<p>I would like to register my son in a SAT Prep class. What would you recommend. Princeton Review or Kaplan. He especially needs help in Critical Readiing. He plans to take the test in March 2008. Currently he is a junior.</p>
<p>I heard a lot of people saying that after taking the Kaplan prep class, they felt they wasted their money. And their practice tests are way too easy compared with the College Board ones. So if you ask me, I'd say Princeton Review.</p>
<p>both of them are horrible and a waste of money from my experience.</p>
<p>"both of them are horrible and a waste of money from my experience."</p>
<p>Is there something else that you can recommend? Have you taken the SAT's and did you go through any coaching? Can you post your study strategy and method? Thank You</p>
<p>Prep classes are generally of no use; you basically pay a fortune for them to force your child to take practice tests; the "tips" they provide can be found in any $10 SAT prep book. If your child is disciplined, buy him the Blue SAT Book (made by CB) and have him take practice tests. Then, he should review the correct answers and UNDERSTAND why his correct answers were correct and why his incorrect answers were incorrect. With practice, he will learn what the SAT questions are looking for.</p>
<p>And stick with "real" (i.e. made by the College Board) tests rather than Kaplan/Princeton Review/ any other "synthetic" test, since the CB ones will be 100% what you will find on test day, whereas the others will have their own nuances.</p>
<p>I took the PR course over the summer and thought the majority of the material taught was pretty common sense/ useless. Although, I guess I can say that it helped me with my critical reading (my worst section) and writing sections. I think it was the practice tests that really helped me improve, not so much what they taught in the course.</p>
<p>Sophomore PSAT --> 65M, 60CR, 55W
Junior SAT (1st try) --> 780M, 720CR, 700W</p>
<p>I also took some practice tests at home from the blue book.</p>
<p>I am taking PR's online course and it definitely has not been a waste of time. The strategies do go deeper than what's in the regular books, and my lessons and drills are based on how I personally am doing, so I'm getting a lot out of it. If he just needs help with CR, though, a tutor might make more sense.</p>
<p>None of the above. Let your son read what he wants to read for fun. If he doesn't read for fun, get him help for his reading, in general, and then let him read for fun. This is completely serious advice.</p>
<p>I loved the Princeton Review. I had a great teacher and it really raised my scores. My writing went up 150 points, my CR went up 100 points and my math went up 90 points. My cousin took Kaplan and said it was horrible.</p>
<p>I suggest either:</p>
<p>1) Hire a private tutor to help your son
2) Read the Xiggi Method - it's a stickied thread at the top of the SAT forum. There is a lot of advice on that thread about strategies for the SAT. It has helped people raise their scores 100s of points and is supposed to be very good advice from a really experienced SAT tutor.</p>
<p>Thank You. Thank You all for gving your opinion and advise. Have not yet decided what to do. My sons objective is to get 700 + in the CR. He is now in the lower 600 (from practice tests).</p>