<p>I guess this thread just shows that more money doesn't exactly mean a better score. My parents paid $200 for a three month SAT course, and my score went up 270 M+V points. I'd say it was very worthwhile.</p>
<p>Didn't do anything from 10th to 11th grade, score went up 190 points.</p>
<p>Which course is he taking? Is it Kaplan, PR, or an independent company?</p>
<p>oh yeah! -20 pts.</p>
<p>$1599 princeton review course</p>
<p>went up 60 points
ohh kill me now.</p>
<p>i didnt do better at first, but at my second test i went from 2020 to 2140 with a superscore of 2200. I would have done wayyy better on that second try but i think i screwed up the bubbling in one reading section, because i got the final 16 problems wrong when i only missed 2 reading ones on the rest of the test. shooting for 2300 this weekend, hopefully not screwing up the bubbling.</p>
<p>i have just experienced the same problem. we spent a lot of money at a learning center called Huntington. my d's scores stayed the exact same. only difference was language went down 10 and math went up 10 so it looked like a 20 point increase but for 1500.00 it was a defeat to me.</p>
<p>We felt like we wasted our money as well. My daughter's scores went up 70 points. Writing score actually went down. All this to the tune of $1200 (private tutor.) </p>
<p>She did well on the ACT and has been accepted to her first choice university based on that. She barely prepped for the ACT at all. We basically took the SAT scores and threw them in the garbage.</p>
<p>I am always horrified by all those unnatural test-taking strategies that in my opinion are "too smart for their own good". What is wrong with reading the passage, understanding it and then finding the best answer?</p>
<p>In our paper today there was a review of a "new" test prep course called Revolution Prep (REVOLUTION</a> PREP - SAT Preparation and Private Tutoring.) who naturally compared themselves to PR and Kaplan:
SAT Course
Comparison<br>
Rev. Group Class Rev. Hybrid Kaplan PR<br>
$499 $799 $899 $999
Proctored Exams -5 5 4 4
Point Guarantee -200 250 Limitations Apply Varies byRegion
Course Length-6 weeks 6 weeks 6 weeks 6 weeks
Private Tutoring 0 4 hours 0 0</p>
<p>Does anyone know anything about a test prep company called Revolution Prep ( REVOLUTION</a> PREP - SAT Preparation and Private Tutoring. )? Saw an article in our paper with the following info:$499-$799 (more expensive includes private tutoring) for a 6 week course with 5 proctored exams and guaranteeing a 200-250 point increase. Their main selling point was their lower fee. Another was an online newly developed course by Petersons called Peterson's</a> StudentEdge - Login. It is run through your high school and has various rates starting with a $50/year course (school must sign up at least 10 students to take the course; parents pay for the course) and continuing through a variety of options where the school buys the test prep course and chooses the tests to be included. Has anyone used either of these?</p>
<p>I would just advise reading library books about subjects you enjoy reading about and using a few genuine released tests as practice. No need to spend serious money on test prep.</p>
<p>I have a weird situation:</p>
<p>I took an SAT prep course last april, before I had ever taken the test. The class met for 4 hours a week. Before the first SAT, I studied and studied, did timed practice tests, and wrote practice essays. I got a 1990.</p>
<p>Second time (October), I didn't study at all, I had forgotten everything the course had taught me, I hadn't done any real math since May, stayed up late the night before the test, and got a 2100.</p>
<p>I personally think the classes are useless. The only thing I did between the 1st and 2nd tests was forget everything that good-for-nothing class taught me.</p>
<p>I took a practice SAT in 10th grade and got ~2100. My super Asian parents got really worried, and the summer before my junior year, got me a private tutor from Kaplan to bring up my CR score, which was 600, if I remember correctly. We only met 4 times for 1.5 hours each time (6 hours total), because the services were really expensive. All we did was review some strategies. I found that getting a feel for the passage by reading it first worked best for me. If I read the questions beforehand, I'd forget them while reading the passage, and then have to read them again afterwards. A total waste of time.</p>
<p>This month, I ended up getting 800 in CR on the real thing. I don't know if I'm in any position to draw conclusions for a number of reasons. I've had two more years of AP English, and I also suspect that test prep companies give you more difficult tests toward the beginning and easier ones toward the end to give you an illusion of improvement. :/ Personally, I don't like "professional" test prep. I think the best way to improve is just to read - anything from newspapers to classics to poetry, and practice on your own. If you feel more comfortable getting outside help, I think private tutoring (especially in one area) is more effective.</p>
<p>All in all, it really depends on the student's motivation; it's possible to go up 200 pts with a $20 prep book, or go down 200 with a $2000 course. It's totally dependent on how much effort you're willing to put in.</p>
<p>Seclusion, you make interesting points. However, about motivation: my daughter was as motivated as they come. She studied night after night, took practice test after practice test (with a timer), worked with a private tutor and her score only increased 70 points (PSAT to SAT.) We basically felt that we threw $1200 in the trash. </p>
<p>However, as I've posted before, she did amazingly well on the ACT with little to no prep. We're still scratching our heads.</p>
<p>There seems to be little rhyme or reason to this.</p>
<p>Usually motivation really is the key, but there are certainly exceptions, and it sounds as if your daughter is one. </p>
<p>I don't have an easy answer for you. I <em>do</em> feel that certain programs, administered by really good tutors, make a real difference. They can't teach your kid all the vocab and critical thinking skills - the people who say that being a lifelong reader is the best prep for vocabulary (and recognition of good writing) are completely right about that. And they aren't really trying to teach your kid math skills that your kid is probably beyond at this stage anyway.</p>
<p>The point is, the tutors are trying to show kids what the test is about - what it's looking for, and how it goes about looking. They're also showing kids how it's structured, and how best to spend one's time while taking it.</p>
<p><<i am="" always="" horrified="" by="" all="" those="" unnatural="" test-taking="" strategies="" that="" in="" my="" opinion="" are="" "too="" smart="" for="" their="" own="" good".="" what="" is="" wrong="" with="" reading="" the="" passage,="" understanding="" it="" and="" then="" finding="" best="" answer?="">></i></p><i am="" always="" horrified="" by="" all="" those="" unnatural="" test-taking="" strategies="" that="" in="" my="" opinion="" are="" "too="" smart="" for="" their="" own="" good".="" what="" is="" wrong="" with="" reading="" the="" passage,="" understanding="" it="" and="" then="" finding="" best="" answer?="">
<p>I understand your question, definitely. Anyone bound for college should indeed be able to read a passage, understand it, and find the best answer. And yes, spending a lot of time with good books is, hands down, the best way to hone that skill (and, again, the vocabulary necessary to do well). </p>
<p>But here's the thing: There isn't much time. The strategies that good tutors offer kids are not "unnatural" - they are ways to attack these problems when time is limited, as it most certainly is here. Also bear in mind, the test is now longer than the old SAT. So it really pays to be able to dispatch these things quickly, before your energy starts to flag.</p>
<p>The tutors often devote time to bringing earlier math skills back to the forefront for students. A <em>lot</em> of these kids have gone way past what the SAT is testing for, and it is really useful to review rusty skills and concepts. Sure, some kids can do this on their own. Some kids (and parents) like having someone <em>else</em> do this particular nagging/reminding/prompting.</p>
<p>I am leery of posting a lot about tutoring. For one thing, I don't want to sound like a shill for the company we happen to like best. Also, I honestly don't like the fact that tutoring isn't available to all students, because of finances. (I try to salve that guilt by contributing liberally to a fund at our public school that pays for SAT classes for students who can't afford them. But that only goes so far.)</p>
<p>But for those of you who have not experienced gains and are disappointed, it isn't necessarily because tutoring is a waste of time or a bad idea. Your tutors may not have gotten the right points across.</p>
<p>(And yes, btw, there really is often a downturn in scores the first couple of times a student employing the time-conservation strategies takes a diagnostic test.)</p>
<p>If anybody wants to PM me to discuss this further, I'm happy to answer.</p>
</i>
<p>IMO many times the tutoring undermines the student's confidence and second guessing becomes the norm. This wastes time and accuracy since a lot of times your gut reaction is right. Also, and this is from personal experience, finding out that you really don't know as much as you should know to do really well creates enormous anxiety. In other words, you start to think that you are not as smart as you thought you were.</p>
<p>OP here: PSAT scores are in and it came out exactly as I feared. My son's score as a sophomore was 195. As a junior it was 196. I feel like such a fool for spending all that money and making him spend all that time in the prep course, workshops, etc. At least we won't make the same mistake with his younger sisters.</p>
<p>I'm sorry, missypie. That stinks.</p>
<p>Want to help the rest of us and spill the name of the company? (though I know each franchise could be different!)</p>
<p>Both of my Ds took the $900 Princeton Review SAT course, (2 years apart). They both got worse scores on the actual test than they did on the practice tests during the course. (They didn't take the SAT before the course, so I can't compare real test results before and after.) With absolutely no prep, they both scored better on the ACT than on the SAT (using conversion charts).</p>
<p>Even with D1's history of no improvement, I enrolled D2 purely out of GUILT. Because, as all of us moms know, it is OUR fault if we could have done more for them but didn't. :) Arrgh.</p>