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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I used to teach for Princeton Review.  For all the money you spend, what you get is someone holding your kid accountable for doing practice tests, and someone who can explain mistakes.

You can’t get the reading section up much. Either your kid is a reader, and has learned to read critically. Or not.

You may be able to get English up. The issue is whether your kid has issues with the test format (which can take some  getting used to) or the content, which is also hard to teach.

Math is much easier to get up/ make gains.  But you can also get math up by having your kid review the relevant sections of Kahn Academy for the questions they miss.

If your kid is self disciplined enough, you can buy the books, take the tests, understand what you miss, either because a parent or Khan Academy explains it.  And get SAT prep done for $100, and lie.y hit close to the score your kid would get with an actual tutor.

If you have a dynamic where you are arguing with your kid 24/7 about college stuff, it might be worth the cost for a third party.

Also, how much the kid can get their score up depends on why the score is lower Bs weak reader will remained a weak reader. A kid who struggles with the format and timing on the reading section can move their score a lot more.  Similarly, a kid who has forgotten some two year old math or needs to pace themselves better can move the needle a lot more than a kid who never really “got” Algebra II.

The one section I think a tutor can be useful on is ACT science, if the initial score is low. Starting with, helping the kid understand it doesn’t test science knowledge, or even mny science skills. It’s about reading charts and graphs that have science words attached.  If you kid has trouble with that skill, targeted tutoring could help.

But, having taught PR, I would never pay for it for my kids. Yes, I did know how to help them. But, most of the class is taking and retaking tests and explaining why kids missed what they did. And the tests are out there. And Khan Academy can explain the concepts. [/quote]

Very helpful, thanks. OP. Kid is in 8th grade and in all advanced classes, straight A student, but never reads for pleasure. Reads a lot for class and does well in those classes but I never see him crack a book voluntarily. So I worry about verbal SAT and wonder if tutoring now for prep could help him.[/quote]

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