SAT Prep Class vs Self Study?

<p>Is it better to take an SAT Prep Class or self study with college board.com and prep workbooks?</p>

<p>Hi, i am going to be a senior in highschool this fall and i am wondering if it would be better for me to take an SAT Prep Class or just study on my own. The first time i took the SAT, I only got an 1800. i got 620 on critical reading, 640 on writing and 540 on math (ouch!!).but i did not prepare at all for that test because of serious family problems at home and serious money issues. Now,i was thinking about asking my parents to pay for one of the Princeton Review 18 hour Sat work shops/classes. it costs $600 and i am wondering if i will be better off buying the workbooks and using collegeboard.com to study from. i dont think my parents can afford one of the really good classes that cost over $1000. we can hardly afford to pay bills and put food on the table.</p>

<p>as for my background, i attend a catholic highschool and have a 4.0 or 95/96 gpa. i plan to try to raise it to a 98 or higher for senior year and i will be taking all honors and AP classes. In addition to that, i will be joining Key Club and Volunteering at a hospital. </p>

<p>i want to score at least a 2200 on the next SAT and can probably only afford to take it once more. my top choices for college are:</p>

<p>Northwestern University
Carnegie Mellon
Penn State
John Hopkins
Columbia University
Stonybrook University
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Duke</p>