Princeton Review SAT Prep Courses

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>Ok, so I am going to a prep class for sure and I have questions. I need to pick/.help my parents pick one very, very soon, so any help is appreciated.</p>

<ol>
<li>I am deciding between the PR Classroom (which is the regular thing for 600 bucks) or the small group tutoring (24hrs. of tutoring, like 1200 i think) or the individual tutoring (24hrs. 2400 bucks). </li>
</ol>

<p>Which would be best if my score is at a ~2100? It hovers below every now and then, but on a good day right now, I can get a 2100 for sure. On bad days, I'll go down to 2030ish. I don't need the intro. BS like "first, read the question. cover the answers, etc., etc.". I want solid prep to help me in CR and W and help me cut down on silly Math errors. Basically, i don't want BS, i want bang for my buck and I want to see a solid improvement in score. </p>

<p>I am a hardworking student, so any prep material they give, I will fly through and take advantage of. So, which would be best for me? Is the regular classroom one just for beginners (like, people just starting to prep and have no clue what its all about and they have a lot of dumb basic stuff)? Or will that suffice to boost my score ~100pts.?</p>

<p>Or would you recommend one of the other 2 options: small group tutoring (3-4 students only) or 1on1 tutoring? Has anyone taken these courses (any of them), any suggestions, comments, anything is great.</p>

<p>Basically, I just need a little push in the right direction and I am hoping these prep tutors know something I don't and we can click, and I can start getting scores up. I would like, ideally, to get my SAT from the 2050-2100 range into the 2250s with a prep class. Is this possible?</p>

2

<p>DO NOT DO CLASSROOM for PR. DO NOT. I have done it, WASTE OF TIME. It’s for people with 1400 to 1700 SAT scores.</p>

3

<p>^ Ditto. I did classroom for kaplan and it was utterly useless. I think at this point, you can increase 100+ points just by doing a ton of practice tests from BB and others. And go read sticky best of SAT prep advice thread on CC. Or have a friend who scored well tutor you. There’s no reason to pay 1000+ dollars for something you can get for less. If you’re really insistent on PR, I think individual tutoring would be best. I remember my kaplan instructor telling us that anything else was a waste of time.</p>

4

<p>ok thanks you two. I won’t go to the classroom one for sure then. I am motivated to work on my own, but I think I’ll go to a prep thing just to make sure I get my full potential out of myself. </p>

<p>Has anyone done the group or individual tutoring?</p>

5

<p>I took the class room course and contrary to the beliefs of those on this site, I found it incredibly helpful. I put in A LOT more time and effort then was expected and it helped my score immensely.</p>

6

<p>Could I ask what score you had going into the course and what you came out with/increased by due to the course?</p>

7

<p>^ I’m currently at your level and I’m enrolled in the PR classroom course. Please for the love of god do not take it. It has not helped on bit, and the majority of time is dedicated to those we score in the 500s. If anything please choose small group tutoring.</p>

8

<p>I did the individual tutoring course you talked about. Pretty useless. </p>

<p>I strongly urge you to not even do an outside course if your score is at a 2100. It is best to practice on your own. Make sure you push yourself though.</p>

9

<p>^are you serious? It didn’t improve your score at all? And did you get your money back? (the satisfaction guarantee thing). </p>

<p>The individual classes are expensive too and it didn’t help at all?</p>

10

<p>holy *****! CC help me out, I am so confused. </p>

<p>I ended up taking the PR Classroom course and today was the first day and we did the diagnostic test. As I said before, my score range in the BB (college board) tests is from 2000-2130 (my highest score). I took the course to try to get some tips and essentials to boost my score a 100 pts., then work hard on my own to get to the dream 2300 score.</p>

<p>BUT, my diagnostic test score today:
690 Math
580 Writing
640 Reading
TOTAL: 1910!!!</p>

<p>I am in absolute shock. Here’s what happened:</p>

<p>-I was really not motivated and was listless for some reason, which shocked me because I am an intense test taker at school and have super high focus during tests, but today, I was like “eh, whatever” for some reason
-I omitted about 4 math questions when usually on BB tests I omit none, I have never omiited one ever.
-I ran out of time in every section, so I had to scramble to finish, leading to wrong answers or omits (I usually give myself extra time in W and CR sections at home during my BB tests to fully understand the testing structure, questions, and get more out of test taking…I thought this was the ideal thing to do)…so today, I didn’t know how to manage time and struggled
-I took way too long with reading the passages and found out that I have a serious problem: I take too long to read and comprehend passages, how do I fix this?</p>

<p>So, basically today, I felt like all my dreams and hope collapsed on me. Why was my score so darn low? The 580 in Writing is pathetic and disgraceful (how the hell did I get a 780 in a practice BB test before?). What is going on with me? Was my target of 2300 unrealistic or what?</p>

<p>I mean, math score was believable with the 4 omits and a bunch wrong, but CR and W killed me. I ran out of time so often. I’m scared, shocked, and so many things are running through my mind. I am prepared to not do anything for the next month but SAT prep and study for school tests. </p>

<p>How should I react? I am in shock right now…</p>

11

<p>All SAT classes are orientated towards people who get 500s on each section. They’ll help you go from a 500 on each section mid-600s if you work hard. I would recommend a tutor if you have already mastered the easy/medium questions but need help conquering the harder questions.</p>

12

<p>I took the PR classroom course and found it extremely helpful (not so much the class but the homework). I’m usually very motivated, but for some reason, I ALWAYS seem to find something “more important” to do than study for the SAT. The class really helped me to manage my time and actually devote a few hours each weekend to SAT studying.</p>

<p>No, I don’t get 500s on each section (unlike, as many have already said, the majority of kids who take the class). This wasn’t really a problem since the content was pretty fast-paced. I got a 2030 on my first PR diagnostic, 2110 on my second, 2190 on my third, and 2260 on my last. This was all from doing the PR homework and (occasionally, like once a week) taking a practice test from BB (2200-2300).</p>

<p>People say the PR tests are generally harder than the actual SAT. I just took the real one today and would definitely agree (expecting 2250+). So don’t give up! Do your homework and maybe throw in some extra practice tests whenever you have time. Devoting time and practicing is really the only way to improve your score.</p>

13

<p>Princeton Review starts you off with a hard Diagnostic Test so that you do bad. Then, the tests progressively get easier. Reason for doing this: It makes you feel like you are getting better, so they make money and reduce complaints. </p>

<p>In general, always stay away from tests that are not made by CB. They are usually harder or easier than the actual test, and can set you up under false conditions.</p>

14

<p>^ Exactly, thats why Kaplan offers that higher score guarantee. If i were to start again i would have motivated myself to do it by myself. I think these prep courses had little affect on my scores. For example the kaplan tests were much easier than the CBs. The sc were vocab that most students would answer correctly, even the “hard ones.”</p>

15

<p>exactly, its a pretty common practice for test prep conglomerates</p>

<p>if you are a hardworking student, you can either go to an independent prep center (i live in a city, so there are all these asian tutorial services which are great:))</p>

<p>otherwise, i’d recommend buying some quality books. Take test 1 from the CB blue book and use that as a baseline (it’s an actual test with the actual curve given to you). Then use Gruber’s, the blue book. I’ve heard good things about barron’s 2400 and dynamix or something, but i can’t personally vouch for them. </p>

<p>if you learn math at a higher level, you’ll often pick up tips to save time for lower level (SAT) problems. for writing, just memorize grammar rules, especially for questions you tend to get wrong. for CR, just practice your reading speed, avoid superlative answers, and do some vocab, i suppose (most people concentrate way too much on vocab, though).</p>

<p>if you buy the blue book, input your answers online in the user area. the analysis is somewhat helpful.</p>

16

<p>^Ok. Thanks everyone. But back to my question…should I be scared about the random 150+ point drop from BB to the PR first diagnostic? I know everyone kinda said that the first one is harder, but a 150 pt. drop is very drastic. </p>

<p>Also, my first BB diagnostic was 2050 I believe (way back in early february or something?). I always go online on collegeboard and find out why I got answers right and wrong (especially for W and CR, I only check wrong math ones because I know how to do them). </p>

<p>So, I will do all the PR review and completely devote the next month and a half to the SAT. I have 11 PR practice tests, 3 more in class diagnostic tests, some Barron’s 2400 tests, 6 BB tests, and am gonna get 20 more tests. Just from the sheer magnitude of all the tests I have, just from doing them, would/should I expect a large score increase?</p>

<p>Is a month and a half enough time! And so, the only way to speed up efficiency is to practice more sections ins Cr and W? Should I time myself when I do these sections or not? What would be wise to do?</p>

17

<p>bump? Is the 1920ish on my first PR diagnostic more indicative of where I truly stand right now?</p>

18

<p>You realize a 150 point drop is like 6 questions…</p>

19

<p>Really? I think this test may have been graded on a lenient curve then, because I ommited 4 Math q’s, and got 3-4 wrong (so 8 less than perfect) and I got 680.</p>

<p>I got 36 right 11 wrong and 3 unanswered in Writing for a 57 raw points total.</p>

<p>I got 52 right, 11 wrong and 4 unanswered in CR for a 630.</p>

<p>Do these scores make sense? Was this an expected curve, or is it too lenient or too harsh?</p>

20

<p>bump it up.</p>

<p>If I got a low 1900s on the first diagnostic test, how much of an improvement should I expect from this class + intense prep at home before the May SAT?</p>