Get your teen into Stanford, UCLA and other top California colleges.

We help California students break 1450+ on the SAT so they are competitive at Stanford, UCLA and the schools on their list.

+172
average SAT point increase
$10M+
in scholarships our students have earned
66
five-star reviews on Google
14,100+
followers for our free SAT and college admissions advice
QUINNSAT 1580JONATHAN+200 pointsKIRASAT 1400MARIASAT 1430DEAGLAN+170 pointsZOEY+220 pointsDAVID+160 pointsLANDON+150 pointsQUINNSAT 1580JONATHAN+200 pointsKIRASAT 1400MARIASAT 1430DEAGLAN+170 pointsZOEY+220 pointsDAVID+160 pointsLANDON+150 points
As seen on Tampa Bay's Morning Blend
Carson Flowers founder of Florida Test Prep on ABC News

Hear from our families

1400 SAT as a sophomore, in 10 weeks
◆Kira B. · Plant High School
200+ SAT points in 8 weeks
◆Jonathan's family · Tampa
1410 SAT in 6 weeks
◆Tamu Tuboku-Metzger · Parent
1400 in 10 weeks
◆Alex F. · Plant High School
+220 SAT points in 8 weeks
◆Rebecca Armstrong · Parent
+140 points in 8 weeks
 
◆EJ · Riverview High School
See more student results →

California admissions are competitive.

Stanford read 60,646 applications and admitted 3.8%. Caltech read 11,285 applications and admitted 3.78%.

School
Middle 50% SAT
Acceptance rate
Stanford University
1520-1570
3.8%
Caltech
Not published
3.78%
USC
1470-1540
11.2%
Santa Clara University
1330-1470
47.9%
UC Berkeley
1340-1540 (last published, informational only)
10.5%
Middle 50% SAT and acceptance rate as each school publishes them; cohorts differ by school. The full table with cohort notes is on our SAT scores for California colleges page.
UC remains test-blind for now, but is actively reconsidering
 
Compass Prep policy tracker and CapRadio, updated through Oct 8, 2026

The University of California dropped the SAT/ACT from admissions entirely in 2021 under a lawsuit settlement and has stayed test-blind every cycle since, including for 2026-27 applicants. No UC campus considers a submitted score for admission or scholarships.

Through 2026, UC's Academic Senate and Board of Regents have been publicly debating whether to reinstate a test requirement, citing concerns about incoming students' math preparedness; as of Oct 8, 2026 no policy change had been approved and the current cycle remains test-blind.

Compass Prep (compassprep.com/uc-test-requirements) and CapRadio, Oct 8, 2026
California's public universities do not use the SAT or ACT at all: the University of California (UC) has been test-blind since 2021 and the California State University (CSU) system, including Cal Poly SLO, is also test-blind, so scores are not considered for admission or scholarships at any UC or CSU campus for 2026-27 applicants.

Everyone getting in is already above a 4.0. So that's not the tiebreaker.

Look at the GPAs of students admitted to UC Berkeley and UCLA. They clear a 4.0. When every applicant has an A average, the transcript just gets your teen into the pile. The SAT is the one number that means the same thing at every high school in California, so it is what decides who comes out of it.

Average GPA of admitted students
UC Berkeley
 
4.36
UCLA
 
4.44
 The 4.0 line. Every one of them is already past it.
UC Berkeley: weighted, middle 50% of the fall 2026 admitted first-year class; UCLA: weighted, middle 50% of the fall 2025 enrolled first-year class (median 4.61). Sources: university admissions data.

California's best scholarships go to strong scores.

California has no state scholarship with an SAT cutoff: the Cal Grant, the state's main financial aid program, is awarded on GPA and financial need only, with no role for test scores in eligibility or amount, and the UC and CSU systems that most Cal Grant recipients attend do not use SAT/ACT scores for aid either, so score-tied money in California comes only from a handful of private universities' own competitive merit programs.

Award
Worth over 4 years
SAT score needed
What it pays
Pepperdine Regents Scholars Program
Worth
Varies
SAT score needed
No set cutoff
Competitive, holistic award based on unweighted recalculated GPA plus the submitted test score; no separate application, awarded at the time of admission. Varies; can reach full tuition (no published fixed amount).
Azusa Pacific University Trustees' and Presidents'/Provost's/Deans' Scholarships
Worth
$15,000
SAT score needed
No set cutoff
Trustees' Scholarship (full tuition, 4 awarded annually) requires a 3.9 weighted HS GPA; the President's/Provost's/Deans'/Directors' tiers blend GPA and test score with no published breakpoints.

Neither program publishes a numeric SAT-to-dollar table; both describe test scores as one input to a holistic or sliding-scale merit review rather than a fixed cutoff.

Where the money is competitive, the score is one of the few things your teen can still move this year.

CF

Why “Florida” Test Prep?

I'm Carson, and I founded Florida Test Prep. I grew up with no college fund, and my first SAT was a 1050. So I built a system for myself. By senior year I scored a 1430, and that one number earned me a spot in an honors college, a Presidential Scholarship, and $81,000 in scholarships.

A couple of years after I graduated I started tutoring on the side in Florida, and our first hundred families came from there. That is where the name comes from. Every class and 1-on-1 has always been live on Zoom, and the SAT is the same test in California as anywhere else, so California families get the same coaching, the same tutors and the same guarantee.

Carson on his weekly webinar for parents.
 

Meet the team your family will actually talk to.

Your teen is coached by career test-prep specialists, not college students working a side job. You get their tutor's direct line, and a written update on your teen's numbers every week.

SAT Strategists
 
Taylor Beyer
Writes the prep materials other tutors teach from. Nearly a decade in SAT prep.
 
Alex Cross
Cornell. 12+ years, hundreds of students, multiple perfect scores coached.
 
Caleb Henry
Scored a perfect 1600 himself. UC Berkeley, triple major in engineering and CS.
 
Karen Wolff
Two decades of SAT and ACT prep. Former Assistant Director at Huntington Learning Center.
 
Karina Yang
UC Berkeley. Five-plus years coaching students through the digital SAT.
College Admissions Partner
 
Lesley Morter
30 years a school counselor in Tampa, the last eight with IB families at Hillsborough and Robinson. 2023 Yale Educator Award.
Read their full bios →

Our method: Map, Master, Mock

Three steps, in order, built around one teen. Most prep runs every student through the same workbook front to back. We find the exact sub-topics costing your teen points, drill only those, then rehearse under real timing until test day feels routine. That is why our students gain 172 points on average.

01
Map
Find exactly where the points are going.
Your teen takes a full-length diagnostic under real timing. We grade it question by question and find the exact sub-topics costing them points.
02
Master
Drill only what they are missing.
A dedicated tutor every week plus live small-group classes, aimed only at what the diagnostic found. No time wasted re-teaching what they already know.
03
Mock
Rehearse until test day is routine.
More than 20 full-length practice SATs under test conditions, each one reviewed. Test day becomes the fifth time, not the first.

We track every second of your teen's prep. Literally.

Every practice problem your teen touches is measured: the seconds spent on it, the exact sub-topic, and whether the same mistake keeps repeating. Prep aims only at the weak spots, and you see the numbers every week.

See everything we measure
Seconds per question
Sub-topic weak spots
A weekly data text to you
Want the diagnostic before you talk to anyone?
Ask us and we will send your teen a full-length practice SAT plus the question-by-question breakdown of where their points are going. No call required, no cost.
Request a free diagnostic →

Is this right for your teen?

We are not for everyone. Here is who we do our best work with, and who we are honestly not built for.

Best fit if
  • ✓You are a California family aiming at Stanford, UCLA, or another top school
  • ✓Your teen is scoring under 1300 and has real room to move
  • ✓They can put in four to six hours a week between now and test day
  • ✓You want a plan and accountability, not another workbook on the counter
Probably not a fit if
  • ✕You are shopping for the cheapest way to clear a scholarship cutoff
  • ✕Your teen will not do the work between sessions
  • ✕You want a weekend cram course two weeks before the test
  • ✕Your teen is already above a 1400 and just needs polish

How it works

Every plan is built around one student. Yours.

01
Start any week
There is no semester to wait for and no cohort to catch. Your teen can begin the week you enroll, which matters because every test date that passes is one less shot.
02
Choose the path that fits
Live group classes, private 1-on-1 coaching, or a combination of both. It depends on how far your teen is from their target and how much time is left.
03
We build the plan on the call
The free Strategy Session is where we map it: the exact target score, the gap, and the schedule that gets there. No two plans are identical, because no two students are.
Book your free Strategy Session
45 to 60 minutes on Zoom. You leave with the plan whether you enroll or not.

The Admissions Advantage

Included free with every program. There is more to getting in than a test score, and almost all of it has a deadline. So we run workshops through the year on the parts parents tell us they got wrong the first time. Essays. FAFSA. Scholarship applications. Your family can come to every one.

✓College application strategy workshops
✓Essay coaching, from first draft to submitted
✓A merit aid and scholarship workshop, so no award on your teen's list gets missed
✓FAFSA planning, so the aid your teen qualifies for actually arrives
✓College List Workshop for the schools on your teen's list
✓A deadline calendar for every school on your teen's list
✓A 45-minute college acceptance strategy session

Bought separately from a college consultant, this runs about $4,500. Here it is part of the program.

You are backed by two guarantees.

1
The Score Guarantee

We do not print a number here, because the right number depends on your teen. On your free Strategy Session we set the target score together, based on where they are today, the schools on their list, and the scholarship cutoffs they are chasing. Then we put it in writing: your teen finishes the program and hits that score, or we keep tutoring them free until they do.

2
The first-week refund

Start the program, and if you or your teen are not happy in the first week, you get every dollar back. One hundred percent, no forms, no argument.

5.0 on Google, from real families.

Don't trust my website. Search Florida Test Prep on Google and read them before you ever talk to us.

★★★★★

“We signed up for this course this summer and it was a success. 240 point increase in overall score! I would recommend!”

Tanya, parent
★★★★★

“Jonathan jumped 200 points, 1020 to 1220, and the weekly texts meant we always knew where he stood.”

Parent of a 10th grader
★★★★★

“I used Fl Test Prep to prepare for the August SAT and increased my June score from a 1360 to a 1430. I got to have Karina as a tutor!”

Asada, student
See more student results →
1M+
views on our free SAT and admissions videos. Try the teaching before you spend a dollar.

We give away more instruction on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram than most companies sell. Have your teen watch one free lesson tonight. You'll see the difference before you ever pay us a dollar.

Questions California parents ask me every week

We cover all of this and more on the free Strategy Session: 45 to 60 minutes on Zoom, and you keep the plan either way.

Book your free Strategy Session
Why not just use an app, or a $40-an-hour tutor?
An app has nobody watching, nobody adjusting the plan, and no accountability. Most teens quit by week three and nobody notices. An hourly tutor sees your teen once a week and reviews strong topics as much as weak ones, with no timing data, no mock program, and no guarantee. We pair a dedicated tutor with live small-group classes, aimed by per-question data, with a weekly text to you and a guarantee in writing.
What does the program cost?
It depends on how much 1-on-1 time your teen needs and how long we have before test day. Group-heavy plans sit at the lower end, heavy private coaching at the upper end. We give you the exact number on the Strategy Session, with no pressure to decide on it, and you can weigh it against what the score is worth at Stanford and UCLA.
How much can my teen realistically raise their score?
Our students average a 172-point increase, and many gain 200 or more. Every plan starts from a full-length diagnostic, so the target we set is realistic and specific to your teen rather than a number we made up.
How much time does this take each week?
Classes run two hours, with several sessions a week to choose from, so your teen picks the ones that fit around practice, work, and AP classes. Most families find 4 to 6 focused hours a week is enough. We build the schedule around your teen's life, not the other way around.
What if my teen hates studying for the SAT?
Most of them do at first. That is exactly why the structure matters. Live classes with a coach create accountability that a workbook never will, and because we only drill the sub-topics they are actually missing, they stop wasting hours on material they already know. Progress showing up on mock tests is what changes their attitude.
Do UCLA, UC Berkeley, and the other UC campuses require the SAT?
No. The University of California has been test-blind since 2021 and remains test-blind for 2026-27 applicants, meaning no UC campus looks at a submitted SAT or ACT score for admission or for scholarships. The same is true for every CSU campus, including Cal Poly SLO. As of Oct 2026, UC's faculty senate and regents were publicly debating whether to bring testing back in a future cycle, but no change had been approved.
When should my teen start?
Sophomore or early junior year is ideal because it leaves room for multiple test dates. Seniors can still make it work, but every remaining date counts. Most teens only get two or three attempts that genuinely matter, so the earlier you start the more room there is to improve.
Should my teen retake the SAT?
Usually yes, and the data tells us when. We track the score curve across every mock test, so we recommend the real test date once the curve is stable rather than guessing. After an official attempt we can tell you exactly what a retake would take and whether it is worth it.
Is there a California scholarship tied to an SAT score?
No. California's main state aid program, the Cal Grant, is awarded purely on GPA and financial need, with set award amounts by college segment (UC, CSU, community college, or private). A test score can stand in for a missing GPA on file, but it has no effect on eligibility or the dollar amount. Score-tied money in California comes only from a few private universities' own merit scholarships, not from the state.
Is this online or in person?
Fully online and live on Zoom, anywhere in California. Group classes and 1-on-1 sessions are scheduled around your family. No driving across town on a school night.

Your teen gets two or three test dates that count. Every one without a plan is a wasted shot.

Book the free Strategy Session. 45 to 60 minutes on Zoom, with me. You leave with three things whether we ever work together or not.

1
The exact score your teen needs

For Stanford, UCLA and every college on their list. Not a range, the number.

2
A 6-to-12 week plan

Built on where your teen is losing points today. Yours to keep either way.

3
A straight answer

Whether professional prep is even worth it for your kid, or the gap is small enough to close on your own.

This is not a sales meeting. Families take the session, keep the plan, and never sign up. That is fine with us.

Book your free Strategy Session
Your kid did their part in the classroom. This part is yours. Book the call, and let's get them into the school they actually want.
Book your free Strategy Session