SAT Prep Courses

[corlay]

DD is a junior, and will be seeking admissions in a high-academic university next year.
(Engineering program)

Have any of you that have already gone through this process done any of the SAT prep courses that are available?

Specifically, I am interested in the Princeton Review SAT 1400+ course.
Taught live, online, this course makes guarantees of a score 1400+ *if* starting baseline is 1200+. (PSAT or previous SAT score)
It runs Nov-March. So quite a bit longer than a typical 6-week prep course.
Anyone ever enrolled in this program? Was it a positive experience?
This course is NOT cheap, but the backing of a guarantee is pretty reassuring.

I"ve known kids locally who have engaged in various prep courses (self-study, live online, traditional classroom, private tutor, etc) and didn't really improve scores appreciably. Do you get what you pay for? well, of course not, really. If the kid is willing to put in the work, then they *should* improve.
But that guarantee is still reassuring....

Others out there:
Kaplan (60% less $$$)
Kahn Academy (free!)

Any advice?

DD is a very good student, and did self-prep for the pSAT.
I'm thinking it would be smart to get her pro-guided study for the SAT.

Thanks!

 

[Orange Socks]

First, I highly recommend taking some sort of prep course especially if you need that higher score. It really depends on your DD and how disciplined, motivated, organized, etc she is. My DD kind of did Khan academy, TEST Masters courses(hated it and waste of $$ for us/her) We ended up finding a private tutor that had 3 payment options. Big money upfront that guaranteed her a 4 point increase or we get our $$$ back on a pro rata basis, pay hourly with a cap amount equal to the pay up front with no guarantee or pay a considerably low amount and do a classroom type study without the one on one.

We ended up going with the guaranteed option, but only increased her score 3 points. We did get back about 1/3 of the fee. Thank goodness this guy honored his agreement. Unfortunately, she needed a 32 on her ACT before the Academic river of money starts flowing! Not quite good enough! The bar was raised by 3 points in two years, because it has become so academically competitive.

Anyway, try to find a private option if possible. Don't look at it as an expense rather an investment with a possible ROI that could exceed your initial investment by far. Do your homework and find out what the score goal is first though. Good luck.

 

[Sweet Lou]

I can't recommend Khan Academy enough. They didn't have SAT prep when my older kids did it but it's been added to their excellent site. It's one of the few things we make monthly donations to,

The SAT Review books are also good, my wife being kind of crazy about these things bought both the Princeton and Barons review guide. One was better than the other but I forget which one, I'll ask tonight.

There is also a free site that offers daily problems, they don't take long and are very good at reinforcing concepts. I think you can also have it ask more questions in areas where your DD is having more trouble so you don't just cover what she already has down.

We did an in person class for both kids too and thought it was worth it, I'll ask my wife for details tonight I'm sure she has them.

 

[SonicMojo]

First, I highly recommend taking some sort of prep course especially if you need that higher score. It really depends on your DD and how disciplined, motivated, organized, etc she is. My DD kind of did Khan academy, TEST Masters courses(hated it and waste of $$ for us/her) We ended up finding a private tutor that had 3 payment options. Big money upfront that guaranteed her a 4 point increase or we get our $$$ back on a pro rata basis, pay hourly with a cap amount equal to the pay up front with no guarantee or pay a considerably low amount and do a classroom type study without the one on one.

We ended up going with the guaranteed option, but only increased her score 3 points. We did get back about 1/3 of the fee. Thank goodness this guy honored his agreement. Unfortunately, she needed a 32 on her ACT before the Academic river of money starts flowing! Not quite good enough! The bar was raised by 3 points in two years, because it has become so academically competitive.

Anyway, try to find a private option if possible. Don't look at it as an expense rather an investment with a possible ROI that could exceed your initial investment by far. Do your homework and find out what the score goal is first though. Good luck.

Did she do in-person tutor or online? There's so many out there. It's hard to choose.

 

[Momo'sDad]

Because of my age, I was initially apprehensive about an online course. My belief was that driving to a temporary storefront classroom in a strip mall every week and being face-to-face with the instructor would make it all more serious and increase the degree of accountability. We ended up choosing the 6-week online course with Princeton Review and used Khan as a supplement. Although DD fell short of her target, I thought the course was a great value and that it provided the necessary preparation and tools for her to post a great score.

Since your DD is a junior, taking the course now would be an even greater benefit, because she would get a full year of access to all the online resources. This means she can do all the drills, practice tests, and re-watch the classes as often as she would like in order to boost her potential.

 

[Orange Socks]

Did she do in-person tutor or online? There's so many out there. It's hard to choose.

She did Testmasters in a group setting. She hated it.
She had access to Khan academy. meh.
Ultimately, she met with a tutor face to face initially, Then they met via phone. The face to face meetings were to show her how to take the test, and how to eliminate certain answers based on the subject matter. She was given homework and they reviewed over the phone weekly. Summer to Nov. If she didn't do her homework or wasn't prepared, they would not meet. He held her accountable.

 

[Sweet Lou]

I've been meaning to update this. Of the two study books Barons was by far the better of the two at preparing for SAT. though this was 5 and 7 years ago so things may have changed.

I never did track down the name of the course we used but my wife said it was a local firm and not a national chain so that probably doesn't help most on this board. That said we thought both kids got their money's worth on the SAT prep class. It was 6 or 8 weeks 2-3 hours each Sunday.

But again I think they got the most out of doing a little bit each day as opposed to trying to to do big cram sessions all at once. Just my $0.02

Neither were college athletes but one is now employed in his major field of engineering and the other will be graduating in the spring with honors before completing a 1 year masters program in civil engineering so they oth got the most out of the college exprience.

The first didn't get any additional academic money since he went to a relatively inexpensive college and we didn't qualify for need base. He just had his National Merit Scholarship from PSAT. The second did benefit from academic money based on grades and SAT since she went to a considerably more expensive private college. But "sticker price" is rarely what you pay at private college.