Sparknotes 5 More Practice Tests for the Sat II Writing

Rating:
Summary: Not Bad Practice if You are Sure of Your Abilities
Review: The idea of sticking just practice tests into a book is just novel. But buyer beware; you must truly KNOW the information before the practice tests for them to really help you. I bought the book, worked through 3 of 5 tests (5 is a lot of practice tests!) and got a 760. If you are shooting for around that score and only crave some practice for the writing SAT II, this is the book for you. Don't expect to learn anything new. Just expect to drill and kill.

Rating:
Summary: Good idea, not so good book
Review: These "practice tests only" test prep books are relatively new. I think I've kept up with all the different test prep material that companies like Barron's, Peterson's, Kaplan, Princeton Review, etc have put out, and i have to say that I was impressed with the idea of a tests only prep book. Practice tests are crucial in preparing for a standardized tests because they give you an idea of what the test is like. (It's great because they're a real simulation of testing situations- limited time and same type of problems). I was disappointed with Spark Note's execution of this book. Many of the practice tests answers were contradictory. Picking a random example, one answer would explain that neither requires singular verbs, and in another answer, the book would say that it was plural. I supplemented Spark Note's book with Princeton Review, and found that the two books often said different things about one concept. I always trusted Princeton Review because they've been around longer, and I used their newest edition (one that was hopefully mostly free of errors). Sparknotes had just hurriedly published a whole slew of "5 more practice tests" so inevitably, you could expect more errors from them. To sum this review up, I recommend going with traditional books like Kaplan and Princeton Review for its accuracy and give their practice tests due respect. By the way, I got a 800 for my multiple choice subscore (I think it had to do with thoroughly absorbing information from the Princteon Review SAT II writing and literature book). It will take some time for test prep companies to perfect this new idea, and I don't recommend putting your test scores on the line to be a guinea pig. Good luck. (May the force be with you =>)

Rating:
Summary: Good idea, not so good book
Review: These "practice tests only" test prep books are relatively new. I think I've kept up with all the different test prep material that companies like Barron's, Peterson's, Kaplan, Princeton Review, etc have put out, and i have to say that I was impressed with the idea of a tests only prep book. Practice tests are crucial in preparing for a standardized tests because they give you an idea of what the test is like. (It's great because they're a real simulation of testing situations- limited time and same type of problems). I was disappointed with Spark Note's execution of this book. Many of the practice tests answers were contradictory. Picking a random example, one answer would explain that neither requires singular verbs, and in another answer, the book would say that it was plural. I supplemented Spark Note's book with Princeton Review, and found that the two books often said different things about one concept. I always trusted Princeton Review because they've been around longer, and I used their newest edition (one that was hopefully mostly free of errors). Sparknotes had just hurriedly published a whole slew of "5 more practice tests" so inevitably, you could expect more errors from them. To sum this review up, I recommend going with traditional books like Kaplan and Princeton Review for its accuracy and give their practice tests due respect. By the way, I got a 800 for my multiple choice subscore (I think it had to do with thoroughly absorbing information from the Princteon Review SAT II writing and literature book). It will take some time for test prep companies to perfect this new idea, and I don't recommend putting your test scores on the line to be a guinea pig. Good luck. (May the force be with you =>)