Grammatix and Rocketreview....

Test Preparation
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<p>form a powerful combination! I just want to thank all at CC who recommend me these two books. My score rose from a mediocre 2100 (670V 740M 690W->68MC, Essay9) to an amazing 2260 (750V 750M 760W-> 78MC, Essay9) for the November testing (well not that amazing for some of you, but it's definitely awesome for me). </p>

<p>For those who feel that they can't seem to break the 700 barrier for verbal and/or writing, give Grammatix and RR a try. This IS my FIRST time I break the writing and verbal barriers, and I find myself sitting comfortably in the mid-700s for all three components!!! And consider this: I just bought these two books in early October, barely a month before my SAT. </p>

<p>Those who claim that the Gram and RR methods and techniques are ripped from Kaplan Barrons PrincetonReview etc: well this is actually quite true, but I wouldn't actually call it "ripped", but rather, "distilled". The books save you tons of time by sifting through bulky Barrons and dreary Kaplan FOR YOU, and they also include their own personal opinions which may be somewhat controversial. </p>

<p>Finally, work hard. The RR, Grammatix, the big blue book + official online tests are all you need. I hate to give advice to all you overachievers, and I hate to sound like a SAT pro, (which I am obviously not,) and I hate to share with all of you guys (who are my potential competitors for a place in HYPMS-WASP , and yes how gracious of me) what works rather well for me this time round. I have to admit that I am still NOT completely satisfied with my scores, and I think I can push it a little higher still, and I aim for a 2340+ the next retake. I am retaking in January 2006 since I figured I have enough money to spend and most schools accept January retests anyways. Gosh I'm turning into a true blue perfectionist-CCer. So I guess one good way to up-your-score is to read CC forum on a regular basis. Especially self-congratulatory posts like this one.</p>

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<p>i didn't find grammatix or rr very helpful for the writing mc.</p>

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<p>what exactly are those? grammatix and rocketreview? are they books? sorry, i'm not in the loop, clearly. anyone care to explain?</p>

<p>are they only for the verbal sections? I need help on critical reading only, since that's the only section i can't seem to bring up to speed (meaning, perfection!)</p>

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<p>I am hoping the combination will also help my s...........can you tell me how different are the tips given by grammatix and RR? We also got him Maximum SAT but I think this is not worth the 25 bucks, it's down to earth but for students trying to get from the 600's to >700, it's too basic.
Anybody has a feedback? </p>

<p>jimbob:Grammatix can be ordered thru their website: acethesat.com while RR is the newer book written by Adam <strong>?</strong> who used to write for the Princeton Review series....you can buy the new 05-06 or the 2005 ed (both come with a CD). Go to the compilation of posts on xiggi regarding SAT review.</p>

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<p>Those are very impressive scores. Improvement at that end of the scale is very difficult. Did you do practice one section at time or did you practice on all nine sections in one session. Did you do all eight tests in the blue book as well as all the ones on the CB online course? Did you just go over the stuff you got wrong or did you analyze all the questions including the ones that you answered correctly? Did you find the Rocket Review practice test helpful? </p>

<p>By the way, what is HYPMS-WASP.</p>

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<p>Do you think that these books will work for the ACT in like 2 weeks?</p>

<p>(Please say yes)</p>

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<p>HYPSM= Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT</p>

<p>WASP= ?</p>

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<p>White Anglo Saxon Protestant.</p>

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<p>W can also = wealthy</p>

<p>Yes, I recommend RR and consistent work from the blue book. Grammatix really isn't that great to me. Just talk to someone who's read it.</p>

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<p>White Anglo Saxon Protestant. === It's a rude remark referring to (usually) a wealthy protestant of pure northern European descention (The nordic countries, the british countries, and germany).</p>

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<p>"HYPMS-WASP"</p>

<p>There is a world beyond the best known universities. :)</p>

<p>W Williams
A Amherst
S Swarthmore
P Pomona</p>

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<p>Hello guys, Grammatix DID help my Writing MC. I do not know for the rest of the guys, but he has ONE powerful strategy (I can't reveal it wouldn't be fair to him) which helped me really quite a bit. (Hint: It has something to do with "-ing". Go ask around.) As you can see, my Writing MC went from a scaled 68 to a 78 in just a month's practice. I don't think RR is very useful for Writing MC though. </p>

<p>RR and Grammatix are not very different. They share many similar strategies and the similarities are what you should FOCUS on rather than the differences because that means those similar strategies are likely to WORK. Grammatix has unique CR strategies which is almost entirely ripped from Kaplan (from Kaplan's 2400 SAT). But the power of Gram's CR is that Gram distilled the CR strategies so perfectly it identifies the EXACT spot as to why people keeps screwing up CR TESTS after TESTS. Have you ever wondered this: Blue Book practice test #1 is SO DIFFERENT from practice #2, but why in the world did I make the SAME number of freaking mistake and get the SAME depressive score?!?!? SAT plays the same tricks EVERY time and Grammatix exposes those tricks!!! It is accurate and clinical in its analysis it's almost sinful to read it. Once you discover the real trick behind CR you'd think that those poor chaps who have not purchased Grammatix are so disadvantaged!!! But then again some people DID get the trick behind SAT CR either by reading barrons princetonreview kaplan or by analysing past SATs themselves. What I am saying I did it through Grammatix, and it works for me and many other CCers so I don't see why it cannot work for you if you pay enough attention to what the book says.</p>

<p>RR is excellent for math, especially the part about passing questions and returning back to it again. It really relieved lots of undue stress on me and I think it helped me focus on my other sections as well, which is critical to my overall score rise. I get 790-800 for ALL my blue book tests and official online tests so I was actually very disappointed with my 750. Hmm...but it wasn't so bad though so can't complain.</p>

<p>Northern: I practised a hell lot. For some people they just go into the SAT exam without prep and wham! They get 2300-2400 on their first sitting. Well these people are like people born with absolute pitch. They are irritating people who just have the gift for standardised tests. Freaking unfair geniuses who screw up the curve. If you're a normal kid like me, practise. Don't think you can get away without any. </p>

<p>First, I focused on doing CR sections SOLELY until I understood the 'trick' behind it. Then next to writing MC. I did not practise too much on math coz I felt I didn't need too much help on it. What I did was to dissect each blue book tests up and divided and conquered each section carefully. Everything I did was timed. I analysed both my RIGHT and WRONG answers (as suggested by our eminent Xiggi). Then I went on to FULL tests, 3:45 hrs (with the extra section) to build my stamina for the real thing. RR practice test is horrible. Don't waste your time on that. Just doing and analysing blue book tests and the online tests (if you are willing to splurge) is more than sufficient to keep you very very busy for a month or so. </p>

<p>I messed up my essay (would have gotted a perfect 800 for writing if not for my essay) and it's really entirely my fault. I cannot blame the books. The pathetic examples I gave were Disney's Aladdin and Chelsea football club. Not too academical, eh? I was actually trying to be funny and sarcastic that day. Those markers have absolutely no sense of humor. Don't bother with humor.</p>

<p>I am not an american, and I have never seen the ACT before. Can't comment. </p>

<p>IMHO, Gram is MY personal key to my 160 point jump. RR acts as a good sidekick for Gram, though Gram seems to rip off certain parts directly from RR. (remember the :) and :( faces?) In any case Gram was the VERY FIRST book that inspires me to believe that breaking the 700 barrier for CR and Writing was VERY VERY possible (notice PR, Barrons and Kaplan prep books don't give you that kind of assurance). This was my FIFTH try on my SAT (old sat 1280(600V, 680M), 1310(580V, 730M), 1410 (700V, 710M), (all taken two years back); new sat 2100, and finally 2260). This is the first time I hit a 750 for ANY section. Whatever they say about your score levelling off after your third try is STATISTICALLY true, but pure nonsensical.</p>

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<p>(Hint: It has something to do with "-ing". Go ask around.)</p>

<p>what page?</p>

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<p>I have a hard-time believing that all of these "tricks" of which people constantly blab about are anything more than common sense.</p>

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<p>Harvard, it IS common sense indeed. The best attributes of tips and strategies is that it forces you to ... practice. After all, how can you can check a tip without practice. Also realize that many, many students follow the study habits they have developed in middle and high school and try to apply that to the SAT. The problem is that the method of reading/memorizing does not work well at all on the SAT. Alas, some students spend too much time looking for the Holy Grail, buying more books, reading them, but cutting short on practice. </p>

<p>Not everyone will get a great score, but the best way to earn one is by practicing and practicing after realizing the SAT is different animal that needs to be respected.</p>

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<p>You certainly deserve a great score after that much work. How did you have that much time? It takes a lot of time to analyze all the questions. If you did 14 full tests and studied the questions all in one month, how did you find time for your regular school work?</p>

<p>I find it very difficult to understand the table of good and bad SAT patterns in the MC writing sections of Grammatix. The material that comes before the table is very clear with examples, but I wish Mike would give one example of each item in the table. Although RR is more verbose, I found the writing MC concepts easier to understand. I wish RR had fewer errors. RR has more errors that any other book I have seen.</p>

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<p>Yes both RR and Grammatix actually kinda sucked at Writing MC tips. To be really honest I did well for writing MC through sheer hard work. RR and grammatix gave me starting tips on what I should look out for. After I read them I started to analyse real SAT Writing MC questions all on my own, coz I found that I couldnt really rely on RR, Grammatix or Barrons. I suggest you depend on yourself for writing MC, and publish a good solid book after you aced it.</p>

<p>I did not do all 14 full tests. I did 8 full tests and 6 half tests. About 5 essays. I'm great at time management. And I virtually sacrificed my social life for a month. Not that I have many friends to start off with. I was both able and willing to make the sacrifice for the sake of SAT. If you find yourself unwilling to sacrifice some things for SAT practice, I suggest you don't. Take your SAT at a later date. Otherwise make do with as much practice as you possible can. Life is more than just a good SAT score.</p>

<p>Harvard2011: wow you must be one of those lucky geniuses I was talking about who screw up the SAT curve. You must realise that the ability to ace standardised tests is a gift. Not everyone is born with that 'common sense'. I know I didn't. Probably that's why you're Harvard-bound and I'm not. But then again God gave me other gifts so I'm not complaining. I had to make up for my lack of 'common sense' through hard work, and some costly abovementioned prep books.</p>

<p>neoprototypeazn: I so totally destroyed my grammatix after the Nov test. I thought it had already aided me as much as I wanted it to. well reread the writing part again. There is an "-ing" tip which I thought is particularly potent, and it is definitely not mentioned in Barrons and in RR. Do a search on your pdf file.</p>

<p>Actually, 2260 is only a mediocre good score, sorry to sound oxymoronic. It's not that fantastic a score. And I'm not proud of it, but rather relieved that I didn't screw up after all that prep work. What I wish to say in this post to all the HYPMS-WASP hopeful is that there is hope for those who erroneously feel that they have hit a deadend for CR and Writing. To you guys: don't settle for a mediocre 600+. There is no such thing as "levelling off after your third try."</p>

<p>Probably no more replies from me. I've got to prep for my december Sat II world history. I did not take AP world hist. And no bookstore in my entire country sells Barron's AP world history(believe me I searched high and low for that book, since CCers recommend that book in several threads). I'm feeding off Kaplan's SAT II world history. Anyone who thinks he or she can offer me advice please PM me. I'd appreciate that.</p>