<p>how much would you guys pay for a prep course? i think the prices of kaplan/princeton that are $1000+ are just absurd. but i wouldnt mind paying 100-200</p>
<p>To be honest, I don’t think tutoring by test prep companies really help. I did private tutoring with a large national test prep company for just the math section. My CR went up 90 points. My math stayed the same. I think this happened because I studied for the AP English Language exam by myself; self studying is the way to go. Also, If there is a particular concept you have trouble with there is a wealth of information online to guide you. Don’t fall in the money pit of private tutoring.</p>
<p>I took a summer course before my junior year, took it in October, got an 1870. Then I self-studied some more, took it in March, got a 2100. The only helpful thing about my summer prep course was that we took practice tests every Friday, so I got really familiar with timing myself, knowing what questions I should skip, etc. But the actual prep course did not help too much.</p>
<p>A lot of my classmates took SAT prep courses, starting from the summer before sophomore year and it seemed like a bunch of work for maybe a couple hundred points. I remember they’d get like 50 vocab words a day and that just seemed really intense to me especially since there are only like 3 tough sentence completion questions on the whole test. </p>
<p>I told myself I would self study the summer before junior year and also during winter break (meaning I slacked off all summer/winter break) and ended up getting a 2000 on the January test. Then I did some prep in that blue Collegeboard book they sell and ended up getting a 2170 on the June test. </p>
<p>I think the best way to approach it is to take a test first without much prep, so you can see where you stand. And then after that get together with some friends who have done an SAT prep course and work with them to improve sections you’re weak on. I found that friends who had done summer courses and stuff tend to only have a slight advantage, if any, but they did have tons of practice tests and resources to use. 
I think it pretty much boils down to if you’re a good standardized test taker or not.</p>
<p>My daughter will be a senior in August. Even though she studied for the ACT, she cannot seem to crack above a 24 on the ACT even though she has a high GPA (4.1). So, she will be taking an ACT prep class in which they will administer a practice ACT test 4 times and then have classes and a few hours of private tutoring on top of that. I will let you know if it helps. My neighbor across the street used this same guy and her son’s ACT went up 7 points. Another friend’s daughter went up 3 points. So, we shall see…</p>
<p>my school offers FREE SAT prep classes.:)</p>
<p>Don’t take those prep courses! It doesn’t help at all…trust me. If you want a high score nobody can help you but yourself.
But since your school offers it, it couldn’t help to use an extra source I guess:)</p>
<p>I’ve studied all on my own with
collegeboard prep books
Dr. John Chung’s SAT math
Grubers complete SAT guide
Princeton Review Reading and Writing prep books
Barons SAT math
all bought from amazon.</p>
<p>and recieved a 2350. BUT it takes a lot of effort and consideration and willpower to get the high score…honestly I’ve taken probably at least 40-50 SAT tests altogether. Prepare yourself for some intense workout.
The sleepless nights and burnouts I’ve had were all worth it…my parents thought I was crazy but when I got the score omg…</p>
<p>Anyways good luck to you on your SATs!!!=))</p>
<p>An SAT tutor really helped my D raise her score. I knew that she was not motivated to work through SAT books on her own, but she was accountable to the tutor to get the work done between sessions. She knew that, if she didn’t do the work, her tutoring sessions would be worthless.</p>
<p>My mom bought me the official SAT study book and an ACT study book. I swear, I was going to use them… but the test dates came up so quickly. I decided to take both tests without prep the first time around and see where I’d need to improve. My SAT came back a 2080, which was great because I knew I could study and get better! But then the ACT came back… and I decided to stick with the ACT score. No more tests for me!</p>
<p>I have taken an online one, but only because my parents said that if I didn’t, they wouldn’t let me take the SAT. I didn’t pay that much attention to it, though. I still got a 2230 (710 M, 740 CR, 780 W) but am considering retaking it.</p>
<p>I’m OBSESSED with prep. I’m going to take my school’s SAT prep course which is free (and required!), but I’m not stopping there. I’m taking PSAT prep the summer before junior year, 2 SAT prep courses (during school and during the summer), and an ACT prep course. I really want to make sure I’ll do well. I’m also doing lots of books.</p>
<p>For SAT Subjects though, I’ll stick to the books.</p>
<p>@beexx93 Dang that’s a lot of prep… You dont think that it’s a bit too much?</p>
<p>@LonghornNation I admit it’s a bit excessive. I’ve rarely improved scores by prep courses, but my parents feel they help me. I’m a perfectionist and I’m obsessed with getting good scores. I figure it can’t hurt :)</p>
<p>For me, self-prep means no prep! I’ve never touched a single SAT or ACT study book. 2340 (780/780/780) SAT and 35 ACT.</p>
<p>^ That’s amazing!.. But it’s also luck</p>
<p>I’m self-motivated to learn if I feel there is any use in the material. I’ve never tried hard in English literature or studied for the SAT…</p>
<p>To me it’s just a number and the fact that colleges use it is quite sad–because many have prepared and I have not. I devote my time to other studies that I feel is worth it, the only time I’d share my score is to is with a combination of other achivements to say it doesn’t really mean much…</p>
<p>I took SAT prep classes, and it mostly helped me feel comfortable with the SAT. I know I wouldn’t have spent a lot of time preparing for the SAT on my own, so I’m glad I spent that time to go and just study.</p>
<p>Woah, @LonghornNation, maybe my method isn’t what works for most people, but it’s not luck! I think the fact that my SAT and ACT scores were almost exactly equivalent and my “section” scores for both were consistent goes to show that.</p>
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<p>Stop rationalizing. Luck doesn’t take you far on the SAT. With 170 questions on the SAT and 5 answer choices each, luck barely plays a role in the overall score.</p>
<p>@IceQube Good scores on the SAT actually primarily depend on luck. For example, on the CR section, you could luckily get vocab questions you know, or unluckily get words you don’t know. Luck is far less a contributing factor on the ACT.</p>