Prepping for the SAT’s . . . Watch Out for the Bait and Switch Trick!
There is one sales concept as old as business itself; it’s called bait and switch. This sales method suggests that you interest a customer with the promise of discounted or free merchandise but then attempt to sell them something much more expensive. We see this concept in action every day and not just in the business world. Political campaigns often offer a free breakfast with a candidate but solicit attendees for donations following the event. Resorts frequently offer tourists a free stay but then attempt to sell them a time share in the property.
The customer who remains firm in their commitment not to buy anything they don’t want or need, can profit from the sales “come on”. The customer who lets down their guard often ends up paying for something they don’t want and don’t need. This is important for high school students to remember!
In the world of college admissions, there are many valuable “freebies”. These tools and services can be a tremendous help to high school students hoping to prepare themselves for admission to a top college. But . . . many of these useful “freebies” are used to lure customers into purchasing expensive and less useful follow up services offered by the same company. At uraccepted we suggest that you take advantage of the complimentary tools and avoid the over priced and unnecessary “add on’s”.
For example, at uraccepted we recommend that high school students use several free online tools in order to prepare for the SAT exams. These tools are well designed and can be extremely useful. Each of the companies offering these tools also offer a variety of other products. Some of those products may be valuable to particular students but many are, in our opinion, over priced and largely ineffective.
In general, our advice is to be extremely cautious about purchasing any expensive college admissions service. It has been our experience that hiring an English teacher at your school or a local tutor is more valuable, more honest and far less expensive than most application essay writing services. Buying and then actually reading a good SAT prep book is usually much more helpful than most SAT prep courses and it costs a tiny fraction of the price.
Many of these companies offer reasonably priced and useful products for sale. But . . . they also offer expensive “gotcha” products and services to avoid. So, when using college prep tools always beware of the “bait and switch”!
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