Further, I certainly never studied to get my original SAT scores in high school; as noted in the SAT/ACT forum, some students who scored 2250+ at one poster's school never prepared at all. I know for a fact that if I had followed the professional advice that was popular at the time (that I should guess when I wasn't sure, look for early questions to be easier than later questions, cram vocabulary, et cetera), I wouldn't have my own test-prep company right now. All I'd have is a high-mediocre SAT score and a lot of debt from the merit-based scholarship to a state school that I wouldn't have gotten.
Again, this is not to say that professional advice is never warranted--it is certainly warranted in many situations, SAT-related and otherwise. I just disagree that professional help, even from the most qualified and well-respected professionals, is always good advice. In many cases it is just plain bad advice--professional advice has given us a lot, but it's also given us things like alchemy, which is regarded by most modern people as a huge waste of time and effort.
Also, I have several emails from students who made significant increases through "self study" (by which I mean combining the approach from my Guide with their own observations and/or other approaches and working on their own without a class or tutor). It it not only possible, but common, for self-studiers to do well.
Okay, I apologize for the long and rambling nature of this post. But that's pretty much where I stand on most of what's been said here so far. Bottom line: Xiggi's method is pretty solid, and I'd recommend it to anybody dedicated enough to handle it (or anybody whose parents will find the necessary dedication for them
).