<p>I attended the Princeton Review for the SAT I and felt it was an enormous waste of money. My friends who skipped prep courses and instead just pounded out practice test after practice test scored consistently higher than me.</p>
<p>Wow, the op's D had the EXACT same SAT when i took mine the first time... every section is the same... spooky</p>
<p>i agree with cbf88...PR = waste of money; i took it and i was told to do things that would have definitely hurt my score rather than help it...as for CR, just read and practice, b/c after reading just one book, i saw things in passages i hadnt noticed b4...currently im stuck in that mid 600s range, and for the june SAT i plan on getting outta there by reading more.</p>
<p>I got an amazing tutor who really helped me up my SAT score. a friend who went to those classes also went to PR, and she said it was an utter waste of money.</p>
<p>SharonD,
I did not look at any test. I left my daughter to read several books and figure out what books are helpful. She read Rocket Review, Barrons and Princeton Review for tips. Basically the test pattern is how a problem would be worded and the type of questions test writers would ask. Get familiar with the many different variations how a problem is posed.</p>
<p>My SAT prep class helped me a lot, but you really need to put effort into it.</p>
<p>PREPARING for the SAT is a good idea.</p>
<p>The SAT Prep courses are strongly recommended by those who offer them.</p>
<p>Preparing on your own is a better deal all around, as you won't have the SAT prep folks to fall back on when you have to prep for college tests.</p>
<p>I don't recommend SAT prep. The courses are expensive and not worth it. Instead, I would recommend the College Board's official SAT guide. There are both practice problems and practice tests and a few weeks of studying can do a lot of good. </p>
<p>If your daughter is still struggling, I recommend subject-specific tutors. You can do that for less $$ and will probaby be able to reap more benefits than through Princeton Review, Kaplan, etc.</p>
<p>If you are really set on an SAT-specific prep course, see if one is offered as an elective in your daughter's school. I know my school offers quarter-long SAT prep, which is free & isn't put out by a big company with the primary agenda to make money.</p>
<p>Sharon,
Take a look at post #501 on the Xiggi thread tacked to the top of this fourm. It provides a link to the methods of a long time CCer, Xiggi, who has tips for SAT selfstudy that many have used and benefited from, including my D. </p>
<p>Although many prep books can be used to learn strategies, only the CB Blue book and other official SAT tests should be used for practice tests. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>For math, I realized that since the trickier questions are at the end, why not start at the end and then go to the beginning</p>
<p>THis idea worked for one of my friends, I think it worked for me</p>
<p>I'll find out on March 29th....</p>
<p>
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For math, I realized that since the trickier questions are at the end, why not start at the end and then go to the beginning
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</p>
<p>I wouldn't recommend that strategy... if you start with the easier ones, you're more likely to get them right & end up with a higher score than if you start with the hardest ones and run out of time before you get to the simple ones.</p>