found the SAT reading portion to be more difficult. He said that is definitely where your program came in clutch. I had already recommended you to several people before the scores came out- even some folks in Dallas. Thanks Again” (Courtney, mom ’20)

“…he then took the SAT in Dec. while your advice were still fresh in his brain. (I think all the techniques were in there during the PSAT, but he was probably under a lot of pressure and felt stressed as it was a big deal to us that he make it to NMSF ).  He did a lot better on the SAT, he got a 1560. Way better than we expected, after the PSAT result. So thank you, thank you!” (Anna, mom of Junior ’19)

“Hi, thank you for everything.  Please let Christian know that Trevor’s ACT score was an 18 and increased to a 24!” (Tiffany, mom of Senior ’19)

“Hey I just took an ACT on July 14th and my tutor was Christian soooooo if you could pass this message to him tell him I got a 31 on my ACT and that I got a 36 on the reading section and I qualify for automatic admission to A&M. Thank you so much Christian, really life changing things you’re able to do.” (Will, Junior ’18)

“Hi Christian, I just wanted to share my gratitude for you and your co-workers for helping my son improve his scores.  Below are the ACT scores from December (he took the Kaplan course beforehand but it really was no help) and then his scores after you worked with him one-on-one.  As you can see his composite improved from 25 to 30!!!! I am so happy for him - this really changes his options for which colleges he can attend, and just opens doors in a very real way.  We are so grateful for your service.  Hard for to explain how much this means to us.  Your tutoring was an excellent investment in my son’s future and I would highly recommend ‘Love the SAT’ to any family - please feel free to use this as a testimonial.” (Esther, mom of Senior ’18)

[That one student whose ACT scores improved so much - by 7 points overall from one test to the next - that the ACT assumed she had cheated, and temporarily cancelled her scores!] (Cameron, Senior ’18)

“I just wanted you to know that our SAT/ACT saga is over. Sam scored 1300 on the SAT, a 100 point improvement and 33 on the ACT.  Needless to say, she was ecstatic about the ACT score and has added Johns Hopkins to her list of possible schools. Please pass this along to Christian, as his part in Sam’s scores was profound. Best investment we’ve ever made!” (Mike, dad of Senior ’17)

“I got my September ACT scores back about a week ago and received a 28! I’m so happy with my score and want to thank you and Christian Heath for y’all’s help! Please tell Christian I said thanks and for bringing my score up 11 points in reading!! Reading has always been a struggle for me, and to have this section as my highest sub-score is unbelievable! Thanks again, and I will surely recommend y’all to anyone who is looking for future SAT/ACT tutoring!” (Kalli, Senior ’16)

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More About Christian

 

None of the following info has to do with SAT prep - but you can learn a bit more about Christian’s favorite hobbies, books, movies & music!

In his free time:

Christian stays very busy when he’s not working on SAT prep!

His favorite interests & hobbies include

  • Trail Running
  • Motorcycles
  • Off-Roading & 4×4
  • Camping & Hiking
  • Reading
  • Movies
  • Exploring
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Songwriting
  • Piano & Guitar
  • Modular Synthesizer
  • Architecture & Design
  • Being a Dad
SAT Tutor Christian Heath running a half marathon

Christian’s Favorite Books:

Christian has loved reading his whole life. He’s always ready with a book recommendation (or three) for students!

Sci-Fi & Fantasy are his favorite genres, but he also likes the classics, horror, and a bit of nonfiction mixed in.

  • Snow Crash
  • When Gravity Fails
  • Titus Groan & Gormenghast
  • Neuromancer
  • Born to Run
  • The Harry Potter series
  • The Wheel of Time series
  • Atlas Shrugged & The Fountainhead
  • For Whom the Bell Tolls
  • War & Peace
  • Macbeth

Christian’s Favorite Movies:

Christian’s always looking out for a great story, atmospheric sets & memorable music from any era of film.

His favorite movie genres are Sci-Fi, Fantasy Action, and Suspense / Horror.

  • Blade Runner
  • Jurassic Park
  • Star Wars (1-6)
  • Alien
  • Braveheart
  • Batman Begins
  • Heat
  • Monty Python & The Holy Grail
  • Goldeneye
  • Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade
  • The Matrix

Christian’s Favorite Music:

Christian is a trained classical pianist and rock/electronic songwriter - so as you can imagine, this list is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his favorite music…

  • Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Enya
  • Brian Eno
  • Aphex Twin
  • Modest Mouse
  • Autechre
  • Neil Young
  • Frederic Chopin
  • Radiohead
  • The Cure
  • Arcade Fire
  • Bob Dylan
  • The Beatles
  • Led Zeppelin
  • Arcade High (look them up)

Christian’s Favorite Shows & Anime:

Much like his favorite books & movies, Christian’s top TV shows and anime feature a lineup of fantasy, sci fi, action and horror - with a bit of comedy thrown in.

  • Attack on Titan
  • Battlestar Galactica
  • Cobra Kai
  • Breaking Bad
  • Stranger Things
  • Family Guy
  • Death Note
  • Hajime no Ippo
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