Advice Needed! Are Kaplan and Princeton Review even worth it?

<p>I went out in June and bought a Kaplan 2009 SAT book and a Princeton 2009 SAT book. A lot of people on CC are telling me that both books are useless! Are they good in any way to prepare for the SAT? Will the help me in the slightest? I also have three Barron's Books (Math, Writting, and Grammar) plus Hot Words (I'm pleased with Hot Words).</p>

<p>From what I heard, Princeton is the better of the two. A lot of people that I know think Kaplan materials are the worst out there out of the big names.</p>

<p>I use Princeton Review because I’m taking its summer course. The manual is alright but I’m not completely satisfied with its review material so decided to purchase some supplements. I can’t really comment on the course since it’s only a few sessions in but so far it’s going good!</p>

<p>I’m pretty sure you have the Collegeboard 8 Practice test book as well right? Definitely use that for the tests.</p>

<p>Luckily my sister’s Barron’s prep books are still intact so I can save my parents a bit of money if I need to use them.</p>

<p>Never heard of ‘Hot Words.’ Is it on Amazon?</p>

<p>Overall, I think those books should help you if you use the review material well :)</p>

<p>I’ve been using the Princeton Review and it’s alright. I just got the Collegeboard book and it’s great, my CR score bumped up 30 points and it’s only been like a week. The directions are a lot clearer that Princeton’s. Princeton isn’t that great, but it’s not bad. I haven’t tried Kaplan, and will most likely just sell it. Do you have Direct Hits? I’m using Hot words right now and I’m not sure if I should get Direct Hits.</p>

<p>The classes are meant for score ranges between 1600 and 2100, which is to be expected as those are the most common scores. If you’ve taken practice tests before and scored around 2050 or higher, then don’t take a class. Instead, get books like those listed above and work on them daily. You’ll be a be able to squeeze the most out of your potential by simply taking SAT’s and correcting your mistakes as you go.</p>

<p>Yeah, Kaplan course was not helpful at all… I know from personal experience:( But I think Thispakistanigir meant the PR and Kaplan books. Well, they’re definitely a lot cheaper than the course itself while they end up covering most of what’s in those courses anyway. I found the PR practice tests slightly easier than the actual SAT, and it really didn’t help that much.</p>

<p>it’s been my experience that all kaplan test prep literature is worthless.</p>