PrepScholar makes our best list for a variety of reasons, the most notable of which is their massive amount of SAT practice work. This SAT prep course outperforms the competition in terms of practice material, with over 7,100 practice questions and 10 practice exams (more on this below). However, PrepScholar is more than just a collection of SAT practice questions; they also provide one of the most comprehensive SAT prep curriculums on the market via a series of very detailed lessons.

Their lesson plans, which cover nearly every SAT testable subject, are a combination of text-based instruction and video lectures. The text-based lessons are extremely informative and provide more than enough information to master a subject. However, we found them to be a little dry at times, which can be a problem when trying to keep a high school student's attention. This was our only complaint about this SAT prep course.

The video lessons are excellent, but we wish they offered video-based lectures for every lesson topic (they only have them for most). The structure of PrepScholar's coursework, which follows the classic "learn, practice, review" pattern, also impressed our team. You begin by reviewing necessary content and learning a strategy, and then you take a quiz to test your knowledge. Following this set of practice questions, you should go over your responses to learn from your mistakes.

This is a classic and proven learning method that we were pleased to see used in a number of online SAT prep courses. Finally, PrepScholar's clear step-by-step guidance through their lesson work and practice tests is worth noting. Students are given clear instructions on what to study and when, which are guided by PrepScholar's intelligent, adaptive software. Overall, PrepScholar is a formidable online prep course with competitive pricing that should suit students who learn best through reading and aren't completely reliant on visuals.

Pros

• Adaptive algorithm personalizes your study plan for most efficient studying in SAT Prep
• Highly effective curriculum with classic “learn, practice, review” pattern
• Tons of study material with 7,100+ SAT practice questions and 10 full-length tests
• Easy to follow structure with straightforward guidance

Cons

• Some learning modules lack video lessons, making those few a little dry

Rating: 9.5/10

Enroll here: prepscholar.com/sat/s/

Princeton Review SAT ranks 2nd in the list of best online SAT Prep courses. Princeton Review has one of the most comprehensive and detailed SAT curriculums available in the test prep industry. Every detail of their study plan has been meticulously curated, right down to the last word. Your assigned study plan walks you through all of the necessary content review and SAT test taking strategies in a course structure that builds on itself to maximize material retention. This is accomplished through excellent live classes, video-based lessons, practice questions, books, and other resources.

This impressive study resource package is led by live class work and video lectures. The live classes are taught by SAT instructors with decades of experience who know the exam inside and out and have perfected their communication skills. Furthermore, the video lessons are extremely engaging and well-crafted. Princeton Review supplements these instructional channels with a collection of content-rich textbooks and high-quality practice material that serves to reinforce the concepts taught in classes and recorded lessons. Overall, this is an extremely powerful and comprehensive SAT prep course that every high school student should seriously consider if they want to boost their SAT score.

Though almost every aspect of the Princeton Review SAT prep course is noteworthy, their video-based lectures (the heart of the self-paced prep course) are especially noteworthy. First and foremost, we appreciated the structure of these lessons. Instead of a long video of a teacher taking notes in front of a whiteboard with their back to the camera, you get short, engaging clips with some awesome digital effects. These 4- to 10-minute video lessons feature your instructor in front of a plain white background, but as they speak, text and graphics appear on the screen in front of them. This enables the instructor to draw on an invisible whiteboard between you (the audience) and the instructor with a marker.

Pros

• Extremely comprehensive SAT curriculum that covers every testable topic
• Stellar video lessons that provide engaging and dynamic instruction
• Best-in-category live classes that meet online
• Top-notch written SAT study materials

Cons

• Princeton Review is on the expensive side of SAT prep

Rating: 9.3/ 10

Enroll here: princetonreview.com/college/sat-test-prep

Magoosh SAT Prep ranks 3rd in the list of best online SAT Prep courses. It's no secret that Magoosh ranks high on our list of the best SAT prep courses because of its affordability. But it's not just low prices that get you a spot on our list of top online courses. You must also deliver the goods, which Magoosh does. When you sign up for one of Magoosh's three self-paced SAT prep plans, you'll gain access to their library of 200+ video lessons, 1,750+ practice problems, 3 practice exams, and a plethora of fantastic problem explanations.

While the format of the video lessons isn't our favorite, the content's quality cannot be disputed with a slideshow-style presentation and basic production value. And the practice problems created by Magoosh's SAT experts are excellent at simulating real SAT questions. Indeed, our team of test prep experts prefers the Magoosh text and video-based solutions to many of the problem explanations provided by other SAT prep companies on this list. The text explanations are comprehensive and well-executed, using graphics, equations, and diagrams. In addition, video lessons are a huge help for visual learners.

We're still puzzled as to how Magoosh provides thousands of video-based solutions to their problems when much more expensive courses don't. In short, Magoosh provides excellent value for money (which we discuss further in the section below), but they are much more. They provide a solid preparation program based on some pretty amazing study resources that we are confident will work for the majority of students.

Pros

• Most bang for your buck in SAT prep with their value pricing
• Incredibly helpful video explanations of problems for reviewing answers
• Massive library of informative video lessons that cover every topic and strategy
• Quality SAT practice problems (highly realistic)

Cons

• Not as much practice material as you get with other prep providers
• Library-style approach to prep where you drive your own studies

Rating: 9.0/10

Enroll here: sat.magoosh.com/plans

Prep Expert SAT ranks 4th in the list of best online SAT Prep courses. Though our team of test prep experts was skeptical of this prep course due to their unusual entry into the SAT prep space via ABC's Shark Tank, Prep Expert's online prep program exceeds expectations. Prep Expert provides one of the best SAT prep instructional packages, centered on founder Shaan Patel's 100 homegrown test taking strategies. Each of their SAT instructors has either a perfect SAT score or a score in the top 1% (demonstrating their mastery of the exam) and has been trained to teach Shaan's methods. The popular live online classes are engaging, informative, and one of the best SAT prep methods we've seen. The classes total 36 hours of excellent instruction (if you take one of the popular 6-week or 3-week courses) and include both content review and strategy sessions.

These excellent live online lessons are supplemented by video lectures from Shaan Patel and official SAT practice material. While the video lesson delivery format isn't our favorite, we appreciate Shaan's teaching abilities and the content of these prerecorded lectures. Furthermore, because it is derived from real, previously administered SAT exams, the SAT practice work that hammers home his strategy teachings doesn't get any better. After testing and verifying their intelligent SAT strategies, Prep Expert had to be on our best list (more on these below).

Pros

• Some of the best SAT test taking strategies around that get real point jumps
• Fantastic live online classes with first-rate instructors
• Immersive prep experience that feels like an SAT bootcamp
• Some material gets more advanced, making it helpful for top SAT scorers

Cons

• Pricier than other SAT prep courses
• While the strategies are great, we'd like to see more hard content review

Rating: 9.0/10

Enroll here: prepexpert.com

Kaplan SAT Prep ranks 5th in the list of best online SAT Prep courses. There's a reason Kaplan is such a popular choice for SAT prep among students and parents: their curriculum is among the best available. The Kaplan study plan guides students through everything they need to know to properly prepare for the SAT, led by some killer video-based lessons in their self-paced online course (much more on these below). Lessons and practice work are staggered by exam section topic and ordered in a way that allows the student's knowledge base to build on itself. In this regard, it is similar to the Princeton Review curriculum, which is a good thing in our opinion.

Students are guided step by step through live online and recorded lessons, homework assignments, SAT practice exams, and other activities. The entire course has a cohesive and detailed design that gives you the impression that you're working in a streamlined fashion toward a successful end point. Most Kaplan students complete their coursework primarily through Kaplan's live online lessons, but those in the self-paced program also use video lessons.

The live classes are led by some of the top SAT instructors, all of whom have been vetted for their teaching and communication skills as well as their expertise. In terms of structure and execution, our team found Kaplan's live lectures to be particularly effective. Furthermore, the instructional work is supplemented by some truly outstanding SAT practice material. While Kaplan only provides 1,000 or so practice problems, which is less than most competitors, we had no complaints about the quality and found the practice work to be well-written. In short, while other courses focus on quantity, Kaplan focuses on quality, with a first-rate curriculum supported by some fantastic instructional tools.

Pros

• Short, engaging video lessons that are super insightful and hold your attention
• Proven curriculum with an effective structure that has worked for students for decades
• Comes with detailed and comprehensive written SAT study guides

Cons

• Fewer practice questions to work on than most prep providers with only 1,000
• Casual, conversational approach to teaching SAT subjects not for everyone

Rating: 8.8/10

Enroll here: kaptest.com/sat