Anyone have any experience with Princeton Review?

[Kteacher]

I just signed my DS17 up for the SAT course (he tanked on his PSATs) I couldn't believe it was so expensive -795.00 Anyone have high schoolers that have taken their courses?

 

[Lynn CC]

That same course is being offered through DS's High School this year as well. I'll check to see how much it is again, I'm sure it's not that expensive. A lot of times the teachers give a class to help the students too, have you checked out any of those? They are really helpful.

 

[cheeringmom]

I think Princeton has one of the most expensive ones but I hear they are fantastic. My dd is taking a Kaplan course (another good one) and I hate to tell you what I am paying for it. It is reg. about $600 but I am getting thru our military base for $100. We really lucked out. Only 6 kids allowed in the course too. This includes all materials-3 books, cd rom and of course a kaplan teacher. Lets hope she does better than her last SAT!!! If not, we'll be doing Princeton too!

 

[Evil Princess]

I had private tutors (both high school teachers at my school that my own teachers led me too) but they were incredibly expensive.

Trust me, it's worth it though. I surpassed my goal of getting over a 1200.

 

[CheshireVal]

I didn't do a course, but I bought a Princeton Review book to get through my SATs. It was fantastic! It was cleverly written and kinda funny, and they sort of make it sound like the SAT people are trying to "trick" you and how to see through the tricks.

After reading the book I bumped my intial score up by 200 points and was named Star Student of my high school (for making highest SAT score.)

 

[cheeringmom]

Originally posted by CheshireVal
I didn't do a course, but I bought a Princeton Review book to get through my SATs. It was fantastic! It was cleverly written and kinda funny, and they sort of make it sound like the SAT people are trying to "trick" you and how to see through the tricks.

After reading the book I bumped my intial score up by 200 points and was named Star Student of my high school (for making highest SAT score.)

Do you tutor????? hehehehe Congrats!!!

 

[lrmillen]

That is a lot of money. You've already spent it, but please don't do that again. I completely feel for you, becaue you want your DS to do the best possible. But classes really aren't the way to go about it. My brothers and I who have taken classes and the Sats throughout the past 5 yrs., the most recent being this one, don't recommend the classes to anyone. Unless your son is going to be completely attentive, take good notes, and (this is the all important thing) repetitively study on his OWN time the class will be a waste. The P'ton Review book, which should be part of the class will tell him everything he needs to know. The class just verbalizes it. A good score relies on if he's studied the book and that's a lot cheaper than going to class where they assign homework from the book. But I hate to be saying this after your son is already in the class!!!! Sorry!!!!! As a mom, this is what I would do now...Just be a nag about him studying the book and taking practice tests, which are the best thing for preparation (they should be on the CD-ROM). Good Luck!

 

[SoonerKate]

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with lrmillen. Depending on what kind of learner your son is, the classes could be a huge help. I took Kaplan classes before my SAT, and without them (especially the math strategies!) I doubt I would have gotten the score I did (1370). Reading the book and taking practice tests is great and does help -- a lot. But for some learning styles, that outside reinforcement and verbalization is exactly what is needed.

I'll definitely use Kaplan when I take the GRE. The strategies they teach are great, and I don't even want to know what my GRE score would be without the help.

 

[TarraLee]

DH and I took PR class for LSAT, so not exactly the same situation as your son's. I scored in the top 2% of takers. Honestly, the class was way more helpful for DH than it was for me. He learns through hearing. I learn through working problems, so being forced to work questions and take practice exams did help me, but I probably could've done it on my own. If your son isn't disciplined enough to work problems on his own, consistently, then I'd do the class. Think of the money as an investment, and hopefully it will pay off with scholarships.

Good luck to you and your son!

 

[IloveDMB]

I'm also going to have to disagree with an above poster.

I think the Princeton Review is great. I took the review last Spring for the MCAT. We took a practice MCAT in the beginning and from that score I improved 12 points on the actual test. I NEVER would have been able to do that without the course.

What the Princeton Review teaches is a lot of strategy, which is very good. They teach a lot of time management, which helps so much.

I never took the SAT course, but I think my little sister is going to take one next year, especially now that they are changing the test.