More students take SAT prep courses

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This year, thousands of high school students will spend a lot of time, and often a lot of money, taking SAT prep courses, hoping to boost their scores on the college entrance exam.But do those courses, which can cost thousands of dollars, really make any difference?Counselors say the classes can increase a student's scores on the 2400-point SAT, especially if they need to brush up on one of the subjects tested -- English, math and writing. But the courses are not going to get the average student into Harvard."I've seen students' scores go up 40 points, but I seldom see them go up by 100 points," said Barbara Hall, a counselor at Buena High School in Ventura, Calif. "You can't assume they're going to go up 100 or 200 points easily. That's not all that gets you into schools anyway."Still, with college admissions so competitive, SAT prep courses are becoming more popular with families seeking an edge.Consider the demographics that today's students are facing. They're among a record number of seniors applying to college. And many believe that they have to get into a top school to be competitive in the job market."It's not just if' you go to college, it's where' you go to college," said Kristen Campbell, spokeswoman for Kaplan Inc., a national test-prep company that has seen double-digit growth. "It's getting increasingly competitive. You have to put your best application forward to get into the school you want. Students get that. They're savvy."These days, students have many options to prepare for the SAT, with costs ranging from free online programs to nearly $4,000 for personal tutoring.The first step usually is taking the PSAT, a practice exam that gets sophomores and juniors familiar with the test format and gives them a sense of how they might do on the actual SAT.Juniors are most likely to take actual test-prep classes, getting ready for the exam that most take in the spring.Free options include questions and quizzes offered by companies such as College Board and Kaplan. The College Board, for example, offers a "question of the day" that is sent directly to students. The number of students responding to that question jumped by 144 percent in one year, spokeswoman Alana Klein said."Our free resources are the most popular," Klein said. "We believe it helps provide equity in access to education."Students also can take a relatively inexpensive course offered through their school district.Research by the College Board, which administers the SAT, indicates that students who take the exam a second time after taking a short-term course increase their scores by about 40 points.Then there are the longer prep courses and pricey one-on-one tutoring offered by a growing number of private businesses. Some of those companies offer guarantees that if a student's scores don't go up, they'll provide another free course or a refund.Kaplan offers courses both at its offices and at local high schools. The company's standard course is 12 sessions, which includes four practice tests and eight classes. The cost is $999, although students who take the class at a high school get a discount.Even though they are private businesses, some test-prep companies are allowed to recruit students through local high schools. A parent teacher student association can allow a test-prep company to use the school to administer a practice exam. Students pay a fee to take the exam -- money that is donated to the school. In exchange, the company gets to make its pitch for additional preparation to anxious students and parents.(Contact Jean Cowden Moore of the Ventura County Star in California at XX(at)xxx.com.)