<p>Excellent thread. So glad someone brought it to the fore again. Now I feel I can rest assured that D's already demonstrated good test taking skills and her usual self confidence (when I'm not messing with it) will help her do great on next year's tests. I think all she might need is a very teensy bit of targeted brushing up on math, her area that could perhaps improve with prep (which she can probably do on her own, just by using a cheap prep book). She's busy reading 19th century British lit at the moment (her favorite genre), no need for CR prep at all. Yay, one less thing to pay for! Thanks ya'll for exposing the dangers of too much/too expensive prep. D will be eternally grateful.</p>
<p>I took a PR ACT course during the summer. Throughout all the 4 or 5 practice tests I've gotten 24's for all of them. No joke. When I took the September ACT, I got a 24.</p>
<p>5 months later with no prepping, I get 26 on the Feb ACT</p>
<p>What a waste of $1000.</p>
<p>Seriously, for math, tutors are fine because they can just give you worksheets and you can practice the problems themselves. Writing, same thing, it's just grammar rules. Reading...good luck improving that -.- soooo glad that I got a 690 cold turkey. Just needa do a bit more reading and i'll be set. I'd suggest flash cards for vocab words and then reading lots of older literature. For example, a mock test i took had speeches from Women Suffragists in the 19th century from the Seneca Falls Convention. :P Also, as shown, history does help too =]</p>
<p>Snboarder592: I was also wondering about Revolution Prep. My son took a mock SAT with them a few weeks ago (with his school) and his results were 230 points lower than he got on fall PSATs (if on 2400 scale rather than 240). He actually studied a bit for the mock SAT and took the PSAT cold.
Do these testing companies purposefully give hard tests for their diagnositic tests to panic parents and get them to sign them up fior their prep courses? Or is 230 points just within the normal margin or error, depending on whether your kid had a good day or not?</p>
<p>Vehicle, I'd say that if you have the money to spend on an SAT course that will put your score from an un-competitive one to a very competitive one to college admissions officers, then yes, it's worth it... but only if the expenditure is realistic. If you're coming from a low income household when money is tight, then obviously it makes no sense to spend $1500 that could be better spent for the good of the home. However, if you are in the upper middle class (or above that), then paying for an expensive SAT prep course that could potentially bring your score from a 2100 to a 2300 is a good idea.</p>
<p>I come from an upper middle class family in Connecticut, and a $1000 SAT course (that my parents payed for, of course), in my mind, almost singlehandedly brought my score from a 1940 (junior PSAT) to a 2230 (junior SAT).</p>
<p>There is such an obvious explanation: your son, because he's spent hours upon hours practicing in the 'workshops', has gotten bored of the SAT. So he's concentrating less and less hard each time he takes ANOTHER SAT practice test, which explains why his scores are going further and further down (and lack of concentration hurts the reading score the most because the passages are so boring to begin with, if you're not fully concentrating, there's no way you'll do well).</p>
<p>Everything makes sense. His reading score is plummeting due to lack of concentration (and his lack of concentration his due to the fact that you've made him take millions of practice tests). And because the reading score is the hardest to improve, what little this prep course did do to help his reading score is insignificant compared to the effects of lack of concentration. His math and english sections have stayed the same (or gone up slightly) because they're easy to improve with prep. So his improvement from the prep course roughly cancels out his lack of concentration for those two sections.</p>
<p>In other words, give your son a break from the SAT for one or two months before he takes a real exam. He should break 2000 if you do this because his reading section will be back to par (assuming he concentrates after the long break from the SAT), and his math and english scores will improve slightly.</p>
<p>no score improvement or score decline is usually attributed to a lack of motivation within the student....</p>
<p>....unless the test prep company is inadequate and doesn't know how to spell SAT.</p>
<p>no score improvement or score decline is usually attributed to a lack of motivation within the student....</p>
<hr>
<p>You said 'usually', and I agree that that is usually the case. But in the case described by the OP, it makes perfect sense why his scores are dropping: he's sick of the SAT and consequently tries less hard after every practice test he takes.</p>
<p>Indeed, there is no other explanation for why his scores are dipping despite the fact he's prepping.</p>
<p>
[quote]
You said 'usually', and I agree that that is usually the case. But in the case described by the OP, it makes perfect sense why his scores are dropping: he's sick of the SAT and consequently tries less hard after every practice test he takes.</p>
<p>Indeed, there is no other explanation for why his scores are dipping despite the fact he's prepping.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>OP here. This thread is so old that I've forgotten whether I updated. Son's first SAT (while he was taking the prep course) was a 620 in math and a 690 in CR. It wasn't lack of motivation that made the CR go down - it was the "test taking strategies" he was being taught at the prep course. Why do you need "test taking strategies" when you know the answer? </p>
<p>I told him to keep going to Math at the prep course, but to forget everything he learned in CR. He retook the SAT a few months later and got a 690 in math and a 740 in CR.</p>
<p>Great thread! I always wondered if I could have improved my score by taking a test prep course. A mother of a teen had told me soon after I took the SAT for the first time that her son obtained only a 20-50 point increase on the test after taking an SAT test prep course. After hearing what she said, I decided to study for the SAT by myself during the summer prior to my senior year in high school. I was able to obtain a total of 140-150 point increase from what my PSAT scores had been in both the SAT Math section & SAT CR section. I had studied for the SAT on & off during my junior year in high school & during the summer prior to my senior year in high school. I continued to study for the SAT as much as I could during my senior year prior to when I took the SAT again. I’m glad I saved my parents’ money by not having them purchase an expensive SAT test prep course for me. </p>
<p>However, I think it would have better if I had looked for a free or very, very expensive class (less than $100) which familiarizes test takers with the format of the tests. When I was in college, I took a GRE prep course which was offered to students by the university & included in the price of the college’s tuition. The course met once a week for 5 weeks for a time period of 1 to 1 ½ hours each week. I’m fairly sure that the course helped to improve my CR score by at least 50-100 points from what it would have been had I not taken the course. Taking the practice tests in the course helped improve my concentration while taking the test. The test taking tips provided in the course also helped improve my reading score.</p>
<p>Ive found that studying on my own for CR and Writing is the best way to improve. I mean what really improved my score was just being familar with the test. As for math I had a private tutor from my school who helped a lot!</p>
<p>I’ve been going to this really rigorous Korean-based SAT prep class called C2…and I’ve been going for 5 months and I don’t see an improvement. I spend 5-7 hrs each week there…I don’t know what to do. I’ve also been studying on my own but I can’t improve. I keep getting 500’s on all subjects! WHY!?</p>
<p>The thing y’all have to remember is that while some students are very disciplined and good at self studying, others aren’t. Another factor is that junior year is insanely busy and intense for many students. I knew that my D would never “find the time” to study left to her own devices, so we went with private tutoring.</p>
<p>I meant to write earlier: “…a free or very, very inexpensive class (less than $100)… .”</p>
<p>I had two Math Review courses when I was in my last 2 years of high school. They were offered during school hours at my school. The first Math Review course which I took in the Spring of my junior year prepared students for the Math portion of the SAT I test. The second Math Review course which I took in the Fall of my senior year prepared students for the SAT II Math Level 1 test. Also, the students in my 10th grade & 12th grade English classes studied vocabulary. The vocabulary study helped me when I took the Verbal portion of the SAT I test. I also took a reading comprehension course at my school during my junior year of high school which may have helped me with the Verbal portion of the SAT I test.</p>
<p>Lifeofsolitude, I think proper concentration is a key factor in doing well on the SATs. Try playing Scrabble, Chess or Checkers with friends or family during your free time. These games will help you concentrate more effectively.</p>
<p>Missypie, you’re right. Junior year is very busy school year for most high school students. The courses that the students are taking in their junior year are more advanced than in previous years. The junior year students that are applying to colleges are also preparing for their college admissions tests. I barely had time to study on my own for the college admissions tests during my junior year. I had a minimum number of activities during my junior year. Those students that have many activities during their junior year are even more busy than I was at that time.</p>
<p>Lifeofsolitude, I don’t know if have already taken all of your college admissions tests but these are my tips for studying for the SATs. </p>
<p>I read the book “Bleak House” during the summer between junior & senior year in school. I was also studying vocabulary words in an SAT preparation book. Reading the book “Bleak House” & studying vocabulary at the same time helped me to improve my SAT score considerably. However, “Bleak House” is not an easy book to read especially due to the vocabulary in the book. Some people might feel that the book is enjoyable reading material.</p>
<p>Have a dictionary with you at all times to look up unfamiliar words. Also have a thesaurus with you at all times. If you are preparing on your own for the SATs, do some study for the test each day. If you prepare for the test in a consistent & systematic way, you will most likely see an improvement in your test score. </p>
<p>Use the vocabulary that you have learned during your test preparation. Try to write out sentences using the vocabulary words you’ve learned. Read the most difficult books & reading material that’s available. Also, read a variety of reading material. Read about topics that don’t interest you. If you can concentrate on and understand reading material that don’t interest you, it will help prepare you for the SAT Verbal section since you might find the reading material on the SATs to be less interesting than the reading material that you would customarily read. </p>
<p>Focus on your weakness when you prepare for the SATs. Check your previous mistakes on practice tests from time to time & try to understand why you made certain mistakes on previous practice tests.</p>
<p>Missypie, taking SAT test prep courses in school as I did motivates students to try to do well on the SATs because students are in some ways competing against schoolmates to get into colleges. At school, students will often be compared by teachers & school administrators in regards to which colleges they are accepted to. Having schoolmates in the SAT test prep classes reminds students that they have to do well on the SATs in order to project the best image of themselves among their peers at school. </p>
<p>Both of my Math Review courses at school were very good & helped me do well on my SAT (I & II) tests. The Math Review course for the math portion of the SAT I test helped me the most. There may have been very competitive students taking the SAT II Math Level 1 test so I didn’t score as well (according to my ranking among other test takers) as I did on the math portion of the SAT 1 test.</p>
<p>Lifeofsolitude, </p>
<p>This is an article about raising reading test scores:</p>
<p>“Raising High School Reading Test Scores”</p>
<p>[Raising</a> High School Reading Test Scores: Factors that Affect Reading Scores in Twelfth Grade Students | Suite101.com](<a href=“Suite 101 - How-tos, Inspiration and Other Ideas to Try”>Suite 101 - How-tos, Inspiration and Other Ideas to Try)</p>