<p>oh. o.k. Sounds really complicated.</p>
<p>YOU are the one who is responsible for your score… A prep class won’t raise your score to 2400, only you can. They are not there to take the test for you.</p>
<p>“I do have to agree with HGFM regarding the unfairness of the test prep system. Perhaps one of the 2008 candidates could propose a National SAT Test Preparation System to provide universal access to test prep. Should this program, over time, fail to narrow the range of SAT scores, a government-imposed point redristribution plan could work. This would be a graduated redistribution: the higher you score above the mean, the more points you have to give up. The only real flaw I can see in this plan is that the mean would eventually drift downward, as the more motivated individuals wouldn’t work as hard. I mean, why bother. This would be a small price to pay to ensure that everyone gets his fair share.”</p>
<p>Wow…I still can’t understand why people don’t understand that the governments programs are crap. Just take a look at NCLB. What did that accomplish? Nothing. Not to mention it is an inefficient, huge waste of money.</p>
<p>Correct me if I’m wrong, but many public schools offer a SAT prep course as part of your school schedule as an elective.</p>
<p>"So it’s okay with you guys that some people have an unfair advantage because they were able to take a more expensive prep course than you?</p>
<p>Hm."</p>
<p>—Actually, my school offers financial aid for those who need prep</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Actually, my school doesn’t. We have to pay to take the PSAT (yes, the PSAT) and the mock SAT, and if we don’t do that that’s it. They don’t offer anything else. (Or at least they didn’t offer it to my class, my school changes their stuff around so much none of us can keep track.)</p>
<p>yeah, my school also has no sat prep classes. neither do any of the surrounding schools. maybe very large public schools are more likely to offer an sat class.</p>
<p>My public school does with about 2200 students. Is that a medium school?</p>
<p>thats pretty big.</p>
<p>My school has roughly 4200 and they don’t. I think it just depends on the school.</p>
<p>“Wow…I still can’t understand why people don’t understand that the governments programs are crap. Just take a look at NCLB. What did that accomplish? Nothing. Not to mention it is an inefficient, huge waste of money”.</p>
<p>I am relatively new to CC and probably didn’t understand that humor or satire
have no place in the discussions. Just a little barb at the socialists. Won’t happen again.</p>
<p>Anyway, my D goes to a small school with graduating classes that average about 30 kids. The population of our town is about 150K. The students are required to take a “College Preparation” course during their junior year. This is actually part of their curriculum and it is team-taught by the school counselor and teachers from the math and English departments.
The first couple of months (mid-Aug to mid-Oct) are spent on PSAT preparation. Mid-Oct to May covers SAT preparation and studying the college application process (picking colleges, interviewing skills, essays, etc). All are required to take the SAT and the class average usually runs around 1250-1300.</p>
<p>That sounds like a great curriculum</p>
<p>man, i’m glad you said that, dtex. i thought it was a joke at first, but the way things have gotten lately it’s almost impossible to tell anymore :)</p>
<p>@xitammarg</p>
<p>Took the words right out of my mouth. There really are people who actually believe that stuff.</p>
<p>bought I think everyone would buy a 2400…but since you aren’t really buying a better score without the ton of work that goes with it, it’s a non-issue. My parents paid $1700 for a 10 week SAT Prep course for me and I am working my butt off for 10 WHOLE WEEKS…so yes they paid to help me gain more experience in taking the SAT but most people can benefit from some kind of SAT Prep according to the college admissions experts. Aside from completing an SAT exam every week I also have to memorize tons of vocab words. I have already increased my score almost 200 pts. and I hope to do as well or a little better on the actual exam.</p>
<p>Link to Xiggi’s thread?</p>
<p>I do kind of see the OP’s point.
Some people really can’t afford the 1000s of dollars a private tutor can cost, like can’t afford as in their parents will have to forgo paying the mortgage/credit card fees to do so. And this is not just a tiny minority.
BUT, if you look at one of my previous posts, I asked for people’s opinions on classes and they say the most important thing is creating motivation and discipline. I don’t know about tutors exactly, but just glean the tips from other people (if you know anyone who’s in college, therefore and not worrying about your competition) and do practice tests!</p>
<p>i spent like 100 bucks on books, but it was my own money. I couldnt afford a tutor. I rose it from a 1600 (nov 06) to an 1850 (may 07). now im hoping for a 1950 (oct 07)</p>
<p>i know people who have private tutors and have tons of test prep material and still do pretty badly on the test. the SAT is largely based on your natural intuition/intelligence. To some extent someone could raise their scores but they still have to put alot of work into it. “buying a test score” would be paying someone to take the test for you.</p>
<p>I agree with the notion that prep classes and tutors are an unfair advantage, but that the way the world is. People are going to have unfair advantages; life isn’t fair. I go to a private school (which is obsessed with PSAT scores) where we have one week dedicated to only PSAT prep. I have no control over this as my parents payed for me to go to this private school. My advice: live and let live.</p>
<p>I am not ashamed to say that I went to an SAT tutor. After taking the PSAT last year, my CR score was horrible and I knew that I needed to bring it up if I wanted any chance of getting into my dream school. I have always been a strong math student, which my score demsontrated, so I only went to the tutor for reading help, and a little bit of writing. Once a week, for $33 an hour, for about 8-10 weeks was WELL worth the money that my parents spent. Our rational: rather spend a couple hundred dollars now and be get a few scholarhips then end up paying thousands of dollars for college when I could have had some scholarships. Ultimately, its whatever is right for you and your situation.</p>