Some of you may be wondering why I am writing about an SAT prep class. “Surely she’s not that pushy. I mean really, Nathanael is only 10. He may be smart, but the SAT already?” Well, no, I’m not going to push him to take THE TEST until he’s closer to college. No, I’m reviewing this because a.) I’ve agreed to review what gets sent my way through the Homeschool Crew and b.) because in my spare time (ha!) I teach writing classes to high school students. And many of the parents I work with ask me to provide help in preparing for the SAT (or ACT if you live in the Midwest).
This first review is simply to get acquainted with the product. I’ve looked over it briefly. So far, my only concern is that there is no schedule for timing the lessons, so I don’t know how to plan the time I’ll be meeting with the students.
According to their website, College Prep Genius “gives the solution to finding scholarships and paying for college through an exclusive program designed to increase standardized test scores. With our help you can:
- Go to college for FREE!
- Raise your SAT score as much as 600 points!
- Get accepted to the college of your choice!”
All of those sound really good to me, especially with four kids and a single income.
It’s been 20 years (ouch!) since I took both the SAT and ACT tests as a homeschooled student. I was an excellent student, and I loved “fill in the bubble” tests. I’m sure I did some kind of test prep with one of those books you can buy, but I don’t remember. I did well enough to get accepted into all my college choices, but didn’t get any scholarships. Since I don’t have any college bound students at the moment, I’m going to work with a few borrowed students and see how they do with the course.
According to the materials I’ve received, “Master the SAT Class” is a thorough investigation of the SAT and PSAT including an extensive review of all three test sections: Critical Reading, Math, and Writing. Below are a few of the important concepts that will be covered in this class, but students will learn so much more!
CRITICAL READING:
- How to cut your Critical Reading time in half
- The three main question types in all the passages
- The most common mistake people make on the Dual Reading Passage
- How not to be fooled by certain questions
- How to eliminate wrong answer choices
- Which words in the answer choice are paramount to circle
- The four recurring tricks hidden in the answer choices
- The vocabulary trick most people fall for
- The secret to answering the Short Reading Passage
- The place to look for the main idea in the Short Passage-it’s always the same
- How to take advantage of the semi-colon or colon clues in the Sentence Completion section
- How to answer the double blank questions quickly
- When to ignore the first blank
MATH SECTION:
- How to rarely use your calculator
- How to answer the problems the short way
- What to do with unknown variables
- The hidden math pattern that screams “this is the answer”
- How wrong answers point you to right answer
- How to eliminate 2-3 answers right off the bat
- Why the order of the answers is so important
- Three easy geometry rhymes to help your remember formulas
- The fastest way to answer a fraction question
- How to dismantle a scary problem
WRITING SECTION:
- How to write a great essay in 15 minutes
- What are the essay judges looking for
- The four C’s and four S’s of a great essay
- Types of essay topics that might appear
- The biggest key to an amazing essay
- The timing mistake to avoid
- How to make the best use of all the lines provided
- Recurring patterns and mistakes on the Sentence Error section
- The key to finding the Improving Sentence answer quickly
- Answering Improving Paragraph questions in shorter time
After taking this class students will know what to expect on the SAT and PSAT. On test day there should be no surprises!
The creator of this course, Jean Burk, has been featured on news programs and articles nationwide. You can access some of her free articles here.
Check back later for a detailed review of this course…
