<p>I heard the pr tests are harder than the real tests</p>
<p>The scores on Barron’s, PR, Kaplan, and any other similar tests have little to no relevance. All of them share the same defects: poorly written, not calibrated, and confusing.</p>
<p>With the availability of official material released by The College Board, there are no valid reasons to use any of those tests. At best, it is simply a waste a time. In reality, you will HURT your preparation.</p>
<p>^xiggi knows, trust me.</p>
<p>^And this guy knows that Xiggi knows, trust me too.</p>
<p>Although I am quite confused because my scores did improve by about 50 points after going through the Barron’s CR workbook…</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/68210-xiggis-sat-prep-advice.html?highlight=xiggi+SAT[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/68210-xiggis-sat-prep-advice.html?highlight=xiggi+SAT</a></p>
<p>Over 300,000 views. </p>
<p>@Mega–The Barron’s books for all test prep are notorious for being harder than the real thing. Really helped with AP test prep.</p>
<p>But lots of the high range scorers tell people only to use CB materials. I can clearly “feel” the difference between CB materials and PR + Kaplan when I solve problems. But for Barron’s, well I do feel the same, but my score does increase.</p>
<p>I have a 2340 superscore, M-790, CR-750, W-800. I only used CB materials to study for the SAT, namely the blue book. For vocab I used a Barron’s book, but that’s about all. It’s just a case of recognizing how the questions are structured once you’ve done a lot of practice questions, or at least that’s what worked for me.</p>
<p>I have only studied from Barron’s so far, and I skimmed through an actual test and I felt so confident regarding my math on every question. I feel after my Barron’s’ prep I will not find one math question that stands in the way from getting an 800.</p>
<p>So for me at least, Barrons does help.</p>
<p>Using the Barron’s and PR books as sources of strategies, methods, and tips is different from relying on their tests. </p>
<p>It’s a matter of sticking to what should help you. While the Blue Book is essential for its tests, it’s a given that the strategies are mostly lacking. When it comes to the PR books and others, it is the exact opposite. </p>
<p>Why not pick the best and most helpful sections of the source books and THE test book? All in all, acquiring a reasonable library of books and recognizing what is relevant to actual tests should be the easiest part of anyone’s preparation. Most of the source books on the market are pretty helpful (some less than others) but none of them has been able to match ETS’ tests.</p>
<p>^But what about Critical Reading?? I can pull up a reasonable score for math and writing so I don’t worry about those.</p>
<p>@Biggie_Smalls: You are amazing 
But what was your starting score for each of your section?? I am an Asian who started learning ABCs in 5th grade and started with a 400 for CR and writing. I am not sure whether I can pull up a 750+ for CR only with CB materials :(</p>
<p>What?? How come xiggi’s post appeared right now?? It wasn’t there when I posted mine, which was posted 10 min after???((#<em>&$@##@</em>$&@#@!(%!)?#@$!
(And my pointer was supposed to be at college92)</p>
<p>I agree: CB tests are definitely the best by far. But I still have plenty of CB tests left so I could prob. use Barron’s tests for a bit and see whether it really helps. (coz it did help me by 50 points, surprisingly) If it does, I’ll use BB2 and OC to check my performance and filter out the irrelevant information of the Barron’s tests. If it doesn’t, then well I’ll do what I am planning to do with the test books form Kaplan and PR. (Sell them on Amazon)</p>
<p>50 points isnt considered an improvement because it’s expected to fluctuate at least that much from test to test.</p>
<p>^Good point, but my score only go up or down by 10 points.</p>
<p>Oct: 600 -> Jan: 570 -> May: 690
This is my friend’s CR score. Would the jump from 570 to 690 considered as an improvement knowing that he scored 600 in October? He used the 23rd ed. of Barron’s and Barron’s 2400.</p>
<p>*fluctuate isntead of “go up or down”</p>
<p>my sat score was 200 points higher than any practice test I’ve ever taken</p>
<p>Sorry, What’s PR? Peterson’s??</p>
<p>Princeton Review, got it!</p>
<p>spectravoid, which tests? BB, PR, or all?</p>
<p>I personally feel PR tests help.</p>
<p>^For all sections? It really doesn’t in writing.</p>