<p>The Writing scale in the CB's Official Guide was definitely skewed high. If you go by the scale from the official administration in March (and the consensus of those who took the May and June tests), the best guess is that you should knock about 40 points off your writing score from an Official Guide test if you want an accurate prediction of what you're likely to score on the real test. </p>
<p>Otherwise I'd say the tests in the blue book were dead on. There's definitely not a better source to use. Plus you should get a copy of the March test if you haven't already.</p>
<p>At some point, you should be able to order it directly from ETS. For now you'll need to find somebody who took it in March and ordered the "Question and Answer" service. Lest be stricken from this board, let me be clear that I am not advocating that anyone copy College Board copyrighted material. </p>
<p>But perhaps you can find a friend who will let you borrow it.</p>
<p>The October test will also be a "released" test. Be sure to order the Q&A service when you register.</p>
<p>The college board's official guide is and will always be the most accurate. Use them, don't sign-up to take the SAT in October if you haven't taken a full test under real conditions, or if you have, don't take the real deal until you're satisfied with the results. I think most first time SAT-ers are stupid to take the real deal just to see where they're at, when the practice tests in the blue book will tell you exactly that. Basically, don't waste money (or f*** up your perm. rec.) on taking the real test until you're satisfied by the results of your scores from the practice tests.</p>
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Otherwise I'd say the tests in the blue book were dead on.
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<p>I don't understand how they can be dead on if their scores at the end of the book range all the way up to 100 points (if by dead on you mean accuracy of what you're likely to get on the real test)!</p>
<p>Sorry to have been unclear. With "dead on" I was referring to everything EXCEPT the scaling (and the dearth of hard writing problems). I took all 12 College Board practice tests (the blue book and the online tests) before taking the official March and May tests, and I didn't see a single problem in March or May that looked unfamiliar. I've taken practice tests in other company's books too, and I can't say the same for them. For example, and as someone else noted earlier in this thread, the Princeton Review's book of practice tests had matrices problems. Uh, no, not on the SAT.</p>
<p>So I'm just saying there were no surprises in terms of content, topics, and level of difficulty. It's not a big deal that you can't count on the scaling of the tests in the blue book to be perfectly accurate. They'll project your score close enough (especially if you knock the Writing down a bit). I agree with Harvard2011 that you should know what to expect before sitting for the real thing.</p>
<p>2400SAT, I MUST know what you got on your SAT from the first time you took a blue book practice test to the time you took it in March and May. Tell me as much as you can about your experience taking the tests and give as much advice as you feel confortable. Did you take those tests section by section, or all at once like a real test?</p>
<p>PS - "I took all 12 College Board practice tests (the blue book and the online tests) before taking the official March and May tests, and I didn't see a single problem in March or May that looked unfamiliar" -- That line is so awesome to read.</p>
<p>For "The Official SAT" the score usually is a + and - of like 60, even 70 points for every subject....so how do you even find the exact score anyway?</p>