Best WORKBOOKS for each of the THREE SECTIONS!! [SAT]

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
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<p>Hey guys
My story is that I've been prepping for the SAT for the past 2 1/2 months, i wanna take it for the first real time in early November.
I need help with my Reading and Math the most, but my Writing could use some brushing up.
Reading is usually scored around 680, Math is around 680, and Writing is usually around a 710.</p>

<p>I've ALREADY completely gone through every single question on the Blue OFFICIAL CB Book and the one issued from 2006. I need more focused, individual help on each section to Bring me up through the final stretch to a solid 765-800 for each section.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I hear that Barron's math WB is crap, Grubers math is for idiots, and that McGraw hill may be useful..could anyone recommend a math workbook that can take me up through the last stretch up to a near-perfect math score? Keep in mind that i'm not THAT bad right now, but i could use improvement.</p></li>
<li><p>Is there an accurate Critical Reading Workbook that could also take me up to an 800. i'm willing to practice, i just gotta know that i'm doing questions that are similar to the official REal Collegeboard tests.
IS barrons any good for CR?</p></li>
<li><p>For writing, this is my best section, but I'd like to work on concepts and strategies.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>ANY REcommendations?</p>

<p>Thank you!! Thanks !
x
J</p>

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<p>You have vocabulary down? I’d just look for some good tips around here regarding the passage questions (which I HATE). If not vocabulary, I’d obviously suggest Direct Hits Volume 1 and 2.</p>

<p>I myself am trying to find more tips on the other sections, ESPECIALLY math… So a bump as well for ya!</p>

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<p>What I do is spend the day at the library/book store and read through all the books.
I have gone through BB, PR, McGraw hill, Kaplan, Gruber’s, and barron’s. Even the minor ones like REA, Rock the SAT, and some other books that I don’t remember.
I started with a 1450 in freshman year and brought it up to 2300+ in Junior year. I am still retaking it soon though, because my critical reading is lacking. </p>

<p>If you finished the BB, there are 3 free SAT tests on CB (look it up. I believe CC has a link somewhere).
Use Princeton Review’s 11 Tests ~ only a tiny bit harder and more accurate than other companies.
Kaplan’s 11 tests - this is good too but harder than PR
McGraw Hill’s 12 tests - I didn’t do many of these but CR is much harder.</p>

<p>I think that part of the problem is perhaps focus. You did too many tests in a short time. Try to space it out more. Do one section of the test every couple of days or so.
Also, you must review all of your answers even the right ones.
I use Practice tests for drilling too. Just work through one section and then look up the answers for that section and mark it up. Go outside and do something else and then, return and review the answers and why they are correct. </p>

<p>The truth is all the books are the same really. I basically read every book available in my area, and the tips and strategies are all the same. The questions are extremely similar.</p>

<p>Realize that ALL the other books are made to be harder than the actual exam, but I found myself to score at least 50+ on the actual exam than practice ones. </p>

<p>As for drilling, well, you could do it just with practice tests, but some of the more significant ones are:</p>

<p>For math,
I used McGraw Hill a month before and got 800 for a 750-770
you should probably consult someone else. Math was my only strong point, so I focused much more on reading and writing</p>

<p>For reading,
McGraw hill is useful but difficult.
Mastering the SAT critical reading test by Davenport - this book though not recognized really is difficult, but its drills are surprisingly effective.
Kaplan’s - 26 drilling sections ~ go have fun. I went through some of these and they appear to be helpful</p>

<p>For writing,
Barron’s - the explanation is comprehensive and the exercises scattered throughout and great too. I primarily used this along with practice tests.</p>

<p>Hope that helps and good luck!
Try some of the minor books too. I remember discovering many secrets in those but the titles of those books still escape my memory.</p>

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<p>wow man! thanks for the comprehensive answer
i already have the PR 11 tests and my scores are noticeably lower and I find that CR is not accurate, and stuff is harder for me than in the BB.</p>

<p>As for the Reading, u referred to the kaplan’s–26 drilling sections, what is that? is that just part of the kaplans critical reading workbook?</p>

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<p>Yes, I was referring to the number of sections. The Kaplan Critical Reading Workbook has 10 sentence completions, and 16 for reading passages for a total of 26.</p>

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<p>Wow thanks evenescent! Good thorough reply bud.</p>

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<p>How exactly is McGraw-Hill’s math tests in its 12 SAT test book compared to the actual SAT Math? I do HORRIBLY on those (perhaps b/c I’ve only done like 3 total math sections… but still). You have any suggestions to the problems that require a little more thinking? I.e. like those puzzle problems your old teachers would give for EC? </p>

<p>What exactly do you mean by reading’s hard? The passages seem pretty difficult for me, if that can be justified with harder passages in general…</p>

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<p>For concentrated study, these are the workbooks that worked best for me, getting me up 500+ points to a 2290 (with a lot of hard work & study).</p>

<p>Math: 5 SAT math practice tests, helps a lot with speed and accuracy</p>

<p>Reading: really, none of the workbooks are very good. i used copies of old PSATs (online at Amazon)</p>

<p>Writing: 5 SAT writing practice tests (most similar to real test) and 3 min. a day to increase your SAT essay score</p>

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<p>subscibe to oficial online course by collegeboard.(+10 tests,600+ questions)
great sourse of help but you need to print it.(laser printer)</p>

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<p><a href=“+10%20tests,600+%20questions”>quote</a>

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<p>Eh, more like 9 tests.</p>

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<p>At some point, I will make a detailed post of all the books I’ve seen and strategies. Maybe in a month or so. </p>

<p>McGraw Hill’s SAT Math (not the 12 tests) has a really good review section and good difficult problems. It is much harder than the regular SAT because the problems require more thinking. Normally I would have no trouble on the Official Guide, but sometimes 1-3 problems stump me consistently in these tests. </p>

<p>I always did the harder EC questions at school, which definitely helps; however, if you are going to take it in a month, it is much more helpful to just drill. Do you usually have trouble with MC or the fill-ins? </p>

<p>For critical reading, I noticed that McGraw Hill phrased the questions differently and harder to understand. They use less line references and more word references such as “Great Depression”, which requires more focus to solve. McGraw Hill also uses more inference and comparison questions than usually. Also, the vocab-in-context question uses uncommon words and are more difficult to decipher because it is usually embedded in a bunch of hard words.
Don’t get discouraged if your scores are low at first and just focus on why you chose the wrong answer and why the right answer is “right”.</p>