<p>I've been looking on this forum for a while but this is my first post. Yay!</p>
<p>I am currently enrolled in PR small group tutoring course. I took several of their test and am interested how they correlate with the real thing. If I consistently score the same thing on PR tests (I use their 11 tests book and practice test just for tutoring students) will I receive the same score on the real thing, higher, lower? Assuming the outside factors are the same, feeling the same, calculator doesn't break in the middle of the test, ect.</p>
<p>If anybody used PRs essay grading service how did that correlate with the essay score you got on the real test?</p>
<p>i'm not talking from personal experience, but i have heard that the princeton review tests are a bit easier than the official sat's. im not saying the score will deviate much from the score you got on PR, but i'm pretty sure you shouldnt expect a substancially higher score on the real SAT.</p>
<p>Princeton Review isn't worth using. The math section does not reflect the difficulty of the real test from my experiences with their Cracking the SAT book as well as their book of 10 practice SATs.</p>
<p>After 2300~ it would not make a difference. (As in, you would score about the same in the actual test). Below 2300, the actual test tended to be much easier, but there are too many factors. (How comfortable you are with the essay topic, some luck in math (easier questions), CR passages that are interesting... etc)</p>
<p>Taking Princeton Review, I feel that it didn't really give me a good gauge of the test. The initial "tests" were too hard and didn't correlate to the real thing. The last test they give you before the actual SAT is much easier than any of the previous ones so they can get you to think you've improved so much because of the course. My final test in Princeton Review was about 200 points higher than my actual SAT score. I know I'm probably an exception, but I didn't really find it gave me a sense of the test. </p>
<p>Don't freak out though. PR does have some good methods. I think their reading method with some slight adjustments really works well. A lot of their random math techniques are useful and will help you. The thing that is most useful from PR is the strategies, not the actual tests. GET THE BLUE BOOK IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE SO ALREADY. Use your PR methods and take the Blue Book tests. This will give you a real sense of how you are doing. Good luck!</p>
<p>I personally found PRs strategies useless. Anyone who is getting 2000+ SHOULD NOT use PRs strategies (you probably use them subconciously anyway). Joe Bloggs is useless except for people who have really low scores.</p>
<p>I found their tests to vary considerably... one would be really easy and then another would be extremely difficult. My philosophy in practice tests is to take as many as I can no matter from what publisher, but to only gauge my improvements on the tests published by CB. Now if you don't have CB tests, you could use the PR tests to gauge your scores, but expect scores to vary by 200 points on either side (as I said before, I find their tests unpredictable), where you could expect CB tests to vary about 100.</p>
<p>Example: PR test - 1900 = Real SAT 1700-2100
CB Test - 1900 = Real SAT 1800-2000</p>
<p>Do not put too much faith in your scores from PR exams. My sense is that their diagnostic exam scores are inflated (at least the ones near the end of the course). I also found the Math questions in the Cracking the SAT book much too easy and not representative of the variety or difficulty of actual SAT questions. For accurate scores, stick with official CB exams!</p>
<p>I have two friends who took the PR course together. One scored around 1860-1960 on her practice tests and got a 1710 on her actual SAT. the other scored around 2000 on her practice tests and got 1860 on her actual SAT. So I don't think the PR tests are very accurate.</p>
<p>hmmmm... tough to say- I did close to my later PR scores, slightly better. BUT- my PSAT was already in that score range... so are they tricking me into thinking they helped.. that I am not sure.
Like tapedduck said, I already had most of the subconscious test taking skills down. However, the course did have some useful pointers in SAT essay writing and reading questions.</p>
<p>I actually thought that the PR tests were harder, as did a lot of my friends that I spoke too. The CR in particular was way more difficult in PR. The highest I scored on a PR diagnostic was 2290, which went up to a 2400 on the real SAT. Another friend I know went from a 1900 to a 2300.</p>
<p>Stergia Emman
Here are some of the tips I thought helped me with little studying on the CR (they helped me probably b/c I am a very Math, rule-based, type learner)</p>
<ol>
<li>avoid extremes- pick the answer that is not indifferent for tone, but not too extreme</li>
<li>don't be overly literal</li>
<li>don't pick an answer just because you remember something similar in the passage</li>
<li>remember that you should always be able to point out specific evidence from the passage to back up your anwer</li>
</ol>
<p>(also, I noticed that the inference questions are less inference and more just going back to the passage and finding what is actually said- they can't ask you to infer too deeply or whatever b/c kids would get diff. answers and complain)</p>
<p>Hope this helps, but I am no expert, esp. on CR.</p>
<p>Sidenote-
Still hoping for input for if I should retake a 2250- if I think I may get 40 better in Math, but worse in CR. Any input would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Anyone use the 11 Practice Tests book? (not the Cracking the SAT book) Is that representative of the CB tests? I haven't bought it yet [although I've taken the SAT before].</p>