<p>Hey there,</p>
<p>I'm taking the SAT II Writing test in January, but may I ask on what context did you guys get such a high score? From books, self study, etc..?</p>
<p>Please list all the aids in your posts. (Books, for instance.)</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Sparknotes is fantastic. I suggest buying both the review book and the book with five extra tests.</p>
<p>Sparknotes?</p>
<p>The one online?</p>
<p>LOL - I actually detested it just because of the online thing. Thanks dude, Will check it out.</p>
<p>Anyone else?</p>
<p>I used the PR book. It's good. And the practise tests are pretty accurate too.</p>
<p>barron's for essay, PR for MCs if you don't have time, barron's for MCs if you do.</p>
<p>Barron's is Hella huge, and boring from what I've heared..</p>
<p>No idea about PR, though.</p>
<p>Did any of you guys pull a 760+ using these books (and sparknotes)?</p>
<p>kaplan's book worked for me. i didn't look the essay section but i did a bunch of the MC sections a day before: you know, skimmed the explanations and then the practice sets w/in the chatpers.
Um.. the essay I just did straight expository five or four-par, dont remember:
just general intro, last sentence of first paragraph's your thesis, then you go from there. Conclusion rehashes.
The thing is I also read all the time so the grammar wasn't really a problem except for learning a few specific tricky rules. Same thing with the essay, I write.
Anyways, good luck if you're still planning to take it..</p>
<p>yeah, kaplan's mc review worked great for me too. I didn't practice the essay though.<br>
Oops, i shouldn't even be posting here. i only got a 790. Now i feel like such an outcast.</p>
<p>Hehe, tmgaus!</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses guys!</p>
<p>Seriously, did anyone get 760+ using Sparknotes?</p>
<p>I didn't use the online version of Sparknotes. I actually bought the books from barnes and noble. Helped me get an 800.</p>
<p>Thanks baobab!</p>
<p>The online version is exactly the same as the hardcopy version, but the fact that only one diagnostic test is included. Thus, the others should be brought from a local bookshop or so..</p>
<p>Thanks dude... I think I'll use Sparknotes for now, I don't feel like getting any more books..lol</p>
<p>Suprisingly, the most help I got was the 10 page review of the Writing Test in 22 Real SAT II's by the collegeboard. They had a nice chart of the different types of errors. Other than that, I looked over sparknotes online, and bought Kaplan and the 5 extra tests from sparknotes. You can also get one test free online through sparknotes.</p>
<p>^ I think I'll get the 22 Real SAT IIs book! Thanks sssran87!</p>
<p>-Real SAT IIs
-Official Guide to the SAT II: Subject Tests (an older book from Collegeboard)
-PR SAT II English (Writing portion, of course)
-Kaplan SAT II Writing
-11 Practice Tests for the New SAT, PR - Writing portions of practice tests
I also used the Barron's PSAT book and did the writing portions on all the practice tests.</p>
<p>For grammar, Strunk and White - The Elements of Style - is amazing. Simply amazing.</p>
<p>Um. Read a lot. </p>
<p>English is not my first language, nor even my second (Shanghai Chinese and Mandarin Chinese) and I spent most of the last 13 English-speaking years of my life reading. Vocabulary is essential, and so is understanding context. </p>
<p>I concur with lavender's "Strunk and White" recommendation--it is a good book to read for grammar, but you'll want to read it in the months ahead of the test, instead of the night before. </p>
<p>As always, Barron's is THE company you go to for SAT II prep. You'll have severe anxiety as you take the terribly difficult practice tests and you'll be in a fetal position bemoaning your scores of 500s and 600s when you're not studying, but you'll be prepared. When the practice tests are a lot harder than the real McCoy, you'll end up with a great score. </p>
<p>(This is from my experiences with the IIC book--I only did one practice test for Writing and got an 800 on the real thing. And always get a good night's sleep beforehand.) </p>
<p>Good luck!
-L.</p>
<p>I used PR. It wasn't of much help though. and my score isn't as high as anyone else's here: 710. the most important thing is, like tebro said, get a good night's sleep.</p>
<p>lol, you're not gonna wanna hear this, but I got an 800 and I didn't study...I just went with what sounded right...what sounds right is almost always right, lol :)</p>
<p>spanks, i did not want to hear that.</p>
<p>I figured...seriously though...just say it outloud in your head...it works</p>
<p>Sparknotes was great.</p>