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Are test-preparation courses worth the cost?
An expert's opinion on the worth of test preparation courses.
Featured Author:
Mark Kantrowitz
As a nationally recognized financial aid expert and publisher of Fastweb.com and FinAid.org, Mark has been called to testify before Congress about student aid on several occasions.
He has served as a guest columnist for the New York Times and the Huffington Post and has been interviewed regularly by major news outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, MSN, CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNBC and more.
Mark is the author of five books, including three about student aid. His most recent book, Secrets to Winning a Scholarship, helps families find and win scholarships. He is also on the editorial board of the Council on Law in Higher Education and the editorial board of the Journal of Student Financial Aid, a member of the board of directors of the National Scholarship Providers Association and a member of the board of trustees of the Center for Excellence in Education.
Mark is ABD on a PhD in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and holds Bachelor of Science degrees in mathematics and philosophy from MIT and a Master of Science degree in computer science from CMU.
Follow him on Twitter at @mkant.
By Mark Kantrowitz / Publisher of FinAid and Fastweb
October 16, 2009
Test preparation services like Kaplan and Princeton Review can achieve significant improvements in test scores, partly by teaching test-taking skills, partly by reviewing the material covered by the tests and partly through practice drills. Improvements of about 50-100 points on the SAT are typical. According to College Board data, students who take the PSAT have SAT scores that are 25 to 78 points higher than students who don’t. (The College Board data also demonstrates that students from families with six-figure incomes average 80 points more in the critical reading, mathematics and writing sections than students from families earning $50,000 or less.)
Standardized tests are as much a measure of test-taking ability as they are tests of knowledge and skill. You can achieve a similar score improvement benefit by taking practice tests under realistic timed conditions at home. There are many books available with practice tests, some even with decommissioned tests. Just becoming more familiar with the test format can help avoid a panic reaction that undermines performance.
Get prepared for standardized tests with Fastweb’s Guide to Standardized Tests.
There are also books that teach test-taking skills, such as approaches to attacking a problem, pacing oneself, avoiding careless errors, identifying wrong answers on multiple choice tests and not getting bogged down on any one question. See Top Test-Taking Tips for some of the most effective ways of improving your test scores.
Improving your test score can increase your chances of getting into the college of your choice. If you start off with a good test score, the added training might improve your test score enough to help you qualify for scholarships based on academic merit at some colleges. But parents should not pay for a course just in the hopes of having it pay for itself through increases in merit-based financial aid.
Parents can evaluate a testing service by asking their guidance counselor and other parents about their experiences with the services. The most well-known test preparation services — Kaplan, Princeton Review, Peterson’s, Barron’s and Boston Test Prep — are all good, with Kaplan and Princeton Review having the best reputations. Some of these services publish books with practice tests and test-taking advice; the books are much less expensive than the full test-preparation service. There are also free services, like Number2.com, march2success.com and free test-preparation tools at collegeboard.com, that are worth using.
TylerB1445
4 months ago
After my son took his SAT test his junior year, we wanted to encourage him to raise his score when he took it his senior year. We offered him the "bat" of his choice (for baseball) and he studied like crazy. He raised his score by 100 points without the help of a service. Motivation goes a long way for a kid who wants to improve. And his first score was a good score too.
thompson_latoya83
5 months ago
I'm anxious on taking the ACT test, I moved around fiom town to town so that made it harder to meet deadlines. this will be the first time Im taking any SAT or ACT test and I need to study and maybe take some classes??
victoriashill
over 1 year ago
i think dhat it might help us in the long run when we are applying for colleges yea kno
malkasigal
over 1 year ago
I took a Kaplan SAT course, which came with a free PSAT course, so I took that too. My biggest gain from those courses was knowing exactly what to expect on the test. The course included multiple timed practice tests, so I figured out which sections I needed to improve and which sections I took too much time on. Familiarity with the exam was a huge asset to me when I took my SAT, but any motivated student can find out how the SAT works by him/herself. I needed the course because I would never have practiced by myself, so it provided specific blocks of time in the day when I was forced to.
The second best part of the course was all the preparation materials I received. I studied the flash cards for weeks, and the practice books were useful. The course also taught me a lot of test-taking strategies, and I found the ones for reading passages particularly useful.
However, preparation books can be bought for $20-$40, and if you push yourself to study them, there's no reason to get a prep course that could cost over $1000. I recommend prep courses to people, like me, who know that without the time scheduled for them, they would never study.
COOACHNGAJI
almost 2 years ago
i hope that god will bless me through your deparment,and being good is just like star
COOACHNGAJI
almost 2 years ago
i wiill get good help from your computerpre program
COOACHNGAJI
almost 2 years ago
i hope that god will bless me through your deparment,and being good is just like star
fidgetrice1
almost 2 years ago
where is a good place to study o.O, like a recourse n' all that fun stuff
ichapa
almost 2 years ago
Colleges DO need an SAT or ACT for admission, atleast for this school year (2009-2010 ) also, new this year for all CAL State's they require some test too, I cant remember the name, but my daughter took the test a few months ago. I DO recommend taking a test prep course, since theirs a lot of competition out there for colleges and the test DOES help, my daughter took the course after she took the SAT once, and the second time around with the test course helped her scores significantly.
webset
almost 2 years ago
i have never take the SAT so i dont know how it like but the people tha have take it said it is very hard and you need to be smart, or somthing like that. People say with out the SAT you can not get in to college i dont know but i just hope that i can do good on the SAT.
CRB0297
almost 2 years ago
NO NO NO......... if u have a solid tenth grade education, u can make a SAT-1800 and/or ACT-21 which will get u into most state universities, KEEP YOUR MONEY AND SAVE FOR COLLEGE
josephjones
almost 2 years ago
Don't pay for any of the test prep material it all can be had online or in your library for nothing you just have to spend time looking for it. I would consider taking a free Kaplan/Princeton GRE or similar test if you can put put up with 30 minutes of their shameless pandering. I didn't study for my GRE and received a 700/800 math and 530/800 for verbal, which is perfectly fine for admission to engineering graduate school. I feel to be accepted into graduate school is more of a function of letting your instructors known you are capable of doing the work. I guess what I am trying to say is don't waste your money on these parasites, let them move to Nigeria and become princes that have been unjustly jailed and need your $50 bucks to be reinstated to the throne.
britney69
almost 2 years ago
i dont like taking the SAT but colleges do recommand them in order for you to go in.i got a 1700 on mine and i guessed most of them.i dont think we should take these test cause we took the ACT our junior year so why take the SAT?no point
jamarmarn
almost 2 years ago
Two studies suggest that SAT prep courses and SAT coaching raise the verbal score by about 10 points and the math score by about 20 points:
Alexzandra_0007
about 2 years ago
That is so true, parents don't know all the courses or classes.
So they do have to ask teachers for help.
So, that their money want be wasted, and struggle to help us.