<p>Hi, I'm pretty new to all this SAT testing, and there's this buzz in my area about SAT Prep courses, like there is in any area.
They cost tons, but people claim to have improved by significant numbers.
I don't know if I should enroll , or will buying some practice books do?</p>
<p>I know that there are already posts on this, but I can't seem to find the link.</p>
<p>imo, test prep courses are for idiots that are too lazy to pick up a book and study for themselves. they just reiterate whats in the books. for less than 50$, you can go out and buy yourself some good books and just study those and that should be enough.</p>
<p>^ not all true.</p>
<p>If, and only if, you are lucky enough to get a teacher who seems to know what they are doing and are caring enough to offer individual help, then it is definitely worth it. I took a prep course over the summer, and I not only gained a lot through the class itself, but my teacher was generous enough to sit down and talk about my weaknesses and help fix them. I met with him on an individual basis a couple of times outside of class, and it was really helpful when we both went over the types of problems I was struggling through.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, not all instructors are that way and many times you don't know who you will get. Most teachers will try to help you as much as possible though, and the type of practice that you get inside of a class is far more than just sitting and doing problems out of a book at home. If you have the money, and time, and if you do think you need a good amount of help (i.e don't sign up for one if you're already hitting around a 2200), then I think it would be a good decision to sign up for the class. It certainly helped me out a lot.</p>
<p>Tutoring probably helps. Princeton Review is crap--do NOT go there unless your bast SAT score hovers around a 1600/2400, because it only teaches you how to take unnecessary shortcuts (like how to avoid using algebra on the math section, even though it's faster to just do it if you know how). Korean SAT day camp (CCB) improved my score by probably around 100 points, but that was because it was 8 hours a day, four days a week (Fridays were test days) for my junior summer. Not fun. But it worked. </p>
<p>If you have the discipline, then I'd really suggest that you just buy every SAT book out there and just do them all. That's all I ended up doing. NOTE: DO NOT DO THEM ALL EARLY. I did all of my SAT books by October, and had nothing left to do for the entire month before I took the test in November. I ended up getting a 2240, when I probably could have gotten higher if I'd been practicing all the way up to the last day.</p>
<p>i think practice books are fine if you have the discipline to sit down and make yourself do it. i would do a couple sections every night, and then correct them and really take the time to figure out what i got wrong. i brought a list of Qs to my math teacher sometimes too.<br>
particularly useful: this one SATprep place in my area lets people take a practice test with them in simulated testing conditions, free, even if you don't prep with them. i did a couple of those and it was SO helpful to see essay comments and how i'd actually do in the situation. so if there's a place near you that does that, take advantage of it.</p>
<p>The only benefit I see to taking a prep class is that it forces you to study for the SAT and do work. If you can afford it financially and need the extra motivation then I would by all means go for it. It is not however needed to score well and they do not share some elaborate SAT master plan.</p>
<p>The main way that test prep courses help is that they reduce the flammability of money in your pocket. Once you cough up enough money to pay for the class, you can focus on the test without having your pants catch on fire.</p>
<p>I think the real benefit of taking the prep course is having someone grade your essay on the written section.</p>
<p>Taking the Princeton Review course increased my scores tremendously. I went from a 590 to a 750 in CR, 370 to a 500 in Math and a 510 to a 730 in writing. I went from a 1490 to a 1980. I went up two points on the essay as well. I think that the reason why I improved so much was that I bombed the first one and was a bit hungover.</p>
<p>I took private prep courses, just me and a very experienced tutor, and I feel like I gained a lot.</p>
<p>But then, I was going from high scores to higher scores. A regular class will be most cost-effective if you're going from average to high. And books require real commitment and more competence when it comes to math concepts than I will ever have without a teacher.</p>
<p>I think the real key is consistency, finding one thing and just doing it thoroughly and frequently before the test.</p>
<p>The cheapest way to prepare for the SAT? Question on the day at college board's website! I've made it my home page so I don't go online ever without doing an SAT question first.</p>
<p>me - 2400</p>
<p>read through Barron's 2400 once before the test and took 3 bluebook practice tests.</p>
<p>I've been going though the books in my local library, but the prep books they have are for 2006, and some 2007. Does it matter which year the book is published in? Meaning do you have to get the most recent one? Or are they all adequate.</p>
<p>What I would recommend is buying actual SATs instead of an actual book. By doing 4 full-length SATs the month leading up to my second take, I put 100 points on an already very decent score (2160 -> 2260). That may seem like a lot of time but it's not more time than a Princeton Review class and hundreds of dollars cheaper. Whatever you do, commit to it. You'll get out what you put in. Always use a timer. I lose a lot of time during standardized tests because I have a weird neurological condition that makes me throw up very frequently, so practicing with speed in mind really helped me on the exam. </p>
<p>As for math concepts, I think a book is fine unless you consider yourself to be weak on math. The geometry principals are simple questions dressed in complicated wording.</p>
<p>I don't think there's much change year to year unless it's the "Old" SAT, without the writing section. I can't remember what year they introduced it with writing but make sure you get one with writing. Other than that, they're probably very similar.</p>