College Prep Genius The No Brainer Way to SAT Success is next for review with the Old Schoolhouse Crew. Again the timing of this one is great for us since we have a high school Junior who will probably take the SAT later this year.
 We received a book, workbook, and DVD to look over. The opening of the book states, “College Prep Genius contains hidden secrets and little-known patterns found on the SAT & PSAT/NMSQT/NNSQT tests. By unraveling these concealed codes, students can score higher on these tests and in return receive up to full scholarship/full ride to colleges of their choice.” That sounds good but could it be true?
We dove into the program and did as it recommends. They suggest first to take a practice test which we found online at collegeboards.com. Logan did this without any study or preparation. In fact, he really had no clue what a SAT was. He was shocked that a test could take so long! After scoring it I was surprised he was above “average” (whatever that means!) Not that I didn’t think he could do well but like I said he really had no idea what this test was about or what he was in for. We don’t do very much “testing” in our homeschool.
After the practice test you’re supposed to read the book through 2-3 times. Logan had trouble getting all the way through it once. It is pretty repetitive. I told him to go ahead and start working the sections with the DVD. That helped but having already read the sections he had a hard time keeping focused as it was essentially the same information as in the book.
The information seems to be very good and somewhat different from what I’ve seen in other “prep” guides. We definitely learned a lot about the test and how it works. One of the key things you keep hearing is that the test is “logical”. They focus on acronym’s that help you remember certain test taking points. These really do help you eliminate wrong answers and narrow down the correct ones.
As you go through each section you work in the workbook with the video following along with on screen samples. The DVD goes through each one and uses whatever acronym you’re working with to show how you apply it to actual test questions. This part is very good and I’m quite sure it has helped Logan with his test taking skills.
So far Logan’s done the Critical Reading section including Passage Based Reading short and dual passage sections. He's done the text on the Math but not the DVD part yet. The sections he has yet to do are the Essay and Writing sections. He’s been working on this two afternoons a week (about 2 hours most days) for 3-4 weeks to get this much accomplished.
Logan felt like overall this would prepare him well for the test but it got very repetitive and some of their suggestions seem a bit over the top. For instance the book recommends 3-4 hours study per week for Juniors and 3 months before the test at least two hours a day on weekdays and 10 hours on the weekends. The DVD recommended the week before the test taking one practice test per day. Now you have to realize the practice tests take about 3 hours each! I’m sure putting in all this time would help but for most teens we know this would be difficult if not impossible to attain.
The book also contains scholarship and loan information as well as lots of forms to help track your progress on practice tests and scholarship locating.
Logan may take the PSAT the second week of October and will probably take the SAT once if not twice later this year so keep watching the blog and I’ll let you know if the proof was in the pudding for us so to speak!
Summing it up Logan and I feel like it’s good SAT prep material but a bit tedious. I’m not sure however how all this material could be “exciting” so take that with a grain of salt. It’s just a lot to get through.
The DVD set which includes the text and workbook is available from College Prep Genius for a special limited time price of $79. They have also graciously given us a code so our readers can get free shipping and handling! Use the code HSBlog09 (it expires November 15,09.)
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