How to prep for the SAT while taking a shower
Or on your iPod, or by reading a comic book. Preparation can be easy – but is it worthwhile?
from the July 12, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 4
Before you plunk down money, though, consider an alternate perspective:
"It's part of the SAT arms race," says Robert Schaeffer, public education director at The National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest) in Cambridge, Mass. "Kids and their parents believe that everybody else has access to the latest 'weapons,' and they need to buy themselves a leg up."
Mr. Schaeffer estimates that Americans spend between $300 million and $400 million a year on SAT prep courses, tutoring, and products. "There's virtually no evidence that any of these products are ... any better than simply taking the practice test from previously administered SATs that you can get in your high school guidance office or library," he says.
A number of websites offer free practice tests, study guides, or test-prep games. Princeton Review (www.princetonreview.com) posts "Vocab Minute" podcasts – short mnemonic songs. Kaplan (www.kaptest.com), which now has its own MySpace page, offers practice questions and other free tools. You can also check out websites such as www.takeSAT.com and www.freevocabulary.com.
"It's certainly valuable to learn a lot of vocabulary for the SAT," says Matt Bardin, coauthor of "Zen in the Art of the SAT." But the "bottom line," he says, "is how you read and how you think."
If college test prepping isn't fun no matter how you slice it, there's still hope. A growing number of colleges – 740, according to FAIR – no longer even require applicants to submit SAT or ACT scores.
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