Barron's How to Prepare for the Sat II Chemistry (6th ed)

Rating:
Summary: Not great but an o.k. book
Review: After taking a year of chemistry honors, I bought this book in order to prepare for the SAT II Chem. Since I haven't taken Chem AP, I had to cover some areas by myself that we didn't cover at school. I like the way how this book is organized. However, the explanations gave me a hard time understanding the material. Sometimes the book was unclear and contained too much stuff that was unnecessary. So, I wouldn't really recommend this book for its content. But one thing that's helpful about this book were its four practice tests. Actually those practice tests were little more difficult than the actual test. This allowed me to study the material thoroughly. I achieved a score higher than what I've expected and I think the practice tests contributed the most. (750 wasn't that bad after all!) This book can be helpful to you or it can be just a waste of money. So it's your decision!!!

Rating:
Summary: A Great Chem Prep, Not Just for the SATII's
Review: This book certainly prepares any student for the Chem SAT. It is an even greater help for Chemistry final exams. Although much of the content in the book is not necessary for the SAT II, it gives the student a better overall understanding of Chemistry principles. Also, I found many of the facts in the reviews to be repeated in the actual test, word for word, in question format.

Do not buy this book if you wish to "learn Chemistry" from it. Barron's implies many things and expects the student/reader to understand common Chemistry basics. If you are taking a fairly challenging Chemistry course, have strong mathematical abilities, and are using it as a "strong review," then this book is for you. Otherwise, I suggest Kaplan or Princeton Review.

P.S. Keep in mind that the scores you get on the Barron's practice/diagnostics tests will probably be 100-200 points lower than your score on the actual exam. Don't fret if you got a 500. You might just end up with a 750 or even an 800 on test day!

Rating:
Summary: Extraneous info...myriad typos
Review: This book has a lot of information in it, but the extraneous matter shifts your focus away from the important stuff that's actually covered on the test. The practice tests in the book in no way reflect the real ones. Worst of all, there are countless mistakes, typos, and missing answers. Don't buy this book.