<p>I am trying to decide whether to take the Princeton Review or Kaplan SAT review courses. Any help would be appreciated. Also, when should I take either? I am a rising Junior. Thanks.</p>
<p>if you currently have an average or so SAT score (1000 - 1200 Math and Verbal), then I would do the Kaplan. I did Kaplan because our school required us to take an SAT prep course and I had physics when the school offered it, so I had to take it on my own. I found Kaplan to be of some help, but very little. I studied on my own using Princeton Review materials and found those to be a great help. I say that Kaplan is good for average SAT takers because it teaches basic SAT math and verbal skills. However, if you are a higher SAT scorer, I would take the Princeton Review...</p>
<p>Stay away from both. Their generic classes are equally abysmal, and hardly worth more than the price of a book. Buy the books and save your money.</p>
<p>ditto^^^^ I agree</p>
<p>^Yeah I just bought their books. Of course the best book to buy would be the blue book. Man that book really helped me a lot ("m pretty sure it raised my SAT Verbal by about 50 points)</p>
<p>Kaplan is worse than useless for the writing section.</p>
<p>Save your parents $1000, go pick up their review if you are highly interested in their tips. I unknowingly opted for PR, and was disappointed. So long as you're someone who is able dedicate time to practicing you're better off self-studying or finding a private tutor. To be completely honest the only incentive of PR was that I was forced to spend however much time each week on SAT prep (which is something I would probably have not done on my own), since my mother made sure I was at the classes once she paid for them. Another friend of mine can attest for the abysmal classes at Kaplan </p>
<p>Thanks, everyone. I think I'll buy a couple of books and see how it goes just practising on my own. If I find I don't have the discipline to put in the hours each week, I can break down and take either course just to force me to do the work. It doesn't seem that one course stands out.</p>
<p>Superwizard, what is the 'blue book'?</p>
<p>Xiggi, I checked out some of your previous SAT prep ideas. Should I start practising now for test writing in the spring?</p>
<p>Actually, when is the best time to write your first SAT I? January? I think I would only write twice - three times max. or else try ACT. I will also have to write SAT II's. Should I do both in one sitting? </p>
<p>Thanks for all the help!</p>
<p>The book that collegeboard sells. It has practice tests which the same people who write the SAT wrote. Here's how it looks like :<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0874477182%5B/url%5D">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0874477182</a></p>