<p>IMO Barron’s is a waste of time. I tried doing a practice test from the book and just gave up half way through it. It was ridiculously hard and simply a waste of time. Sure, if you can do barron’s, you can probably get an 800. But I bet most people who get an 800 (myself included) do not need to waste their time with such difficult tests.</p>
<p>What helped me a lot in Math II was learning how to use my graphing calculator for solving systems of linear equations, intercepts, zeroes, etc.</p>
<p>As an IB Math HL student, I find that having learned some of the tricks that you can use with your calculator really help speed things up. I took the Barron’s practice test today and got a 710. The paper was really hard and I ended up missing out something like 8 questions because I haven’t covered the topics yet (generally stuff on probability).</p>
<p>Some of the explanations are pretty good, so it might help for some of the more difficult questions, but the real test is much easier. Does anyone know where I might be able to find some real past or practice tests other than from the blue math 2 book issued by collegeboard?</p>
<p>Also, could some people post what they scored in the Barron’s test vs. their actual score in the real test (without a large time lapse between taking the two tests)?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Wow, I feel so much different from everyone else. I actually like barron’s tests (did not think it was WAY too difficult, and I actually got a higher score on the diagnostic than my real score), and found that they were mostly error free. However, the review was riddled with errors, which was annoying and caused my to think everything I got wrong was a typo (and this was actually mostly true). This rubbed off on me on the real test, which wasn’t that bad at all. However, I could tell that I was not going to do well as soon as I turned to the first page and misread the second question…and took about 5 minutes trying to figure out why there could be three answers until I finally realized my mistake. </p>
<p>Overall, it prepares you very well if you do not use the review section. However, if you want a review of the material, use another book (McGraw Hill?).</p>
<p>A couple of my friends used Barrons and they said that it was way too hard for an SAT II Math test.</p>
<p>I’m using Barrons right now as preparation for the Math IIC exam in November. As a person, who never took Pre-Calculus, I found the stuff kind of hard at first. Eventually, though, I gained a better understanding of most of the concepts. There are still a few things I have to go over, but overall, I think Barron’s a really helpful thus far (I haven’t done the exams yet). The calculator settings and uses have really helped me, too. I previously, didn’t know about many of the functions that could have saved me a lot of time.</p>