<p>Let's say that your kid is very self-motivated. </p>
<p>If he were to take the SAT, ACT, or any other important standardized exam, would you prefer that he takes a prep course with a reputable company or that he self-studies?</p>
<p>In your opinion, which method generally produces the best results? How much do you think, on average, that it would take someone with middling scores to significantly improve with either method?</p>
<p>What have your experiences been like?</p>
<p>From our experience, the best way to prep for the test is to take a lot of practice tests. You can buy books at a bookstore and just take tests. Practice some timed and some untimed.</p>
<p>How much time to you have, Therese?</p>
<p>My daughter wasn’t totally stoked about studying for either ACT or SAT, but she really didn’t want to have to spend a lot of time in prep classes. We bought her some books and told her she could have one try at each test preparing on her own. (Well, with my help. I’m a former teacher, and I still tutor. Occasionally I do SAT prep with kids.) If she got scores we were all satisfied with, great! She’d be done. If not, Princeton Review.</p>
<p>She managed to avoid Princeton Review. Which made me happy, because deep down, I really didn’t want to part with that kind of coin.</p>
<p>For the kid that is self-motivated, a prep course is not necessary. Just take the practice tests. Circle all of the questions that were incorrect. Look up the correct answer - be sure to understand why. Take all the questions you that were missed again while the correct answer is fresh in your mind (It feels like you are cheating, but just do it). A few days later take the entire test again . . . Repeat. do that for all of the test in the Blue Book. Viola!</p>
<p>The practice tests are great but don’t overlook the introductory chapters about test taking strategy. You learn valuable advice there that will maximize the benefit you get by doing the test prep on your own.
Also, if you prefer working online than out of the book, there are options for that too.
To review areas of weakness, check out the videos on Khan Academy.<a href=“https://www.khanacademy.org/[/url]”>https://www.khanacademy.org/</a>
You local bookstore or public library will have lots of resources for you to use.</p>
<p>For a self-motivated kid, self-study for sure. As others have said, excellent resources are available with the Blue Book for practice tests, CB online course, solutions & strategy books, etc. My kids used xiggi’s method, but silverturtle’s is the newer advice for study methods. </p>
<p>Need more info, what year is your child? If a soph, did they sit the PSAT last fall?</p>
<p>I have been reading this forum for a while and created an account solely to reply to this post. A friend of mine, who has an 11th grade daughter, paid $3950 for 24 hours of one on one tutoring to a tutor from the Princeton Review. As part of the tutoring, her daughter completed 10 full length practice SAT exams. On the December SAT, her daughter scored around a 1590/2400. It was her first time taking the SAT so we don’t really know how she would have scored taking it cold. She didn’t take the October PSAT. She’s a bright girl who takes AP classes (achieved a high B in AP World History last year) and has a high GPA. I really don’t believe she would have scored significantly lower than that going into the test cold. This experience would really make me question the idea of spending so much on tutoring. I spoke with the tutor and considered using him for my 11th grade son but decided that it was too much money.</p>
<p>Before wasting a lot of money and/or time, it wouldn’t hurt for the student to spend just a few hours getting familiar with the test – say, by trying some practice questions found online – and take the test once.</p>
<p>Sometimes, this will yield a high enough score so that no further preparation is necessary.</p>
<p>I told DS we had a set budget for test prep and that we could spend it on an outside person or he could get the money for being self-motivated. (motivated by money) He was broke the summer before junior year so I was glad he chose self-study.
He raised his PSAT score 350 points from soph.-Junior year. He mostly took practice tests online and in the blue book. A couple times I made him go to my office without phone and distraction and take a full length test. </p>
<p>Now he is working through the ACT red book. We threatened him with a class but he works on Sat. and Sun. so it would have been tough to find a class. We asked for 10 hours between Jan. 1 and Feb. 9 and his motivation is not having to take it in Sept. when he will have to take the test in the a.m. and do his sport in the afternoon.</p>
<p>Ok I will be the other voice here. My D has always had straight As in the AP and honors classes her school offers. She works her tail off to get these grades. Never had a B in her life. Etc. However, her SAT score didn’t reflect her grades. I bought a book and gave her two weeks of me just watching, not nagging, and she never opened it. She’s an athlete, plays club and high school sports, and has a minimal social life but one we certainly didn’t want to squash. She didn’t get to bed early or sleep late. We decided she would have greater success in a class where the time was scheduled and there were outside assignments. Her score went up over 500 points, and she got into UVA early action. Her brother, a junior, said he thought from watching her that the class was the best course of action for him too because he wouldn’t voluntarily put in as much effort as a class would mandate. He doesn’t have her work ethic; they are very different in that regard. No idea how it’s working yet since he hasn’t re-tested since starting. Both kids actually enjoyed the class though.
I think either one can work. It’s a matter of doing the one which will best help your child I think. By the way it wasn’t Kaplan or PR who taught this but a highly lauded local prep person, so if you do look at tutors, ask people for suggestions as the companies probably vary in their efficacy depending on the person leading the class.</p>
<p>I’m a tutor (just to give you a basis for my perspective), and I totally agree that self-motivated students are better off preparing on their own than attending a class, especially the run of the mill “big box” prep classes that most students enroll in (small, local companies do tend to do a better job as the above example shows). Classes are usually chaotic, filled with students who’d rather be anywhere else, and often insanely expensive. I used to teach them, and they’re not worth it for most kids. For a disciplined student, they’re an epic waste of time and money 
</p>
<p>Buy the official SAT or ACT prep guide, and maybe a Princeton Review book for strategy if needed, and that’s it. Many more official, legally released practice questions are available online if you hunt for them (or just PM me and I can tell you where to look). If he/she has some questions, or hits a plateau and can’t discern the cause, then spring for a session or two with a tutor. That way you get some individualized help that won’t break the bank. If you do seek out a tutor, DON’T call Kaplan or PR or any of their ilk. The rates can be outrageous, and their tutors aren’t any more qualified or talented than those who work independently…and given how little of the hourly rate goes to pay those Kaplan tutors, the best ones strike out on their own anyway!</p>
<p>Best of luck to everyone!</p>
<p>In my case, I used private tutors for SAT prep with both my daughters. Older daughter was a very good student and had no test prep for PSAT which in our district is given initially to sophomores. She did very well. I did sign her up for Princeton Review class for the following summer, in which she and several others students actually were able to solve problems easier and faster than the instructor. Her results second time around with PSAT were level. I worked with someone who did test prep tutoring and he explained that the problem for a good student like her was that the emphasis at Princeton Review and others in his opinion was that they emphasize finding the “tricks” to solve the problems, look for patterns. He said she was wasting time looking for “tricks” and just solve the problems. That did the trick and her SAT did show improvement spring of her junior year.
With second d, she was exceptional reader and verbal student but poor math student. I used a husband/wife retired NYC teachers. They worked together and split up their time to emphasize her specific needs… In my opinion, the personalized attention given made it worthwhile.</p>
<p>Agree if student is truly self-motivated, he or she can do it using practice tests and study guide. My youngest child studied over the summer before her junior year, and took the SAT in October just before the PSAT. (We knew from her soph year PSAT that she had the potential to be Natl Merit Semi-finalist). Then she self-studied some and took the ACT in December, did well and was done with those tests.</p>
<p>In practicing for the SAT, I suggested she work on the writing portion, which had always been her lowest score for PSAT and practice tests. It turned out to be her highest SAT score.</p>