Expensive SAT prep courses question!

<p>OK. Here's the deal. I really want to do well on the SAT's I'm hoping for a bout a 2085 on my SAT (which is a like 1390 on what is now the current SAT. However, such a score would be very difficult for me to achieve without some major HELP. </p>

<p>I want to take an SAT prep course through the Princeton Review. It goes from Jan-march, meets twice a week and preps for the march 12th SAT (I think that's the date). However the course is about 1000 bucs. .........
IS IT WORTH IT? OR IS IT JUST A RIP OFF?
HAVE U OR SOMEONE U KNOW TAKEN THIS EXACT COURSE OR THIS TYPE OF COURSE BEFORE??
DID IT HELP? </p>

<p>Any insight would be greatly appreciated!!!!!</p>

<p>I know a girl who took a PR course. 1180 in January ---> 1310 in October.</p>

<p>Are the scores for new SAT going to be by 5s, or did you just do 1390/2 * 3?</p>

<p>I took the course for the October one. I spent 3 hours and 30 minutes in a room every three days... Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.</p>

<p>I already knew the format of the SAT, and thought it helped by going over every single type of problem. I do believe it helped, although on my diags I scored around a 1150 - 1200, and I received a 1240 on the October exam. I am retaking it in December because I think I was a little too tense going into the exam that Saturday morning.</p>

<p>I think it will help for the new one, and I will say "go for it!" because the new one is a different format. My PR teachers told me they were being prepped already for the new one, etc.</p>

<p>Now that I look back, I wish there was a bit more that I had been training for on the October one. I noticed most of my PSAT was filled with tricks that I had been learning, so I am hoping my PSAT score is awesome.</p>

<p>One thing I think that will help while you are in the Princeton Review class is doing work on your own. The majority of kids in the class were slackers who wanted to leave early, so we ended up getting out at 9pm instead of 9:30pm. It wasn't that bad, but I wish we did a little more... although we did end up with extra time in the end.</p>

<p>My advice to do well is take the course, but not answer everything question. Also, follow every instruction they tell you. I guarentee if you do not, you will miss that certain type of problem unless you know a better way.</p>

<p>I am way sure I can break 1400 and maybe even receive a sub-1500.</p>

<p>btw: the person who posted above me and who got the 1310 was in the same I was... I am certain, almost. :p</p>

<p>Hope this helps. :)</p>

<p>the princeton review course, or any course for that matter, will only help you if you let it help you.</p>

<p>I paid for the Princeton Review course over the summer. It really didn't help my scores. I felt that my class was too easy - we'd spend a lot of time going over really obvious stuff and what not. I participated and did all the homework (and extra) and still didn't feel much improvement.</p>

<p>Not to sound stuck up. If you can study on your own, I'd say, do that instead.</p>

<p>Are there other courses you can suggest?</p>

<p>i wouldnt bother</p>

<p>just buy some prep books</p>

<p>Kaplan? .</p>

<p>Kaplan - although I think they are just as expensive, my brother took that one, and he said that they separate hw assignments and what not based more upon ability -</p>

<p>There are also a few little companies - but I'd suggest making sure that they have had good results and know the SAT well. They're usually the cheaper ones.</p>

<p>I suggest studying out of prep books. Cheaper and better.</p>

<p>I took PR course 2 years ago and scored a 1140. A year later, last summer that is, I studied a little bit and got a 1370. Just study off of couple prep books and take a lot of practice tests out of the 10 Real's and you'll do fine.</p>

<p>I don't think 10 real SAT's does the new sat....</p>

<p>college board shipped their "prep" for the new sat. although it's not the 10 real sat, it's from the official company. amazon's selling it for $13, and i think its a good deal rather than paying $2000 for a princeton review class</p>

<p>I took pr... It works. Actively listen to what the instructor is explaining, even if all you want to think about doughnuts and sleep. They make you take their practice tests 4 times... which is 4 hours each. That builds up some serious endurance, which I don't think you can get from practicing on your own.
I improved lil over 300 pts. avg mid 600's to mid 700's on M/V. High 500 to high 600 on W (my grammar is really bad). awakenedream is right - it'll only help you if you let it.
I do think the price is a bit of a ripoff, but I'm happy with the results.</p>

<p>Masha,</p>

<p>I would recommend getting a REPUTABLE private tutor, instead of going with a big-name company like PR. I own a private tutoring company for the SAT (among other exams), and I have taught in the past for BOTH Kaplan and PR, so you can take my advice for what it's worth. Companies like PR may be able to help you if you have below-average or very mediocre scores. If you're aiming for about a 2080, however, PR probably won't help much (since the major companies are aimed towards the middle crowd) and a GOOD private tutor (or intense self-study with the right mindset and books) is probably the best solution. Look around in your area for private tutors who can do BOTH sections well. Be sure to ask for their credentials: the tutor's own scores should have been in the 1500s, they should have excellent references and a good track record, and they should be willing to offer a money-back score improvement guarantee (my company does). Do not trust just any tutor -- there are a TON of bad ones out there!</p>

<p>BTW, a really good book that I have just started perusing for the new SAT is The RocketReview Revolution: The Ultimate Guide to the New SAT, by Adam Robinson (the creator of PR, ironically). A good classic book is Barron's. Be prepared to spend two to four SOLID months to prepare for the exam in order to reach your goal; big improvements do not always come easy. The problem with companies like PR sometimes is that they do not give you enough homework (or challenging enough work). One of the keys to success is taking a lot (at least 6 to 8) of proctored (as in SOMEONE ELSE proctors you) OFFICIAL (from the College Board) diagnostics under realistic conditions AND reviewing and analyzing THOROUGHLY afterwards.</p>

<p>SchoolDuh: When you say you improved, do you mean solely on THEIR diagnostics or do you mean on an OFFICIAL exam (I'm assuming the PSAT, since the new SAT is not out yet)? Do NOT trust what you score on a company's diagnostic!</p>

<p>Hope this helps.</p>

<p>Yup... sadly one of the things the PR verbal instructor is that most ppl don't break 1350 in their classes because most kids needing a class aren't that smart.</p>

<p>There was a lot of basic review.</p>

<p>The thing that helped me the most was to use 0,1, -.5 for the quant comp.</p>

<p>It also depends on the instructor, amnesia. When I personally taught for PR, I had some students who scored perfect 800s on the math section. The highest one of my students scored in a PR class was 1520 (720 V, 800 M), I believe. But that indeed was more the exception rather than the norm, since most students in my classes did not start with higher than 1200 or so, and it's very difficult to improve by more than 150 points or so in a CLASSROOM setting if you're starting with a 1200 or higher. Make sure that, whatever you end up taking, your instructor/tutor has scored 1500+ himself or herself (and 750+ on both sections). There are plenty of bad tutors out there who only scored in the 1300 range.</p>

<p>Masha, my son is enrolled in PR's One on One Tutoring program - (12 hours for each math and verbal with their standard tutors). It was more expensive than the class, but we felt it would be better for him. So far, my son's met with the math tutor twice... and we LOVE him!! He is not only a brilliant man, but he connects and conveys his knowledge very well to my son. We haven't met with the verbal tutor, she will be coming for the first time this weekend.</p>

<p>Basically, the PR plan that we've chosen has tutors that have done a good job in teaching the PR group classes.</p>

<p>I'm sure that PR tutors (as well as private and other companies like Kaplan) vary, as teachers and professors do in every school! But the bottom line is that they do give you some very helpful hints that really seem to help... my son was very enthused after his first meeting with his math tutor! He felt better prepared for his 2nd PSAT which he took a few days later. He also said he felt bad that other kids did not have the benefit of knowing certain things his tutor taught him! That said, I'm sure that much of what the tutors teach can be learned from the many prep books out there. And for many many kids, especially the ones that congregate on this particular website, a tutor is not necessary, as those kids are very very disciplined. My son is a brilliant, enthusiastic kid who truly loves learning... BUT, he's also not as mature and disciplined to embark on a self-prep path. With having a class or a tutor, you have homework assigned - which is VITAL to doing well on the test. Since my son has to answer to and confront the tutor, he'll certainly do the work, as opposed to mom and dad requesting he do it.</p>

<p>My D took the SAT last May and was not satisfied with her scores, although they were acceptable by most colleges. She did the Princeton Review Online course from the end of August to right before the October testing date. This is less expensive by far than the class, and will only help you if you actually do the work, but she scored 140 points higher on her October SAT's (actually scored higher on both sections than in her first administration), making her eligible for almost every college and certainly eligible for scholarship consideration ( I would post her scores, but she would kill me!!!). This type of course is good if you have a very busy schedule and if you are self-motivated...and it is actually interactive...i.e. it gives you homework based on your responses to questions, etc. Hope this helps!</p>

<p>My son -taking to PR's One on One tutoring is also able to go on their website and do the practice work, which he has done and it really is pretty good! After you complete a portion, it'll give you the score, but then you can go over the problems individually and not only get the correct answers, but some information as to how and why... so you learn from it.</p>

<p>the PR online stuff is a total joke, i thought.</p>

<p>I think I did freak out. Talked with my other friend in my PR course, he scored almost 100 points lower!</p>

<p>our PR instructors were not allowed to tell us their score, but if we asked them a question, they could reason the answer out for us...</p>

<p>dunno, but i am pretty ****ed for paying a grand and not getting a satisfactory score (although it is good by most colleges)</p>