<p>I'm thinking about getting the book to prepare for the AMC 12, but it's pretty expensive and I would be more sold on it if it had other benefits. Does it help at all with improving on SAT Math? Is it even relevant to SAT questions?</p>
<p>I would say that the SAT is generally more straighforward than math competition problems, which is what this book is aimed at. If you genuinely want to prep for SAT math without wasting time on problems that aren’t the type typically asked on the SAT, I would say you are better off purchasing the Gruber math preparation books for the SAT.</p>
<p>Improving your problem solving skills and working on challenging math problems will increase your level of mathematical maturity. An increase in mathematical maturity will increase your potential SAT math score. This is a very good thing. That said, note that this does NOT increase your actual SAT score. </p>
<p>As a simple example, a student currently scoring 400 in SAT math may have a potential SAT math score of 650. That means if they prepare for the SAT in a smart and efficient way they can attain about a 650 on test day (this is just an example - every student is different). The student will never be able to attain higher than a 650 without increasing their level of mathematical maturity. </p>
<p>If this student were to work on difficult math problems for several months consistently (such as AMC type problems), they may increase their potential score to 700 (or even higher). But without preparing for the SAT their actual score will still be 400.</p>
<p>The point of this is make sure that you are primarily preparing for the SAT. But if you are willing to put in some extra time to work on difficult problems (for example, the challenge problems from my “Challenge Problems” thread on this forum), then you should absolutely do this. Together with good SAT prep, there will be a positive effect on your overall SAT math score.</p>
<p>I always give my students that are going for an 800 some additional challenge problems to make sure that they continue to improve their level of mathematical maturity.</p>
<p>DrSteve pretty much hit the nail on its head on this one. I can’t think of a way to phrase how Art of Problem Solving Volume 1 could help you better.</p>
<p>I scored 800 on SAT Math with just prior AMC12/AIME experience, so yes it is possible.</p>
<p>Note that the OP’s main intent is to prepare for the AMC’s, not prepare for the SAT by doing AMC problems. However, I feel that doing AMC problems will help you become faster at the harder SAT problems (since there is a bit of overlap between the two in difficulty). However it may still be a good idea to take one or two practice SAT tests just to get familiar with it.</p>