SAT Prep Companies Comparisons

Barron, The Princeton Review, and The College Board all offer SAT Prep books that are very popular. They offer SAT prep and try to improve your score as much as possible. However, which one is better? Lets take a deeper look.

Barron's SAT Prep

Barron's SAT prep book resembles that of a text book rather than a guide. It tries to imprint knowledge on you and offers professional writing, algebra, and geometry help. Rather than trying to show one tips, it acts as a text book conveying knowledge to the reader.

In addition, Barron's test book offers harder SAT questions than The Princeton Review or The College Board. By offering harder questions, Barron hopes to try and prepare its student for the actual SAT. However, some questions often go beyond difficult and doesn't help the test taker.

Princeton Review:

The Princeton Review advertises what it does and acts like a guide to the SAT. Rather than trying to be a text book, The Princeton Review focuses on tips and strategies to try and maximize one's score. Its famous "Joe Bloggs" approach has helped many students and allows the test taker to maximize the test. As a result, The Princeton Review offers more strategy than content. I

In terms of practice tests, The Princeton Review offers relatively the same difficulty as the actual SAT. The company wants the student to practice the strategies it teaches to achieve a higher score.

The College Board

The College Board's Official SAT Book has official SAT tests that were administered to students. Its focus is for students to focus on practice rather than tips or contents and offers a large amount of practice tests. It shows practice problems and how to solve them and much more. 

However, The College Board offers little tips on how to master the test because it would be illogical for them to do so. If they show how to master their tests, it takes away the credibility of the SAT to colleges.

Summary:

The Princeton Review offers the best test prep in terms of trying to beat the SAT. It offers strategies, tips, and guidelines on how to beat the test. Although it does not go too in depth on content it satisfies the requirements for algebra, geometry, writing, grammar, and reading.

Barron's SAT book comes a close second as it offers a textbook like approach and is geared towards students, who need a deep refresher and crash course.

If one needs practice rather than strategy or guidelines, The College Board's SAT book would be recommended.