<p>I am a rising junior, and a couple of months ago, I took the free SAT practice test offered by the College Board. I hadn't prepped for it at all, and I got a 2030 (720 CR, 650 M, 660 W). </p>
<p>I made no mistakes in the CR sections that tested vocabulary. My errors were mostly related to the passages. I think that simply taking more practice tests will help me improve this, so I don't think I will need any serious prep for CR.</p>
<p>On the math section, about two thirds of my mistakes were made due to the fact that I wasn't paying full attention to what I was doing. I also wasn't working fast enough, and there were about two-four questions that I had to leave blank at the end of each section. There were about three questions that I had no idea how to answer. </p>
<p>It was the essay that lowered my score for writing. I will definitely need to do a lot of practice essays. I made a few mistakes in the multiple choice, and I will need to brush up on some grammar rules. Some of my mistakes were due to inattention, though.</p>
<p>Which book do you think would be right for me? I want more practice in the CR passages and the essay. I think I will need to work the most on the math section. I want to become well-acquainted with typical SAT math questions, and I'm looking for a book that covers the basics while also leading into math that is more difficult than necessary for the actual test. </p>
<p>So, which book do you think is best for me? Barron's or Rocket Review?</p>
<p>Hmm. Thanks. I've been considering those two books specifically because they're apparently good for the SAT overall (good for each section, somewhat accurate practice tests, etc.). Also, I'm aiming for a 2300+.</p>
<p>Rocket Review is better hands down. People have said that Gruber's is very good for math, but Rocket Review is also very good. Rocket Review is also extremely good for CR passages and the essay. All around, it's by far the best prep book ever written. If you're at 2030, you can easily surpass 2300 if you follow all of its advice (and work your ass off for months, but that goes without saying).</p>
<p>Thanks for the input. I just did some more research about the Rocket Review book, and I'm still hesitant about it. I read that it is extremely lacking in practice questions and tests. I learn best by practicing, so this worries me about the book.</p>
<p>the best practice tests are the blue book tests and the online course by collegeboard. you should only take practice tests from other sources after you used up all the official tests.</p>
<p>get barrons I bought it but only read the cr and wrting but the math section seems very comprehensive. I think I am going to read it soon just to see what I missed out on.</p>
<p>rocker, those are some really really high scores for a first practice test...with some practice i say you could get 2250+, no joke
i say get barron's SAT book (awesome reviews in all three sections)
and if that's not enough for you, i suggest getting Barron's 2400
Barron's is by far the best test prep book brand I've ever used</p>
<p>rocker or anyone else for that matter, is that free SAT practice test offered by collegeboard in the blue book or the online course? or is it a completely different test</p>
<p>Thanks moviemania and StrangeIndianFoo. I've always heard great reviews for Barron's. At the moment, I think I'll either buy both books, or just Barron's.</p>
<p>ivyleage, the free SAT practice test can be found online on the CollegeBoard's website (you can find it here</a>). They also publish it in a free booklet that can be found at your guidance counselor's office. It's called The SAT Preparation Booklet 2007-2008.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help. I ended up buying the Barron's book. Though the math section is the one I need the most work on, I'm mathematically inclined, so I can handle Barron's. However, I can see why it would be difficult to use for many people. The math in the book is much trickier than the math on the actual SAT.</p>
<p>So far, I haven't looked through the other sections of the book very much. I really just looked through it a bit (I got it today) and I'm satisfied. At least for the moment.</p>
<p>How the heck did you get all the vocab/sentence completion correct on your first try rockermcr, you don't seem to utilize much difficult words in your post at all.. what the hell?</p>
<p>I've been an avid reader since I was about 8 years old. I have a large vocabulary because of this. </p>
<p>And, just for reference, the fact that a person doesn't use difficult words shouldn't imply that the person only understands simple language. </p>
<p>This was taken from George Orwell's essay Why I Write. It is a list of rules one should follow when writing an essay (or anything else, for that matter).</p>
<p>
[quote]
i. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. ii. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
iii. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
iv. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
v. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
vi. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
<p>Thanks for posting that excerpt! It made me laugh. Too often I see people writing highfalutin, turgid essays full of florid language and superfluous, bombastic vocabulary (I'll stop now, haha) and it makes me wonder: Did the thesaurus, or an actual person write this article?</p>
<p>But back to prep books:
I used RocketReview for the time between PSATs in October and my first SAT in May. I felt that I benefited most from the writing section, specifically the grammar review. The techniques for math are also very useful, but unfortunately I didn't use them very well and suffered a low score. As for CR, the tips are useful, but I did not see a huge improvement.</p>
<p>I'm going back over the math section in more detail over the summer so that I can hopefully do better in November. I would recommend RocketReview, though!</p>