Looking for feedback on students and parents experiences with SAT prep classes. I have a daughter who is a junior, and we are just looking at all options.

I have a college prep consulting business and part of our services is test prep. What kind of questions do you have? I'm happy to answer any you may have.

Eh, just wondering what people have used or are familiar with and what they might recommend.

What area are you looking for? A traditional class or online?

I used Magoosh on the GMAT, and was happy with my results. They also do SAT.

Sorry guys, got distracted by life and just now coming back to this. We are in the north Dallas area (McKinney actually). I think she would prefer online, although I'm of the opinion that a classroom setting might be better.

As for Khan, I know that is out there and free. I guess that's a good option?

jtraggie99 said:

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Sorry guys, got distracted by life and just now coming back to this. We are in the north Dallas area (McKinney actually). I think she would prefer online, although I'm of the opinion that a classroom setting might be better.

As for Khan, I know that is out there and free. I guess that's a good option?

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It seems to be. She needs to start taking the SAT now. There are a few more tests between now and the summer.

The Khan academy will focus on things she needs to work on to get better. It's all free.

Based on my experience, it depends on a couple of factors:

* Target score: Each 100 points per section is a standard deviation from the mean of 500. So, a 200 is 3 standard deviations below average and an 800 is 3 std dev above average.

1 on 1 tutoring is the most expensive per hour, but if done well, can be very inexpensive. This is the best for attaining top scores or breaking out of a scoring plateau. Rarely does not see big improvements quickly.

Classroom is best for students that either do not have the determination to build a schedule to prep and stick to it or have a markedly better attention span when someone is animating the material. It is much more expensive than self-study/online, but a course should come with an improvement guarantee as long as you attend classes and do the homework. Can typically see 150 to 300 point improvements, sometimes much more. These are 24+ classroom hours over a number of weeks. Forced to process the material.

Online can be nice if they bundle some level of personalized feedback, mostly for motivation. Content is basically the same as a book. biggest frustration is that it can move slower than a book (your pace) and it is a lot harder to jump around a focus on areas you are struggling. Most students don't stick with it and make real improvements.

Books have all the material, no one holds back good material, the market is too big. I've had good results with the princeton review books. The issue is with self-discipline. IF you don't spend time with it, you won't learn. Buying the book isn't enough. I'd say 85%+ of book buyers do not engage enough and see virtually no gains. But they are cheap.

If you go with the cheap options, you have to be sure that there is a defined study schedule (including practice tests) and they stick to it.

I know online sights do a good job of personalizing what your kid needs to work on

But it's much easier to fire up fortnite

my son did prepscholar and went from 1220 to 1370 in about 7 months. And that was in spring of his sophomore year. You pay a subscription fee for a year- i think it's 395- and they do the rest. you take a diagnostic test at the beginning, and then do lessons, quizzes, and practice tests. Highly reccomend.

We were wondering about same thing & wanted to wait to see before we spent money so we had my son take it. His first score was a 1240 (summer before junior year) & just got a 1410 and he ONLY did Khan Academy. Our school counselor recommended it as well. It really allows them to focus on areas they need improvement on AND it's free, we like free.

MominTexas said:

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We were wondering about same thing & wanted to wait to see before we spent money so we had my son take it. His first score was a 1240 (summer before junior year) & just got a 1410 and he ONLY did Khan Academy. Our school counselor recommended it as well. It really allows them to focus on areas they need improvement on AND it's free, we like free.

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Similar experience. Son is a Junior. Took the SAT for the first time in December and got a 1350 (not high enough).

Did the Free Khan questions the last couple of months-1430!

With that score, it's opened more opportunities (I.e. West Point, Rice). But let's be honest, he's an Ag.

Unfortunately, 1460 is bottom 25 percentile at Rice. So with a 1430, he better have insane grades or minority status or something that differentiates him beyond his SAT score. No doubt it is a very good score, that you and he should be proud of.