Get IT SAT Preparation Course
Spring 2007 DVDDesigned by Scully, and starring Scully, who is an enthusiastic, roll-up-the-sleeves type of teacher, this comprehensive tutorial program packages eight weeks of prep work--those 50 on-screen hours coordinate with a 300-page workbook, special get-started folders, vocabulary building lessons, math activities, and even special week-before-the-test tutoring. And for students who don't have eight weeks to prepare, she even shortcuts the lessons to the if-I-study-nothing-else approach.
But, look, 50 hours of on-screen instruction matched with paperwork and additional "homework" amounts to a cinderblock of learning. This SAT stuff is weighty, it's a big box of gray-matter torture. But, Scully says the SATs are made for high school students, so you, as a high school student, already know it! This is re-learning. You just need to refresh it, jumpstart it, juice it, for the right moment on that Saturday morning when you sit down with a handful of no. 2s, your trusty calculator, and wait for the word "begin."
To get started, you take the diagnostic SAT-like paper test that when graded analyzes your strengths and weaknesses. From there, everything is cross-referenced between on-screen Scully talk and the folders of additional support materials. You're actually referred to the exact question or topic from the DVD to the workbook for more work.
When you dive into the verbal folder, you get a series of word lists that, once you've familiarized yourself with them, are repeated in aphorisms and then later the analogy exercises. In the math folder, well, it's math problems. And if you get stuck, you can find the exact problem on the DVD and Scully will explain how to solve it and problems like it. AS you progress, you get to the "5 in 5 Folder," which challenges you with series of mixed problems, five at a time, that serve as further practice and a good gauge of what still needs work.
The best feature is that you can pace yourself with this at-home tutorial. As Scully tells you, "If you don't understand something, watch it again and again!" And you are guided step by step, analogy by analogy, word problem by word problem, from start to finish in a highly organized and structured program--right down to the "final week" instruction that steers you through the final moments to be best prepared for the exams.
In computer SAT-prep software, Princeton Review famously figured out that one way to captivate students' imaginations is to take a snarky us-against-them attitude--and make it almost conspiratorially fun to study to beat the tricky intelligentsia who put together College Board tests.
GET IT does not use counter intuitive programming like that. Sure, Scully gives an overview of how the SATs are put together--a little peek behind the curtain. But it's feel here is more respectful establishmentarian, studying straight up for the tests.
The pricetag? It's $500, which rings up a lot cheaper than most in-person SAT courses that cost three times as much if not more, and a lot more expensive than computer software SAT programs. Cost is a consideration for most of us. So keep in mind that many of the more expensive classroom tutorials have various guarantees ranging from repeating the course for free if the student doesn't improve to getting a portion of your tuition back if your student doesn't raise his SAT scores by 100 points. GET IT doesn't offer a money-back guarantee.
GET IT's promotional material says it's like having your own SAT tutor. And in content and competence that's almost true--even if Scully's on the TV screen rather than breathing down your neck. And that may be the deal-breaker or deal-maker for many of you: What's missing in this gigantic SAT program is the incentive that an in-person, on-site taskmaster can bring to the equation. Incentive is one thing Scully can't package in the folders and DVDs. You've got to bring that to the table yourself. You see, GET IT gives you a personable tutor--but not a personal tutor.
