Cracking the SAT, 2004 Edition

Rating:
Summary: Princeton Cracking the SAT 2004 review
Review: There were parts of this book I found helpful, such as certain math tricks and the whole Joe Bloggs concept (basically, obvious answers on easy questions are right; obvious answers on hard questions are probably wrong).

I've used many books in my SAT prep: Kaplan, Priceton, 10 Real SATs, and Barrons. I would have to say that for me, Barrons and 10 Real SATs have been the most helpful. Priceton has techniques, but Barrons is way more comprehensive and has more problems, more vocabulary, more everything. You'll see that the pages of Princeton and Kaplan have lots of spaces, some with just a few lines (like the answers to drills), while with Barrons, the entire book is packed and each page looks like a newspaper. This should tell you which book has more content.

Maybe it seems like I'm doing advertising for Barrons, but I truly think it's the best book. But its practice tests are notorious for being harder than the real SAT. Also buy 10 Real SATs as there is no substitute for real tests. But realize that since it comes from the test makers, they won't give you frequent vocab lists or teach you shortcuts. Use it, but don't use it alone.

Well, that was basically my two cents. Hoped it helped someone.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely Helpful
Review: This is an excellent book if your weakness is not in English, nor Geometry, nor Algebra, but test-taking skills. While nothing can replace a solid grounding in English and math, this book is certainly helpful if you are scoring lower than you ought to on the SAT; you can be the judge of that.

The book takes you through the entire SAT, explaining many useful techniques for specific problems and pacing yourself. It is also good for improving scores on specific sections that give you difficulty.

The book is not meant to be humorous or to make SAT study fun, but it does help to put the SAT in perspective; it's not so difficult and frightening as all the hype surrounding it makes it seem.

Cracking the SAT can be an indispensible aid if you aren't good at taking tests, but if you really need to work on your knowledge of the subjects you should look elsewhere. Oh, and be sure to get 10 Real SATs for the practice.