Complete Guide to SAT Preparation (CD-ROM program)
By Terry Wilfong and Miles F. Pewitt
College Options and Studyworks
www.collegeoptions.net
105 Crossbow Court
Peachtree City, GA 30269
1-888-576-8287
The Complete Guide to College Financing & Admissions is a DVD-ROM program that compiles the information from eight CDs on one DVD. It covers the college admissions process and federal financial aid, and it includes a month-by-month planning guide. The presenter, Terry Wilfong, has worked extensively with the financial aid departments at many colleges and universities. The Studyworks Complete Guide to SAT Preparation is a CD-ROM program that includes "How to Reach Your Target Score," "How to Write an SAT Essay," and "How to Improve Your Critical Reading, Writing & Math Scores Using the Knowledge You Already Possess!" all together on one convenient disc. The presenter of this program, Miles F. Pewitt, is an SAT specialist who has crafted time-tested strategies. No additional materials are necessary other than the use of a computer or DVD player, and perhaps a notebook if you wish your student to take notes. These programs were designed for all college-bound high school students, not specifically for homeschooled students.
Consisting primarily of lectures, each program has an excellent Contents list to help you maneuver through the topics. The Complete Guide to College Financing & Admissions offers specific direction for many areas (why go to college, selecting the right college, where to find information about colleges, etc.). The Student Planning Guide includes test-taking strategies, common college holidays, important admissions dates, and more, along with a month-by-month guide to keep you focused and ahead of the game. Numerous website links enable you to access information without doing time-consuming Internet searches. The links we checked for this review were accurate at the time, but the College Options website does include updates for any broken links that may occur. Printable exercises enable you to verify understanding of the material and/or to work out personal information that will specifically pertain to your student.
The Complete Guide to SAT Preparation begins with an Introduction and a section on Preliminary Issues before continuing into the Writing, Essay, Critical Reading, and Mathematics sections. The Preliminary Issues portion explains why answers may be marked wrong, whether you should guess on a question or skip it, and how the test is scored. The 95-page Writing section includes information on commonly misused words, parallelism, and paragraph improvement. The Essay section is only 22 pages, but it includes good tips that will immediately improve your student's writing ability. The Critical Reading and Mathematics sections are 79 and 86 pages, respectively, and have pertinent tips for both subjects.
Each of these programs is full of useful information. Our oldest is currently in her third year of college, and I wish I'd had this information before she began. The Complete Guide to College Financing & Admissions walks the viewer through information that may otherwise be extremely intimidating. The Student Planning Guide is probably my favorite portion because it breaks down information in a useful format. "The Complete Guide to SAT Preparation" offers an excellent overview of the SAT testing process, and we found it to be an excellent tool for brushing up on skills. The explanation of the grading process alone would make this a justifiable purchase.
Despite the wealth of information, our review copies had some drawbacks. At various points, we encountered comments such as "More interactivity will be added to this section. Something along the lines of giving the student a chance to read the question and think about the question before the explanation is presented." We have no way to comment on these improvements, if indeed they were made. Also, particularly with The Complete Guide to College Financing & Admissions there were references to an accompanying CD when in actuality all of the programs had been combined on one DVD. Finally, printing the exercises is an excellent option to have, but it would be expensive if someone actually printed all of the offered material. The only other potential drawback is that some students may find the content of the lectures boring.
Our family found these programs very informative and easy to follow. The Complete Guide to College Financing & Admissions would certainly benefit a college-bound high school student, and the resume instruction might even be helpful for those who choose to enter the workforce immediately after high school. The Complete Guide to SAT Preparation is an eye opener regarding the SAT and the entire testing process. The advice and tips have tremendous educational value. Considering the funds spent on curriculum over the entire schooling process, the expense of $50 for each program is extremely reasonable as they will maximize the knowledge your student has gained over the years. Overall, we found these programs to be very helpful and enormous timesavers for busy homeschool families in the midst of the final years of high school coursework.
Product review by Donna Campos, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC, November 2007
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