<p>bump!
come on people, you must know of good prep books that worked for you if you have taken the sat</p>
<p>i liked Kaplan's book, Barron's list was helpful, and ofcourse the Official Guide is a must</p>
<p>Don;t buy kaplan, at least the math IIC book. It has so many errors its not even funny, I feel bad for the kids who use it and don't catch the mistakes because it could really confuse them on the actual test. Thats my only experience with kap, so I expect its other books are similar. I didn't use anything for the SAT I, but I we will see after my scores come in if I need to prep again. I think I might try rocketreview...</p>
<p>i have A LOT of sat books, im mainly using them over summer, but for the march SAT, i used McGraw-Hill and Grammatix. McGraw-Hill takes a long time to complete, but in the end it worked out for me. I didn't even finish the book. From PSAT's (October), i really only studied the month before March SAT's, I skipped all the "concept reviews" in the book and did the practice SAT problems. I jumped 400 points from the PSAT. (about 1400 --> 1830), so I think the book helped. </p>
<p>Grammatix was good as well, I used it two nights before.</p>
<p>primitivefuture,</p>
<p>If you read my review carefully (and apparently, you have not), you will find that it's a balanced review -- listing both the good points and bad points. It's not that I was not "content" with the book. It's a pretty good book, and I said as much in my review, but so are a few other SAT books I've read. I pointed out the flaws in the book, and if the potential readers actually heed the criticism, they will get much more mileage out of the book and know where to supplement its shortcomings. Grammatix is a fairly comprehensive, although a little too condensed, book that provides solid strategies for dealing with the various sections, although it's not a perfect or complete book. If you're choosing, I would recommend RocketReview over Grammatix. The coverage of the math section in RocketReview is far superior to that in Grammatix (notice that I'm not saying you will not gain from reading the math section in Grammatix, just that you will likely improve much more in math with RocketReview). If you have the money, it would not hurt to buy both and take the best of both books. That was the message of my review.</p>
<p>I just skimmed it and thought it was nicely organized and helpful.
Did anyone find it good?</p>
<p>I've never used ARCO but have a friend who has and he said he didn't like it, although I'm not sure why.</p>
<p>It's not great - the questions are weaker than other prep books I've looked at (especially math questions!) Also, the format of the tests are different from the actual test. </p>
<p>Don't get ARCO - choose something like PR's 11 Practice Tests for the New SAT.</p>
<p>I bought the Official College Board Study Guide book. Do you guys think this book is good? What other books would you recommend?</p>
<p>Yeah it has definitely helped a lot of CCers
Other have said that Princeton Review isn't that good
Also, some have used Kaplan and Barron's and found it somewhat helpful</p>
<p>That has the best practice tests. I like Barron's Math work book for math.</p>
<p>Kraplan + matches make a great heat source</p>
<p>Barron's for math for sure
writing- probably grammatix at acethesat dot com</p>
<p>Thank you so much for answering my question!
I thought no one was going to answer it. Thanks again =]</p>
<p>Godot, since you decided to point to your prior review of the Grammatix book, and just told a fellow member that a careful reading of your review would show that the review was balanced, allow me to set the record straight. </p>
<p>Your review was neither objective nor balanced. Additionally, the author of Grammatix wrote lengthy posts in which he stated that the bulk of your criticism was unfounded and misleading. In presenting your views, you tend to walk the fine line between mixing opinions and facts. You are entitled to post your opinions, as well as defend them. However, I have not seen anything in your posts that could elevate your opinions -as educated as they may be- to the level of factual evidence. On the contrary, several of your opinions have been truly challenged or debunked on this forum, and for good reasons. For instance, despite mentioning several "blatant" errors in the Grammatix book, you have -so far- failed to describe any of them. </p>
<p>We agree on one thing: we recommend to purchase both books, despite their shortcomings. I have discussed the errors in RR in the past, and I maintain that some were unforgivable. So, why don't you prepare your list of errors in Grammatix while I dig out my list of errors and shortcomings in Adam Robinson's book. Let's set aside the issue of mere opinions and move to a more factual discussion. </p>
<p>This way we'll let the members of CC be the primary judges! I think that we all share the same objective: finding the best sources of help for CC members.</p>
<p>I dont want to be offensive or anything, but Xiggi's proposal can help future CCers.</p>
<p>Barron's is pretty awesome- I've looked at some others and it seems to be the best. To prep I used the Barrons math workbook for the new sat and barrons SAT II writing. both were great.</p>
<p>To frame the discussion, I am reposting my "review" of RR. Att that time, my opinion was that G-ix was a better option than RR. I am absolutely prepared to review my opinion after reading the factual evidence that Godot will post -at least that is my hope! In addition, I also will throw another book in the mix: this book -Maximum SAT- has been written by Peter Edwards who is none else than our very own PeteSAT. I found Peter's book extremely appealing and worth to be listed among the best SAT books. As usual, I recommend everyone who has the budget to acquire the book and "take it for a spin." I hope to find the time to write a bit more about what I liked, and eventually about the areas I'd like to see improved! </p>
<p>
[quote]
Allow me to shed some lights on the differences.</p>
<p>First, I truly believe that both authors are extremely passionate about their work. Adam Robinson is obviously more famous since he was one of the pioneers at Princeton Review.</p>
<p>Rather than discuss the background of the authors, let's focus on the books:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>RocketReview follows the usual pattern of Princeton Review and Kaplan. The book is targeting a mass audience. It is also obvious that it WAS IMPORTANT for RR to rush to the market and be on the shelves before the summer. Accordingly, the book is marred by typos and errors ... all facts that I find blatantly unacceptable. I really do not care if the author offers a mea culpa -and a list of corrections- on his website. The fact is that one should have the INTEGRITY to present a correct manuscript, especially one with publishers' resources.</p></li>
<li><p>Grammatix's guide was delayed until the SAT presented the format and contents by The College Board. The guide is thus correct and also polished and void of typos. It is shorter but more to the point.</p></li>
<li><p>Despite its greater length, RR is a more generic book. Not unlike most books of its type, it spends much more time on the math section than on the verbal sections. Many examples used by RR are .... dead wrong in their approach, or worse in their answer. Again, unacceptable!</p></li>
<li><p>RR is probably one of the best New SAT book presented by a publishing company. But, that does not amount to a whole lot. Swimming in a sea of mediocrity does not make you an Olympic swimmer. At least, RR recognizes that the best tests are TCB official tests. So, he gets a few points for integrity here. Compare that with the Kaplan, Barron's and Princeton Review that continue to push their worthless synthetic tests.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>My conclusion is that the Grammatix guide is much more effective, especially for the verbal sections. I will stick to my usual recommendations: buy as many books as you can. Read the examples and strategies in your journey to UNDERSTAND the test. As you work through the published tests (TCB only), go back and forth between books, and build your own list of "tricks". Please remember that I use the word "trick" in a non-pejorative way. Again, no book contains the Holy Grail of easy preparation. Most of them can contribute to your success. Grammatix does a better job than RR.</p>
<p>The development of the ability to recognize the patterns of the questions is crucial for doing well on the SAT. While some people possess the natural ability to do so without much effort, the majority of us need practice to reach our potential.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Xiggi,</p>
<p>Do you understand how difficult it is to rebut your claims with FACTS when I am forbidden by Mike to reveal any specific content in his book?? As you know, in my last major exchange with Mike, I was more than ready to answer his many detailed points, but the tone of his replies became increasingly hostile, so that turned me off from taking the enormous amount of time it would take to offer a detailed response.</p>
<p>I hope you can appreciate my difficulty here. Nonetheless, if you really want to, I am prepared to debate with you the merits and flaws of each book. I stand by my review, and Mike's responses, while informative and thoughtful, also misinterpreted (sometimes grossly) my words and inserted unwarranted assumptions about my views.</p>
<p>I can't tell you what the error is in the Grammatix guide; to do so might draw some ire from Mike (since it would be revealing too much).</p>
<p>The first thing I would like you to do, xiggi, is read my review and tell me where I am unduly harsh with my criticism. I would also like you to notice where I gave praise for the book when it was deserved. Hence, I think my review was "balanced." </p>
<p>I agree that RocketReview has many errors. (Read my review of the book on amazon.com, under Ulysses. You will see that I actually mentioned this fact in the review.) Grammatix may have fewer errors (keep in mind it's also a much shorter book), but that does not necessarily make it superior. I currently use RocketReview (among other books) with my students; they've had good success with it. (My students routinely raise their scores by 300 to 500 points on the new SAT in my courses.) I would love to see your list of errors in RR and compare it to my own, but, again, that should not be the primary indicator of quality.</p>
<p>I am more than happy and willing to defend my review of Grammatix. </p>
<p>Would you like to start, or do you want me to start?</p>
<p>A good book for Writing practice is either the big Barron's book or the Barron's Verbal Workbook. For a comprehensive discussion of the different Writing errors, you should turn to McGraw-Hill's SAT book. The Writing strategies in either RocketReview (which also contains a good list of the errors) or the Grammatix guide are fairly solid (except I would not heed some of the essay advice in Grammatix).</p>