<p>Is it necessary to do prep on your own if you take the course....I mean, they probably give at-home prep....but no outside prep (i.e. other books, etc.) is necessary, right?.....</p>
<p>They won't make you do any other work but doing so will not hurt.</p>
<p>I definitely would. Buy the blue CB book and do some sections from the practice tests. I've found the PR tests from the 11SAT and some of the PR homework to not be accurate at all. The problem with PR is that they teach you a lot of strategies and review basic concepts we already know, but barely any drills and practice sections.</p>
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I definitely would. Buy the blue CB book and do some sections from the practice tests. I've found the PR tests from the 11SAT and some of the PR homework to not be accurate at all. The problem with PR is that they teach you a lot of strategies and review basic concepts we already know, but barely any drills and practice sections.
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The last part is so true. That is the reason why I cut their class today. :) I have about 3 more classes with them, and I'll continue to cut. My score went down 120 points after the first 5 classes. They never go over the hw. They never give us the correct answers either. How are we suppose to learn from our mistakes if we don't know what we did wrong?!?!?!</p>
<p>really killer? that bad?.....hmmm, maybe I should take a diff prep class</p>
<p>I found the course to be somewhat worth it. It didnt improve my score that much but was fairly accurate in its assessment of how i would do</p>
<p>The same thing happened to my friend with the point decrease. Princeton's methods don't work for everyone. Some of their math methods are very useful and helpful (Plugging In, ratio box, plumber's crack), and some not so helpful (the complex nature of PITA, their perfect squares section). I found most of Princeton's methods to be catering toward the average Joe Blogg's student. Their methods do not really help improve if you're already starting in the 650+ range across the board. </p>
<p>Their reading methods definitely don't work for everyone. They strongly recommend not reading the passage at all and going straight to the questions. My friend who had the 100+ decrease is a fast reader and found that reading the entire passage first helped him. For me on the other hand, I found a happy medium between reading the passage and going straight to the questions. </p>
<p>One of the main problems with PR besides the lack of drills and practice is their inconsistency with the diagnostic tests. The first diagnostic test is very challenging, most likely to show you that you need a lot of help and have somewhere to improve. The last diagnostic test was easier than the actual SAT, most likely to show you how much you have improved over the course, when in reality your improvement wasn't as large as it seems. </p>
<p>If you're an average to slightly above average student, then Princeton Review will be a great experience. If you're definitely above average / genius, yeah Princeton Review has some tricks and pointers, but you could probably teach yourself most of the stuff with a couple of review books and actually doing drills and practice tests especially if you're aiming for a higher score, and save your time and money. Just my 2 cents.</p>
<p>I completely agree with admanrich. The PR course is a waste of time for good students or anyone who has the drive to do a review book on their own. I would recommend saving your money and just buying a review book instead of wasting 1K+ on this course. Highly unrecommended!</p>
<p>Uh, a big part of the PR class is the homework assignments and reviewing them -- the first 30 minutes of class is homework review. It's actually hard to keep up with all the homework if you don't really make an effort to stay on top of it. Totally NOT a waste of money if you actually go to class and do what you're supposed to! Otherwise, well, duh.</p>
<p>My overall problem with Princeton was that it was more content than practice. Their homework did not mirror the actual SAT.</p>
<p>In my course, they only went over a few hw problems in the beginning. (Maybe like 5-6). They never gave us the correct answers to the hw. At the end of the course, they posted the answers to the whole workbook online for us to review. But what is the point? It doesn't come with the explanations and the SAT is in 2-3 weeks. They should've given us the answers in the beginning of the course so we can keep up.</p>
<p>i say buy their cracking the SAT book and look over it and spend a fraction of the cost on the Official SAT online course</p>
<p>For those parents out there, I signed my S up for the Princeton Review classroom course because I couldn't get him to take the tests seriously enough to open the study book or go on-line at home. He went to the weekly classes, but would start the homework about an hour before the class started. He took the PSAT course and did well on the test, so I signed him up for the SAT course. I'll let you know when he gets his scores whether it was worth it. </p>
<p>To you kids out there, am I meddling too much in my S's life?</p>
<p>No, PatN, I think you made a wise decision. For the kids that aren't driven enough or don't take the SAT as seriously, the class is great because it forces you to do the work and learn strategies. However, for the kids who are able to sit down for two hours and open a book at any given time by choice, then it's not worth the money. Don't try forcing your child to open a book and study, it won't work.</p>
<p>I've just started taking the PR course. Personally, I love the concepts like Plugging In and Joe Bloggs. But I already knew about the POOD and POE stuff.True, the first diagnostic test was EXTREMELY hard. My PSAT score was a 186 and my diagnostic test score was 1590? Horrible. But I've heard Princeton Review's tests are hard in the beginning and they don't curve it. They DO give a lot of homework, about 2-5 hours worth..but they expect you to finish it over the course of 2-4 days inbetween sessions. The teacher is nice and funny too, but sometimes she makes little mistakes that mislead us...but its not that bad of a problem.</p>
<p>I thought their first diagnostic test was easier than the second. My PSAT was 157. My first diagnostic test was a 1690 from PR. After 5 classes, my second diagnostic test was a 1570.</p>