How accurate are practice tests in terms of difficulty?

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>I have heard that Barron is the harder and Princeton Review is easier. In your opinion is this true? What about other practice tests (Kaplan, Sparknotes, etc.)?</p>

2

<p>I corroborate that opinion: Barron’s is harder (some questions you’ll never see that hard on the real exam) and PR is easier (although to me, their questions more closely match the exam).</p>

3

<p>None of the practice books listed above are that representative of the exam itself. Given how important familiarization is to the actual test, I would not bother with practice tests that are not created by the College Board.</p>

4

<p>mifune,</p>

<p>I finished BB edition 2 and am almost half way through the 9 collegeboard online course tests. What should be my course of action afterwards? I’m taking it in January and have been doing tests like there’s no tomorrow over this break. If I don’t get above a 2300 in January, I’ll probably retake it later. What should I do?</p>

5

<p>DD thought Princeton’s review was harder than the actual tests and picked that one for her little brother to review.</p>

6

<p>the first 3 tests in the new edition of the Blue book are actual released exams. ( May 07, Oct 06, and Jan 2007) So those are obviously exact representations of the test. The other practice tests in the book are not true exams BUT they do contain actual questions from ETS. You can also do the online practice tests from 2007 and 2009, which are also released tests. Those are the best 5 to do.</p>

7

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<p>I would actually suggest that you review the CB material even after it is exhausted rather than seeking additional preparation elsewhere. For CR, there is the argument that you will have some implicit memory of the passages, but continue to expose yourself to official practice tests. As for supplementary materials, invest in Rocket Review and Direct Hits to better your vocabulary and grammar skills. (Many successful test-takers put in good word for them although I personally am not familiar with their exact contents.) Reading expository writing and opinion sections of the newspaper may also help since the more you read, the faster and more efficient you become like nearly any other skill.</p>