Rating: 
Summary: not "real" enough
Review: In terms of SAT prep books, this book is one of the best ones and should definitely help you in a positive way, but it isn't accurate enough to measured up to the level of a real SAT. The math sections are way harder, while the reading section is very easy and straightforward. I don't understand why it's so hard to make a SAT seem like a real one, that's one of the problems I have with these companies. But in general, you should rely this book for practice, but definitely familiarize yourself with a real one. You can't depend your score on these questions.
Rating: 
Summary: Helpful but has a few weaknesses
Review: Barron's HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE SAT I is a fairly decent all-in-one guide for tackling the USA's standard college-entrance examination. It discusses what the SAT I is and how best to study for it, gives test-taking strategies to exploit the test's grading system, and spends several hundred pages giving the student the verbal and mathematical skills necessary to face the test. At the end are seven full-length model exams. I used this guide to take the SAT I and scored 600 on the math section and 780 on the verbal, for a combined score of 1380.I've always been pretty good at verbal concepts so I didn't make use of that section of the book, but as math has always been difficult for me, I spend several weeks on the mathematics section. The Barron's guide breaks down the SAT I's math expectations into 12 units, each concentrating on a different mathematical concept. Each section of each unit is followed by a short test involving the concept. I am happy this guide gave me the refresher on mathematics necessary to succeed in the test, but I do have my complaints. One is that the mini-tests at the end of the section are too short and don't give adequate practice. Another complaint is that for a person like myself who had been out of high school for a couple of years when he took the SAT I and had already forgotten most of high school math, the Barron's guide makes assumptions on what you already know, as I suppose most purchaser of this guide are in high school. I would have been much happier if the guide had truly started from the basics in the math section. I was dissatisfied with the model exams. Although they are very close to the actual test, Barron's uses a different grading system, meaning that with a score for the model exams there's still no ballpark figure for how one will do on the SAT I. I would like to see the next edition of this guide use the same grading system as the actual test. If a student is shooting for, let's say, 1250, he should know how close he is to his goal. In spite of its flaws, this is still one of the best SAT I preparation guides out there. It certainly saved this adult student who had forgotten quite a bit, and I believe that it can be trusted to raise one's score, as long as one puts in the necessary time and effort into using the guide.
Rating:
Summary: not terrible
Review: well, if ur taking the sats the barron's can be really annoying- the word list is way too long firstly, but the math tests are definetly harder than the actual sats- so remember tht when u do them, but otherwise its pretty good, it explains everything very well but its really annoying to study for the sats anyway so good luck!!
Rating:
Summary: Works well in conjunction with 10 Real SATs
Review: Hey, just like to say that this is a top notch book, it's a bit harder than the real SATs, but in some ways that's good, cause it trains you for the harder level questions well. Works well if you get the 10 Real SATs book as well, cause you can see what real SATs are like at the same time. Best thing about the Barron's book is the overload of exercises, and the fact that they give you reasons for the correct answers(something that the 10Real SATs book doesn't.)
Rating: 
Summary: Thank You!
Review: I received a great grade on the SAT's, and i attribute all of this success to this learning tool. it is not just a book, it is an invaluable piece of learning information. If you don't get a good grade on the SAT's with this book, you should be very surprised.
Rating:
Summary: greatly improved my score
Review: When I first took the test, my score was 1250. After studying this book for a month and taking the test again, I got 1420. I improved my verbal score by 100 points and my math score by 70 points. But it is also important to read a lot in order to improve the verbal score. I studied a few hours a day.
Rating:
Summary: don't bother
Review: I wish I bought the 10 real SATs book or a book with a CD instead of Barrons. Although this book has good strategies and flashcards, I would not bother buying it...This book has practice tests, but the material they're testing you on is not what you will see on the SAT. It is somewhat different in the manner the questions are put and the material focused on. Therefore, do not get this book for practice objectives. The best part of this book is the flashcard section. But don't buy this because of that! You can find a better solution to a limited vocabulary...Bottom line is spend your money on something else!
Rating:
Summary: Very useful if you want to STUDY.
Review: I bought the 20th edition of this book, and I was not disappointed by it. This is the only book I used, and it took me about 1 month of moderate effort to work through, with the exception of the vocabulary (this was the trouble spot for me, since I'm not a native English speaker). The vocabulary certainly requires more time -- and spending 1 hour a day for 6 months will help more than spending 6 hours a day for 1 month. Positive: 1) It doesn't put the whole emphasis on test-taking tricks -- knowing the tactics is useful, but tactics alone will not get you very far. You need to actually solve the questions. 2) It contains sections where material is actually presented, and explained. It also contains explanations for all the tests. 3) It seemed to me to cover very well the real test, in terms of types of questions present. 4) The vocabulary is well-tuned, and contains just the words you'll see on the actual test. The cars are helpful. It is also helpful that the lists contained words which may not be considered difficult -- this is helpful for those with different levels of English. 6) The tips for solving math problems are not just plain-old "eliminate the answer choices", but real scientific ways of achieving results -- Very Useful. Negative: 1) There's very little information on how to obtain a scaled result from the number of questions right/wrong. Therefore, at first one can't say if the tests were more difficult, or less difficult than the real test. Only after getting the Q&A Collegeboard service, was I able to conclude (as if it mattered:) that Barron's is slightly more difficult than the real test. I'll say it again: Very Good Coverage of All the Test Areas. Teaches you how to solve the questions in a smart way, not to perform answer-sheet magic in a dumb way.
Rating:
Summary: very highly recommended. a life saver.
Review: i will let the results speak for themselves. before buying this book, i took the sat once and made a 1310. good but somewhat unimpressive to the schools i was applying to. after 2 weeks of flipping through this book, i went and took the sat again, and got a 1540! now thats a 230 point increase, with very minimal effort. i recommend it highly.
Rating: 
Summary: Large Book of Generic Test Taking Stratagies
Review: This book is basically simulated test questions. Most of the strategies are common sense or are covered by every other SAT prep book on the market. Small font is also a nuisance. I'd suggest looking to another company for a book for test tactics and ordering the 10 real SATs book for non-simulated problem review since many of these books use answer choices and question that the ETS would never use.
| 
