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[Buyer beware: prep course "guarantees" are not normally straight money-back guarantees, but instead merely allow dissatisfied students to retake the course one more time for free or at a reduced rate.]
For students who wish to prepare on their own, there are a plethora of ACT/SAT study guides and workbooks available commercially. While not as effective as working with a good private coach or investing considerable time and money in a top-flight SAT course, disciplined study with a good work book along with plenty of practice before test day can make a big difference, and is certainly much better than no test prep at all!
By far the best way to prepare to for important standardized tests is to hire an experienced private test prep coach. For many students, private coaching offers the best value, combining superior instruction, flexible scheduling, and maximum cost-effectiveness. Top quality professional test coaches in private practice with decades of experience generally charge from $150 to $250 per hour (or more).
For students who wish to prepare on their own, there are a plethora of ACT/SAT study guides and workbooks available commercially. While not as effective as working with a good private coach or investing considerable time and money in a top-flight SAT course, disciplined study with a good work book along with plenty of practice before test day can make a big difference, and is certainly much better than no test prep at all!
Unfortunately, most self-study test prep books are decidedly inferior in quality; very few include reliable, comprehensive advice and realistic, truly useful practice tests. The majority are a waste of time, at best, and should be avoided.
For my recommendations as to the best current self-study materials for the ACT, SAT/PSAT, and SSAT, click here, here, and here.
By far the best way to prepare to for important standardized tests is to hire an experienced private test prep coach. For many students, private coaching offers the best value, combining superior instruction, flexible scheduling, and maximum cost-effectiveness. Top quality professional test coaches in private practice with decades of experience generally charge from $150 to $250 per hour (or more).
However, it's possible to pay a lot more for a lot less!
The Princeton Review, for example, charges more than $300 per hour for their best tutors (those with as few as five years tutoring experience), in large blocks of hours, and then pays these tutors a small fraction of that hourly fee. For this reason, the best test coaches do NOT work for agencies, and instead run their own private practices. So while paying absolutely top dollar, you could be getting just an average quality coach.
Click here for information on how to find the right coach.
Below is a sample medium-term ACT/SAT prep plan (adjustments should be made for the particular needs of individual students):
• Months 1-2: Strategy coaching and instruction (weekly 90-minute sessions, with timed or untimed practice between sessions.
• Months 3-4: Two full-length, timed official practice tests each month. Each practice test should be followed by at least one 90-minute coaching session to critique and correct the student's performance. In addition, students should take another complete practice test per month one section at a time (timed or untimed, as needed).
• Month 5-6: One complete, timed, official practice test per week, taken full-length or in sections (as needed), each followed by a 90-minute coaching session to critique and correct the student's performance, scheduled to conclude just before test day.
Click here for recommended test prep schedules (ACT, SAT, PSAT, SSAT, ISEE, HSPT).
Planning and preparation are the keys to unlocking a winning score on high-stakes standardized tests. The probability of success correlates most directly to the type and quality of instruction and the amount of test taking practice and performance critiquing students complete before test day. While it's certainly possible to dramatically improve one's score in a short period of time, a long-term plan allows average students sufficient time to do required practice, discover and fix patterns of error and flaws in their approach, and gain the confidence, competence, and experience necessary to perform optimally on test day. Stronger students general require less prep time.
A long term prep plan offers the vast majority of students the best chance of a successful outcome. Although it's unlikely that most students will be able to complete enough practice testing and critiquing in just a few months or weeks to maximize their final scores, even a little high quality test prep and a few well-critiqued, full-length official practice tests can make a significant difference.
Get a coach or take a course, read some books, plan your work, and work your plan.
The worst plan for test prep – by far – is no plan!
(Click here to go to Part 1.)
Below is a sample medium-term ACT/SAT prep plan (adjustments should be made for the particular needs of individual students):
• Months 1-2: Strategy coaching and instruction (weekly 90-minute sessions, with timed or untimed practice between sessions.
• Months 3-4: Two full-length, timed official practice tests each month. Each practice test should be followed by at least one 90-minute coaching session to critique and correct the student's performance. In addition, students should take another complete practice test per month one section at a time (timed or untimed, as needed).
• Month 5-6: One complete, timed, official practice test per week, taken full-length or in sections (as needed), each followed by a 90-minute coaching session to critique and correct the student's performance, scheduled to conclude just before test day.
Click here for recommended test prep schedules (ACT, SAT, PSAT, SSAT, ISEE, HSPT).
Planning and preparation are the keys to unlocking a winning score on high-stakes standardized tests. The probability of success correlates most directly to the type and quality of instruction and the amount of test taking practice and performance critiquing students complete before test day. While it's certainly possible to dramatically improve one's score in a short period of time, a long-term plan allows average students sufficient time to do required practice, discover and fix patterns of error and flaws in their approach, and gain the confidence, competence, and experience necessary to perform optimally on test day. Stronger students general require less prep time.
A long term prep plan offers the vast majority of students the best chance of a successful outcome. Although it's unlikely that most students will be able to complete enough practice testing and critiquing in just a few months or weeks to maximize their final scores, even a little high quality test prep and a few well-critiqued, full-length official practice tests can make a significant difference.
Get a coach or take a course, read some books, plan your work, and work your plan.
The worst plan for test prep – by far – is no plan!
(Click here to go to Part 1.)
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