SAT/ACT prep courses: Helpful? Waste of money? Necessary? What were your experiences?
October 12th, 2009 | 
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Posted in sat test | 
Tags: experiences, much money, parents, practice tests, prep classes, using books, wondering what everyone
Hi and welcome to my blog,
I opened this blog to help anyone who is preparing for his SAT.
I remember myself when I started - I was so lost and in such a panic.
Luckily I got this great SAT guide that helped me a lot . So study hard and good luck!
My parents have been pressuring me to take an SAT prep course as well as an ACT prep course. I feel like they are too much money. I have bought prep books and have been taking practice tests. I was wondering what everyone’s experiences were with SAT prep classes.
Would just using books and studying a lot suffice? I need to save money
Posted in sat test |
Tags: experiences, much money, parents, practice tests, prep classes, using books, wondering what everyone
Your instinct is correct that most prep courses are not worth the money (especially Kaplan – total rip off!). Prepping is a necessary evil, though. There’s a few things I’d suggest. Rather than a course, you might hire a tutor for a few sessions. It’s generally cheaper than a course, and you can get your specific questions answered. You can find tons of tutors for hire at wyzant.com
But outside of tutoring, you’ll want to do the vast majority of your prep on your own. The gold standard for books for the SAT and ACT are those published by the test companies (the Real ACT prep guide and the College Board blue book). Buy them both and practice, practice, practice. The same concepts come up over and over again, so by doing as many questions as possible, you’re going to have seen it all by test day.
The only other suggestion is have is being sure you hit the vocabulary for the SAT. There are books out there, but my favorite resource is http://www.word-nerd.com – it’s a really fast and efficient way to study, and the price is reasonable for a one month subscription.
Best of luck to you!
It is a total waste of money. Prep courses do not raise SAT scores that much either unless you are dedicated to the work they give you but you can do that on your own.
Yes i think that studying from a book would be enough especially if you are actually going to do it, sometimes you say you will then don’t. I didn’t take any prep courses or studied enough to consider it "studying" and I got an 1840, doing better than a couple of people who took prep.
Really it is up to how you feel if you think your a bad test taker it might be better to take a course, but if your actually going to dedicate proper amounts of time to studying on your own, don’t go to a course.
You can study by yourself. I took maybe one practice SAT (? I’m not sure, I know we never bought a book, but I think I borrowed one from the library) and got a 2270. The SAT’s not that hard.
I wouldn’t take a course unless you’re getting really low scores on the practice tests.
Waste of money and unnecessary!!! The amount they charge is ridiculous.
I got over a 2100 the first time around, solely with the aid of a book.
Just retook it, and am hoping for a higher score.