<p>How accurate are the practice tests? Are they much harder then the actual test?</p>
<p>Also, I cant decide between E or M, I am good at both. Which one has a better curve and/or is easier (compared to the Barron's tests)? Thanks</p>
<p>As far as I know, none of the practice tests from any book are accurate, with the exception of the REAL SAT II BIOLOGY book. But that doesn't mean they won't help you.</p>
<p>E usually has an easier curve, but again depends on what you're good at.</p>
<p>I know they are not accurate.. but would you say they are easier or harder than the real test?</p>
<p>Half of Barron's is useless and will never appear on the SAT II. If you've already memorized the chapter listing every human disease possible, I pity you.</p>
<p>Barron's tests are easy, PR and Kaplan are hard. Sparknotes is probably close to the actual. However, of course, the Real SAT II: Subject Tests book is where it's at.</p>
<p>As for E and M... here my suggestion: when you first get the test, either mark E or M - whichever you want - on the front of the booklet (or wherever you have to indicate your choice). Get through the core in like 30 minutes (30 seconds/question). Then look over the questions for both E and M. Decide which one has easier questions and then go back to the front of the booklet and change your entry (if necessary). The difficulty between E and M varies considerably.</p>
<p>I think E tends to be harder (especially since M is so much easier to teach/learn), so the percentiles are better for E. However, the average score is also like 20 points lower.</p>
<p>dang... barron's seems pretty hard</p>
<p>do most of the ecology questions have experiments then q's on the experiments (format) or is that just the barrons?</p>
<p>I actually thought Barron's was harder than the actual test, more so than Kaplan and Sparknotes. I got a 720 on the Barron's practice test the night before the test but got a 790 on the test.</p>
<p>Well I skipped over the questions that I knew weren't relevant to the SAT II curriculum. In fact, if you look at the preface/introduction/whateverit'scalled, you'll see that the book is intended to prepare students for not only the SAT II, but also exams such as the New York Regents, so it has a lot of excess info.</p>
<p>In the end, therefore, Barron's actually has less detailed information than Kaplan.</p>
<p>(By the way, the irrelevant sections in Barron's are 6.1, 7.5, 8.3, 10.5, 11.1, 11.4, 12.2, and 12.3. I'd suggest reading through them, but don't worry about memorizing anything. Also, skip the questions relating to those sections on the practice tests. I did that and scored an 800. Then again, I primarily used Kaplan anyway. Oh, a general rule of thumb for Barron's is if it's not in Kaplan/PR/Sparknotes, it's not on the SAT II. But yeah, there are NO good practice tests out there for bio <em>sigh</em>.)</p>
<p>wow great information, thanks!</p>
<p>I actually skipped most of those sections b/c they were out of the ordinary.</p>
<p>Barrons is certainly harder. It was unbelivable.</p>