Among other things, like being a father and a coach, I have been an SAT tutor in New Jersey for the past sixteen years. Members of my “Class of 2007″ were recently admitted to schools that include Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgetown, NYU, Princeton, and UPENN. In my last post, I described the positive and negative aspects of traditional SAT prep services. My take on existing SAT prep products and services, in short, goes something like this: (more…)

SAT test preparation can be confusing and expensive. If you’re motivated, you can prepare yourself well for under $25. (See video post entitled “How You Can Prepare for the SAT on a $25 Budget”) If you are not super motivated or are willing to spend some more money, there are plenty of options. Below is my take on the options currently available. I hope my thoughts help you make informed decisions about how you can best prepare for the SAT.

The SAT Self-Help Book:

For between $15 and $30, a student can purchase a book that contains practice tests, answer keys and answer explanations.

• Positive Aspects: Self-help books are relatively inexpensive and, thus, very affordable.
• Negative Aspects: Self-help books tend to be dry (i.e., boring) and working through them is typically a very labor intensive process. The answer explanations contained in self-help books are static in nature, they often fail to offer adequate solutions and, for practical reasons, they typically present only one solution to each problem (even when multiple approaches are valid). An obvious shortcoming of self-help books is that they do not offer parent feedback.
• Conclusions: Self-help books are best suited for students who are extremely talented academically and extremely independent and motivated.

The SAT Prep Classroom Course:

For between $800 and $2,500, a student can (more…)