<p>I heard that you are only supposed to do the practice tests in the big blue book and not read any of the guides because they are quite bad. Do you guys agree with this? Thanks.</p>
<p>I strongly recommend that you follow this advice. You should have a copy of the blue book and use it for practice tests. Do not use it for test taking tips.</p>
<p>The BB’s test-taking tips definitely aren’t the best. Use it primarily (if not solely) for practice questions.</p>
<p>bump, I would just like to make sure by getting a third opinion ;]</p>
<p>I would be extremely wary of test advice from a test maker. It’d be like taking advice on whether or not to speed from a traffic cop, he NEEDS you to do the wrong thing (like the CB needs some people to do bad to maintain test validity), so there will probably be some misinformation.</p>
<p>^I don’t know if that sounds right… they still want you to do as well as you possibly can. </p>
<p>I didn’t think it hurt to read through the tips and stuff, but practicing and getting to know the test for yourself is the best way to learn how to take the test. If you’re pressed for time, don’t bother with the first half the BB that is not practice tests, but if you have plenty of time I don’t see why not.</p>
<p>It’s not bad advice, it’s just that the Blue Book is conservative in what it tells you. </p>
<p>If you ever read the Princeton SAT book, you’ll know about Joe Bloggs. Joe Bloggs is the man. He has helped me answer dozens of questions I would have otherwise missed :). </p>
<p>The Blue Book doesn’t talk about Joe Bloggs, which is understandable, as it is sort of a “hack” for the SAT. I wouldn’t expect Microsoft to publish hacks for Windows.</p>
<p>Use Princeton Review for actual tips; Princeton Review and McGraw Hill’s Hit Parade for the words, and the Blue Book only for practice tests. remember to be conservative with those tests there are only 10. Use PR’s 10 tests (the 11th in PR is a PSAT test, which I sorrowfully discovered the day before the June 4th SAT).</p>
<p>Use Barron’s to teach you the math. But Blue for tests. Better yet get the Online course. My kid’s score went up 140 pts. In just a few months using their online tests, which prints out a diagnostic breakdown of areas you need to work on. If you buy the course you have it for a year and get a discount on their book. But use Barron’s to teach you on what you’re getting wrong.</p>
<p>DO NOT study from blue book! The info is ineffective and their tips are bad. Barrons/PR gives solid info.</p>
<p>You should practice with Barron or PrincetonReview books, but you have to study the Blue book and the official online course carefully, because the official practices are always closer to real tests. In China, people always uses the copies of real tests to improve their score, and it really worked</p>