<p>I just wanted to say that on my first SAT test, I got 620 on my Critical reading portion; this is without any studying (other than memorizing a list of vocabulary). The second time, after intensive studying (I incidentally only studied for the critical reading section, and to a lesser extent, the math section) for the two weeks before the test, I took the SAT again, and LOST 90 points! My other scores had some small increases, but my overall score ended up being 20 points LOWER than the original. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that I was in basically the same physical condition during both tests; in fact, I got more sleep the night before the most recent test!</p>
<p>The book I was using was from 2006, do you think that might have been the reason my scores dropped? Would having an old book really have affected my scores that much?</p>
<p>No, you probably just had a bad day. True, the Blue Books will help you improve the most, but your skills certainly didn’t deteriorate because of reading the Princeton Review…</p>
<p>Other books do a very poor job of emulating the CR passage-based reading and practicing from these books might actually impair your ability to correctly answer questions on the real test. Most books do a decent job on the math section though if you need extra practice there.</p>
<p>I am SO ANGRY. We planned our whole summer around my daughter taking an SAT course that was supposed to be starting today with The Princeton Review for two weeks. I deliberately picked these two weeks before school starts so it would be close to the test date but before she’s bogged down with her AP and honors classes. They sent me an e-mail at 3 a.m. this morning: Hello SAT Student,
This email is to inform you that due to low enrollment, your SAT Fundamentals Course #124319 scheduled to begin on Monday, August 5th has been cancelled! Please select from one of the following options below.
Are you kidding me? They want me to sign her up for another class that they may cancel? They can refund my $600!
I’m now looking for a private tutor. Open to suggestions.</p>
<p>I don’t know if TPR caused you to drop. It’s hard to make that claim. Many students succeed with their prep. I’d argue tons of students succeed, or else they would be out of business.</p>
<p>But some students fail. When I taught group classes, there were always students who did all the work and yet went down. </p>
<p>Sometimes it was over thinking, other times it was information overload. It may have even just been a bad day. </p>
<p>It’s not ideal, and it certainly would make you feel betrayed, but without more information it’s hard to blame the book.</p>
<p>I think it is hardly likely that The Princeton Review would cause you to drop in score. I mean, if the questions were not representative, you would only see no increase in scores and get about the same scores. A drop in score should be attributed to something else. </p>
<p>With that in mind, all SAT books suck except the ones that have “2400” somewhere in their titles. Nothing worked for me until I encountered Kaplan’s SAT 2400. That helped me immensely. It was written around the principle that advanced test-takers don’t need help on the basic stuff - time management, how to guess effectively, easy practice questions, etc. So, the book shows you how to tackle the tough questions and exclusively gives you tough practice questions. I attribute a great part of my success on the SAT to that book.</p>
<p>They want me to sign her up for another class that they may cancel? They can refund my $600! I’m now looking for a private tutor. Open to suggestions.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear about your experience. I’m pretty booked up right now, but if you (or your daughter) would like to send me a writing sample, I can probably give you guys some guidance about the verbal, reading, and essay parts.</p>
<p>At the very least, I can tell you whether you need a “tutor” for these sections.</p>
<p>For the math section, unless your daughter is woefully deficient, a quality book should suffice.</p>