Cheap Kaplan SAT, ACT, and PSAT 2001 (Software) (Macintosh, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me) Price

Choose from various types of helpful information to begin your preparation: assessment tests, lessons on each type of test question, flash cards and quiz games, and an admissions calendar that helps you plan your entire application process. It's the tests and lessons, though, that are the heart of the program. The lessons are broken into bitesized topics and include a lot of spoken narration that can't be interrupted midstream by a click; this can be somewhat time-consuming if you want to preview or browse lessons before deciding whether you need them. Each lesson offers one or two sample questions to illustrate its point.

Though easily installed, the instruction book doesn't tell you much about how to maneuver through the program, so you must wade through the introductory tour and some cheesy graphics to figure out the application's functions. A quick warning: set the volume on your control panel before running the program, because it isn't adjustable from the menu bar.

These CD-ROMs offer a thorough review of all the different types of questions that are asked on the ACT, SAT, and PSAT. Whether you simply want to familiarize yourself with the format of the test you'll be taking, or wish to brush up on math skills or vocabulary, Kaplan's college test-prep programs offer plenty of informed practice. --Matt Kohut