<p>Do the parents generally think these are worth the $$$? </p>
<p>All opinions welcome. In my case, I have a son who I think would do more work in a classroom setting than on his own, but the cost is significant. Then again, an increase in his scores will make a difference in the schools to which he can apply...</p>
<p>My D went to two rounds of prep at school and $1200 worth of Huntington Learning Center. My daughter didn't improve at all with Huntington. She actually tested only one point different---one point---from the first diagnostic test to the last one $1200 later. She has a visual problem, but Huntington claimed to be able to work with that. Whether or not the school prep worked remains to be seen. She just took the SAT last Saturday. If I were to do it again I'd skip the Huntington and spend the money on a private tutor. We would have gotten so much more out of it.</p>
<p>I have been on c.c. for a few years and all the old timers know I am a firm believer these prep courses were a great help for my kids. I believe my kids scores improved at least 100 pts. There are plenty of folks here on c.c. who will say you will do better if your child buys a few books and preps himself. However, my kids (4) just would not sit for hours going through the books. The real value fo the prep courses is the number of similar tests they administer during the course. The exposure to these multiple tests was of great value to my kids. The courses offer helpful hints and advice on how to answer and take the test. We did both Princeton Review and Kaplans and found Princeton Review to be the best for us. A lot has to do with the particular instructor they have administering each course. For one of my 4 we had a private tutor but frankly, it's really too late to teach information. Either you child knows the material or doesn't, the value of the prep courses is in the number of times they administer tests and the helpful hints they offer. Therefore you child becomes more comfortable taking the test and better prepared for the event.
The magic number is 1300 in writing and math. Taking the prep course made the difference in passing that number for my kids and one scored perfect.</p>
<p>If S had the discipline to do the work on his own, it would have been cheaper--and I think it would have had the same impact as a review course. Lacking that, Kaplan was worth its weight in gold. His scores in his weakest area were 200 points higher than on his first 2 practice exams, and he had less dramatic gains that resulted in perfect scores in the other two areas. He started out with strong verbal and math skills. But practice with the test format and working within the timing constraints was very valuable for him. And he got far more hours of practice in a group format than he would have in private tutoring. So if you ask my opinion, I think that test prep is worth the time and money.</p>
<p>No--borrowing the College Board's SAT book (previously used exams) from the library is quite enough preparation.</p>
<p>There is no question in my mind that if you dilligently do all of the questions in a good SAT review course that should be enough preparation. However, with the damands of high school, extracurricular activities etc., this is very hard to do and, in my opinion, rarely happens without a good review course.</p>
<p>At our high school, we have had kids take a review course once a week for two years! Yes, you read this correctly. Most of the kids in this two year program did very well on the SATs. </p>
<p>I taught the SATs many years ago. Frankly, taking a cram course can help somewhat but not as well as if you took it for a long period of time. I would say that if you take a course for a minimum of three months and preferably 6 months, and do the homework religiously every week, you should see significant improvement. Obviously, the longer you work on the test questions, the better you will probably do.</p>
<p>If you don't want to take a course, Check out the SAT prep forum for "Xiggi's advice." Xiggi was a very sharp guy who did well on the SATs. He outlined what he did in order to achieve his results.</p>
<p>if the teachers in your SAT prep courses are also weak..self prep is the way to go. For us, nights away from home when students are already busy with activities and sports are just grim especially if the course is also mediocre. Self prep can be quite helpful if you also use a timer and later study your errors.</p>
<p>moewb - Do yourself a favor and search CC for "xiggi method." It works, works, works, works. Even if you decide to pay for an SAT review course, you can use xiggi's approach to be sure your S has absorbed the lessons.</p>
<p>I paid my kids $15 per test exam out of the Big Blue College Board prep book. I insisted that they do them (timed) at the kitchen table and actually go over EVERY answer - right and wrong.</p>
<p>(Of course one kid did a lot of them, and one kid did few.)</p>
<p>I personally believed it helped them. The review classes seem to spend a lot of time teaching the subjects - my kids didn't need that (and I'm not sure you can really do that anyway). I think most well educated kids just need to learn the tricks of the exam.</p>
<p>We went the private tutor route. We used a very popular tutor in our area (she books up completely a year in advance); the parents of older kids swore by her, and I do too. First, my d's extracurriculars made it really difficult for her to get to a course, even the one that was offered at her school. Second, we wanted the course tailored to her own strengths & weaknesses - she needed more work in math than in CR.</p>
<p>I knew, and she agreed, that there was no way she was going to study on her own. She just didn't have the discipline or the motivation for it. She never even opened the prep book for the PSAT. </p>
<p>I would do the tutor route again in a heartbeat. She only had to take the SAT I once, and the ACT once, getting very high scores on each test (SAT: 2250, ACT 33). What a stress reliever. And her SAT I scores were close to 200 points higher than her PSAT scores.</p>
<p>Weenie's suggestion is a critical part of the Xiggi Method.</p>
<p>We also used a private tutor. As Chedv points out, EC's and sports make the prep courses almost impossible. Also, the tutoring agency we used was able to supply tutors for DS's specific needs. WHen he took the American History advanced test, had a history tutor. Took SAT's first time and did great on verbal, not as great on math. Tutored to the math for the second try and gained nearlyh 100 points. Knowing that we were maximizing his time spent in prepping, DS was cooperative and actually liked all his tutors, and felt it was time well spent. He took quite a few practice tests, which they scored right away. He is a very good student with great grades in math, calculus, etc., but the SAT's are about taking the test, not about what you actually know. We couldn't have gotten it done any other way.</p>
<p>I think the courses help. Some schools have arrangements with prep course companies that are a very good deal. At my son's school, there is an after-school course that goes for about ten weeks by a top company and it's $350. I don't think most kids would put in that kind of time on their own. The thing about the SAT is that there is a skill to decoding the questions themselves and taking a course helps to demystify the code and to understand the test itself. The ACT is much more straightforward than the SAT.</p>
<p>Bought the "Real SATs" book and timed kid on the tests on Saturday mornings. Went through all the errors in detail during the week. Also used a PSAT prep book in the same way. Kid did a lot of practice tests at home, but only took each test once. From beginning to end his scores came up a lot. (probably 25+ on PSAT, 250+ on SAT and he did make NMF). </p>
<p>There is no substitute for being familiar with the format of the test and the types of questions on the test. If your kid isn't self-motivated or won't be "forced" to sit down and do timed tests at home, it could be worth paying for a prep course. But it's truly not necessary. Parents might have to get involved--your $ or your time? (I'm a homeschooler, so making my kids prep for tests is probably easier for me than it would be for some parents).</p>
<p>I compare it to athletic training. How many years and thousands of hours do athletes spend perfecting their techniques, practicing, playing--many with the hope of winning a big athletic scholarship or making it into the pros? For a bright student who is willing to "train," there is a much greater chance that a high score can pay off in scholarships--the payoff per hour of "test training" is likely to be much better than per hour of athletic training IMO. (Especially if your kid is a scholar and not an athlete!) So ask your student, "How many hours are you willing to train (or invest) over a few months to get into your school of choice or to earn a big merit scholarship?" 30? 50? 100? Peanuts, really.</p>
<p>I really like the suggestion of 'how many hours are you willing to spend" b/c that one will work with my son....he just hates standardized tests....</p>
<p>I think a lot of this depends on whether your child has traditionally performed well on standardized tests. In my son's case, past performance suggested he would do pretty well, so we didn't press the issue of preparation. He took a practice test from the free booklet the night before the exam. I was worried that he was being too casual about it, but he did well and we don't have to go through it again. </p>
<p>I wish we had investigated the essay portion of the writing test; apparently, there's a high correlation between length and higher scores. His was too short, I think. He got an average score in spite of perfect grammar, syntax, and development/support of the thesis. This part of the test should be very easy to prep for, so be sure to read up on techniques.</p>
<p>If part of the value of paying for test prep is the opportunity to practice taking the test, why not just take the SAT for real a couple of extra times?</p>
<p>Wouldn't that be cheaper?</p>
<p>Since the best way to improve your Verbal score is to have a large vocabulary, buy subscriptions to the NYTimes/WSJ in 9th grade instead... then read the articles to your kids at breakfast and make sure everyone knows and uses the words.</p>
<p>This is only part of a joke. My kids both did very well on the SATs... and did well without prep courses. They both attributed it to MY vocabulary (which is huge, because I read all the time) and the fact that we played word games in the car and listened to NPR.</p>
<p>As for the Math portion of the SAT, that responds best to practice problems. Consider doing an SAT problem a day for a few years... as is done in many private schools.</p>
<p>And the best way to prep for the writing portion: write, write, write. Real writing, with paragraphs and everything. I will point out that good scores on the writing section respond well to a standard 5-paragraph essay format: intro, 3 examples to support the topic (one from history, one from lit, one from life experience), summary.</p>
<p>Fendrock: the problem with multiple takings of the SAT is that the colleges see ALL results. Some disregard the results after the second time.</p>
<p>dmd77, I appreciate you trying to be helpful, but you need to get up to date with what colleges do today with multiple SAT I scores. NO college does what you have said in post #19. </p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=4125670&postcount=4%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=4125670&postcount=4</a> </p>
<p>I have asked quite a few college admission officers about this because, as this thread demonstrates, there are various answers about this issue found online, not all of which reflect the current practice of college admission officers.</p>