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By Wilson Joseph
Each year, I work on behalf
of close to one hundred students to help them get into their target
colleges. My job is similar to that of a boxing trainer's. I have to
devise a game plan that maximizes each of my student's chance of winning
the fight (or getting accepted!). This requires staying up-to-date on
everything from AP curriculum to financial aid.
As such, I like to
collect a survey from high school seniors every spring to get a sense of
the satisfaction with various college prep materials, particularly test
prep books and courses. This helps me to provide excellent referrals for
my students when they need to raise their test scores.
In this article I'm
going to use the feedback from students this past spring as well as the
experiences of my own students to evaluate the popular test prep books and
courses. At the end, I will make money saving recommendations on what you
should purchase and how you should prepare based on your situation - the
same sort of recommendations I will be giving to my students for the
2002-03 academic year.
 But
first off you need to decide which test you are going to take:
SAT or ACT.
Many students
aren't aware that they actually have a choice. Virtually all
colleges now accept both tests, and believe me, there is no preference for
one. This past year, for example, many of my students who had taken the
SAT were successfully admitted into the top colleges in the Midwest,
contrary to the popular belief that Midwestern schools don't like the SAT.
Similarly, a high ACT score can get you into the top colleges in the
Northeast; schools that formerly only accepted SAT scores.
This indifference can
work to your advantage because the two tests are very different. i.e. you
might perform significantly better on one test than the other. Many
students prep for and write both the SAT and ACT, and release the score from
the test they did better in. I suggest focusing on and writing only one of
the tests and using the extra time for other things.
Here's a procedure to
determine which test you should write. Obtain free copies of
Preparing for the ACT Assessment
and
Taking the SAT I: Reasoning Test
both of which are available at your high school or at
collegeboard.com
and act.org,
respectively. Test yourself using the real practice test in each booklet
and calculate your scores. Now, using your ACT score find the equivalent
SAT score range in the table here. If your actual SAT score is greater
than the equivalent score range, you should take the SAT. Conversely, if
your actual SAT score is less than the equivalent score range, then you're
likely to do better on the ACT. Finally, if your actual SAT score falls
within the equivalent score range you can choose to take the test you like
better.
Before we kick
things off I should advise you to include first among your test prep purchases
either the College Board's 10 Real SAT's or Getting into the ACT,
depending on the test you've decided to write.
They are like bibles for
test takers because no where else can you find full-length ACTUAL SAT's or
ACT's.
Practice is the best way to raise your score - and for that these books
are very, very, very valuable. Both books are actually rather inexpensive.
10 Real SAT's can be purchased from the College Board and your
local bookstore for $19. Our Amazon.com storefront sells it for
under $14 here. You can also find Getting in the ACT for $12
here.
As an aside, I will give
you some tips on obtaining prep books. You should first ask friends that
have completed the admissions process if they have a copy of the book you
want. This way you don't have to spend any money in the first place. Also,
check your high school and local libraries, though you will have to share
borrowing privileges with others. The cheapest place to buy prep books is
online at Amazon.com. (I have handpicked the best books and listed them on
the Amazon.com storefront accessible at the
College Prep Home). You might also consider buying used copies at
Half.com, an eBay company. Click here
to have a look at what they offer.
In the next section I
will rate the best test prep materials based on the experiences of my
students and the results of a recent poll conducted on LiqwidMindz.com. I
will then use these results to recommend the test prep materials you
should buy based on your current situation so that you don't spend a lot
of money and get the results you want.
Next:
Best
Prep Books
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