How to Prepare for the New SAT (Barron's How to Prepare for the Sat I (Book Only))

Rating:
Summary: Barron's AP SAT yuck.
Review: Hey stressed out teens,

A little advice from a college senior in engineering...I used this book (previous edition) back in 2000-2001 to boost my 1190, and ended up just with another 1190, even the same subscores! What I then did was get a Kaplan SAT math, and then took AP English Literature. At the end of that year, got a 1360 (Math 690, English 670). What was the difference? The added reading, but most importantly, strategy. I focused on my weaknesses (at the time Math), and did the following...If you want a higher score all you need to do is this...

DO NOT GUESS.
The first two tries i skipped 8 math and a bunch verbal and look where it got me. Then, I did all math questions (guessed on the one's i didn't know), and skipped only 4 verbal. Basically, there is an inverse proportionality between risk and reward: NO GUTS ("EDUCATED" guesses), NO GLORY (HIGHER SCORES)
KAPLAN RULZ

Rating:
Summary: The best of the SAT-prep book crop
Review: I looked at the Princeton Review and Kaplan books, but ended up using this one instead. It doesn't appear any larger on the outside, in terms of book size and paper weight, but there's about three times as much material here as in the Kaplan book. With more practice tests, more extensive discussion and review of math concepts and more vocabulary words and flashcards, this book gives you far and away the most value for your money. After taking the practice tests in this book, and in 10 Real SATs, I got a 1520 on the actual test (V: 800, M: 720). I'm taking the test again this fall, and I'm going to try for that 800 on the math section. This book will certainly be the cornerstone of my continued studies for the test.

The only circumstance under which I would recommend primarily using the Kaplan book instead is if you are scoring below 1100 on your initial practice tests... In this case, the Kaplan book will probably help you more, as it covers some general strategies that will help you get your score up into the 1300 range, strategies which this book neglects in favor of more sophisticated material.

As always, you'll only get as much out of it as you put in: so use the book regularly, supplement it with outside reading if you have trouble with the verbal section and with extensive problem solving if you have trouble with the math section. But that said, this book provides an excellent foundation for your studies and I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: 5 stars are not enough! :)
Review: Well, Well, Well. This is definitely a "must-have" for anyone who wants to take the SAT and hasn't got a 1600 for the first time. I must admit that I was skeptical that any book could help me prepare for the verbal or math section, but after following all the guidelines in "How to prepare...", I reconsidered my thoughts. I am not a native English speaker, that is why it is hard for me to learn words like "arroyo", but after some practice I found out that studying can be fun and it was largely due to my determination and this book's tips that I almost finished learning them all. I said almost since, apparently, 3 moths allocated to SAT weren't enough - this is where I come to an advice to you, all those wanting to take this test - plan much ahead! I've studied math at a high level, and even now I am majoring in Applied mathematics, but I hadn't even thought about the great tips&tricks I found in this book - "plug-in numbers" is a phrase I will certainly remember for all of my life, and it is a tactic that I've also used in my recently taken test. I won't brag about my scores - I don't know them yet (I've taken the test on the 4th of November). And I don't want to make any assumptions since I've learned that SAT is as unpredictable as an earthquake. There's one thing I can say - this book's tests were harder than the real thing, and they were really helpful! Thank you Sharon Weiner-Green Ira Wolf for such a marvelous job!