PrepScholar ACT/SAT - calling for all experiences

[Familia]

A friends swears by their basic package (promising a 4 pt. improvement in score).  Anyone use this or their private tutoring options for ACT or SAT prep? 

Thank you!

[plansrme]

Well, I won't know for sure until September, but I am very pleased with it so far.  My daughter took the ACT cold, with zero prep, in April, so we have a perfect baseline score.  She is about half-way through the PrepScholar program and took a sample test last week.  You take the paper sample test in the Real ACT prep book, but you enter your scores online, and PrepScholar times you to replicate true testing conditions.  Her score on the sample test was five points higher than her baseline score, and I feel that with a little more work, she can pretty easily get a six-point increase.  I don't think there is anything in PrepScholar that you can't get from books, but (1) I can make sure she is doing the work because PrepScholar tracks her time and progress; (2) I don't have to be involved other than paying them $400; and (3) I don't have to be involved; did I mention that already?  So, for her, I think it is a good fit.  This is my good-but-not-great student; reading comprehension is not her strong suit; and she is plenty smart but needs to be taught things--a lot of things that are intuitive for a lot of people, such as testing strategies, are not to her.  Also, I don't think the program would be as effective if the increase you're looking for is, for example, a 29 to a 33; I imagine it works best if you're looking for a score from, say, 32 on down.

 

If you look for reviews on College Confidential, you will find a couple of people who had trouble collecting on the refund for the four-point guarantee, so I asked PrepScholar about that before I signed.  The problem CC users have reported is that the guarantee requires that you send a score report directly from ACT, but ACT will only send reports to the student or to schools.  Customer support said they just need an original score report, so I would get one from ACT and send it to them.  Of course, although I did save that email, I really, really want to not have to collect on the guarantee; I want the score increase instead.  If she gets a four-point increase, I will be pleased; if she gets five or six, I will be ecstatic.  She is taking the test again in September, so I'll report back then.

[Vida Winter]

We never joined prepscholar but signed up for their emails and it has been a valuable resource. Earlier we did join Reasonprep and my daughter enjoys learning from Rob's videos. I didn't see the need to also join prepscholar as they cover basically the same thing. We'll also be using previously released real ACT/SAT tests at home (SAT if they are available yet).

 

Prepscholar looks great. I don't think you could go wrong if you went with them.

 

 

[regentrude]

Just beware that the "4 points improvement" guarantee does not extend to strong students who have good baseline scores and want to achieve very high scores. You only get the refund if your After-Score is below 34 and is less than 4 points higher than your Before-Score.

 

[Dmmetler]

Since practically everyone (Testive, PrepScholar, the Kaplan ACT book, the local ACT class here) touts 4 point score gains, I'm guessing that many kids get about that just from spending some time looking at the test and taking practice tests, no matter how they do it. I think some focused prep is a good thing, but I would look at which way of getting it will be the best fit for your DC more than anything else.

[mumto2]

Since practically everyone (Testive, PrepScholar, the Kaplan ACT book, the local ACT class here) touts 4 point score gains, I'm guessing that many kids get about that just from spending some time looking at the test and taking practice tests, no matter how they do it. I think some focused prep is a good thing, but I would look at which way of getting it will be the best fit for your DC more than anything else.

Just wanted to say I agree.

[Familia]

I'm hesitant to pay for test prep.  

One child did a paid class with M. Press.  Through that experience, I realized that test prep classes were just paid versions of what we did/could easily do at home, i.e., read the book, note strategies, practice concepts as you go.  Waste of money!

I am looking for a dynamic experience that is personalized to each child's individual weaknesses, not just money spent for accountability.

I'm not opposed to spending money upfront now that we already have dc in college -- i see that money spent now could, if paid test prep was actually personalized and effective, save money later.  This particular child needs more coaching and assessment of where the weaknesses are.

Edited June 15, 2016 by secretgarden

[fourisenough]

Can someone explain how PrepScholar works? I must be dense because I don't really get it.

 

My oldest did a live online class through Kaplan that I think was, for her, very helpful although we didn't have a good zero-prep-baseline score to which we could compare her score.

[plansrme]

Can someone explain how PrepScholar works? I must be dense because I don't really get it.

 

My oldest did a live online class through Kaplan that I think was, for her, very helpful although we didn't have a good zero-prep-baseline score to which we could compare her score.

 

You can try it out for five days for free.  I didn't sign my daughter up until school was out so that I could ensure that she had a few days to try it before I was charged the $400.  I don't really know how it works, either.  I do know that she gets more review on the tests in which her baseline score was lowest.

[GoodGrief]

My daughter used Prep Scholar in 2014. She had a great SAT score, 2350, but it's hard to know if it was due to the program or just doing consistent review and practice tests.