How do you usually prepare for SAT exams? Are courses available in your high schools that instruct on what will be tested? Or do you study with prep books?

Thanks!

Some high schools, I guess, offer free courses, like mine did. Courses offered outside schools tend to be expensive. Mine gave books from Kaplan that contain good material.

Hey, :: College Planning Made Easy | Inside Source for College Admissions Requirements has free practice tests that provide feedback. You can even ask questions there.

Try tutors (hehehe).

Yeah, those Collegeboard SAT books are great. My scores improved with those tools. These books even prepared me than the practice exams of the exam designers themselves.

Hey, good luck at you!

Yes, I would just like to add that some vocabularies in the SAT exams are not covered in the high high school courses (I know mine didn't). You have to familiarize yourself with Greek and Latin roots of words (if you're well-read, this would not be such a problem). You can try Cracking the SAT from Princeton Review.

The SAT, by the way, is widely recognized by universities in the East Coast, West Coast and a few states in the middle. Those in the Central part sometimes require the ACT test.

The lessons embodied in these SAT exams preparatory courses (which are indeed expensive) are all online. You can save a lot money and time by just googling them. Why not simulate the testing experience at home. It's so easy to set the conditions, right? But if you still gun for books, I also recommend those from Barron's.

It all boils down to practice anyway!

You're welcome.

You'd be surprised to know that most high school students don't take the SAT exams, but the ACT exams. However, study books are awashed in any bookstore. Study these and then register to take the PSAT, which is a practice SAT (and what will likely be what you'll confront in the real SAT). A lot of high school juniors and sophomores take the PSAT each year. Recently, some freshmen, 8th, and 7th graders have also begun taking this test.

Hey, thanks, guys and gals, for the awesome, somewhat competing answers, (hehehe). What's the registration fee for SAT exams, anyway?

Again, thanks.

The fee for the SAT Reasoning Test is USD 43.00. The Basic Registration fee for SAT Subject Tests is USD 20.00. Language Tests with Listening is USD 20.00 plus the Basic Registration fee. The other Subject Tests are each USD 8.00 plus the Basic Registration fee. Click this webpage to know more. Read the footnotes carefully.

Hey, thanks for the link, dude. Quick question? Will calculators be inspected before the SAT exams?

They probably allow older versions of calculators, like a TI-84. A TI-89 or later would probably not be allowed. I had a friend that encountered this problem. I warned him before the SAT exam but he wouldn't listen. Good thing, someone brought a spare calculator and let him borrow it.