<p>Hi all. Glad to have stumbled on this forum.<br>
I'm new, so forgive me if my thread topic is already covered and should be elsewhere.</p>
<p>My daughter just got back the scores for her first SAT. She did no prep course and did great in Reading Comp. and Writing. She'll probably want to bring up her math, though, although I consider it pretty decent (88%). </p>
<p>Wondering what the best help would be for her if she wants to work on this. Prep courses weren't around when I did the SAT back in the dark ages, so all this is new to me. </p>
<p>My impression of prep courses was that they're a sort of one-size-fits-all class, but I gather that's not necessarily so. Any advice on what sorts of prep courses are out there and how effective these can be for kids who are already doing pretty well and just want to do better?</p>
<p>I noticed a thread talking about a xiggy? method (pardon me if I've got the spelling wrong--I picture it as the cartoon character Ziggy!) which involved just doing lots of tests from the college board and then going over the answers. Makes a lot of sense--especially the bit about noting why the SAT thinks your correct answer was right, which might differ from why you think it should be right--but I wanted to check if people generally feel that's the best approach, particularly if the student is finding it hard to squeeze in the time. </p>
<p>Yeah, Xiggi method works wonders. If you want to focus on math, I’d couple the BB with Gruber’s for a more efficient approach, but other than that, you should be set.</p>
<p>Xiggi’s method is a definitely good approach.</p>
<p>I disagree about Gruber’s though. Gruber’s contains much more materials than you need. Trying to go through Gruber’s for Math would just make you do more work than you need. Stick with CB problems, and learn how to do each problem.</p>
<p>Ohhh. Just saw a reference to the College Board “blue book” in comments on Amazon – so I take it BB refers to the official prep books put out by the college board.? </p>
<p>Here’s another question, though: if daughter is taking SAT II Math 2 next week, would the CB prep for Math 2 work equally well for the regular SAT math section? (That is, is there any chance it could do double duty? I’m thinking probably not. She’s been using other materials to prep for the Math 2 and would probably only be able to squeeze in one or at the most 2 tests from the book before the exam. But I believe the substance of Math 2 would be different from the regular SAT math section.)</p>
<p>Her best bet is to study SAT Math. If she would like to try to tackle some of the harder problems, practice the Math I exam. From my experience, the common questions on Math I are the same level as the Hards on SAT Math. </p>
<p>I scored a 640 on SAT Math with very little prep. I scored a 610 on Math I with prep.</p>
<p>Thanks. So if the “BB” for Math subject includes both Math 1 and Math 2, then review of Math 1 might help for the regular SAT math? (She’s in pre-calc right now and so will be doing the Math 2 exam next Saturday. She’ll have the summer to go over any regular math she’d forgotten for the first SAT.)</p>
<p>To start off, considering this is -very- confusing, there are three “tests levels” of Math:</p>
<p>SAT Math – The math you see on the SAT Reasoning Test.
Math I – A higher level math. Requires much more thought. Basically, the Hards on the SAT Math appear commonly here.
Math II - Not on scale with the others. It’s conceptually different. You don’t need to think super hard about some problems, you need to know and understand and ultimately implement the concept. </p>
<p>Collegeboard’s official book: The Bluebook (“BB”) does not cover Math I or Math II. It simply covers SAT Math. It’s great review for what you will see on the SAT Reasoning Test. </p>
<p>On a side note – Collegeboard does not have an official book for Math I or Math II. Since your daughter is taking Math II, I would suggest buying the Barrons Math II book. Barrons is harder than the real Math II test, but it helps a lot. Students who score a 650 on Barrons’ practice tests generally see scores in the high 700s and even 800s on the actual Math II exam. </p>
<p>Generally – kids who take Math II are or have taken a Calculus class. </p>
<hr>
<p>For your daughter, I would suggest studying the BB Math sections extensively. Make sure she nails all of the easy and medium questions and most of the hard questions. This will ensure her a score in the 600s. If she would like to go out of her way, she can also try to tackle some harder math problems – take a few Math I practice exams. After studying for that exam, I, personally, feel as if the SAT Math hard questions are easier.</p>
<p>My Math score was not good at all (640) for SAT I, So I took SAT II and then returned to SAT I again.</p>
<p>I got 680 Math I Subject Test and when I returned with no studying at all I got 680 which is pretty ok for me as an international student.</p>
<p>But I totally agree that taking SAT Math Subject Strategies helps so much in acing the SAT I Math. </p>
<p>Most of my Friends are doing it and they got much higher than me.</p>
<p>Another thing about the BB. The BB is not enough for practicing. My advice to you is to let your daughter practice each and every book available if possible. If Money is a problem. Download them From the Internet. So easy.</p>
<p>If you want them I will send it to you anytime. I have lots of SAT ebooks.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone. So good to get all this input!
Daughter did get over 650 on the regular math of the SAT, but as she’s going into the sciences (and comes from a high school where high grades are the norm) she’d like to pull that up.
As for the math 2, she’s in an advanced pre-calculus class right now and has been reviewing some calculus books recommended by her teacher.<br>
Thanks so much for the suggestions re Barrons and online resource. Will check into these.</p>
<p>For Math II, buy Princeton Review’s book and do some problems there. I love math to start off with but reviewing this book helped me to get 800. =)</p>
<p>When I say use Gruber’s, I don’t mean to study out of it. You should use it as a reference book to figure out how to do problems out of the BB. Seeing as the BB doesn’t come with answer explanations, looking problems up in Gruber’s is really the way to go, as it includes just about every topic on the SAT. Helped me get an 800 ;)</p>
<p>Katelin, I’m sorry if this is rude, but might I ask what your daughter got on the math section of the SAT? Because I got a 660 and I’m in a similar problem - I’m really hoping to bring it up to at least a 700 on the June SAT.</p>
<p>Whoever said something about people taking Math II having calculus is wrong - Math II only covers material through precalculus, so it is recommended that you take it right after having completed precalc.</p>
<p>No one ever said that Math II has calc. I said that most kids taking Math II have completed a calc course. </p>
<p>As for the whole precalc thing – I’m in there with a solid A average – had a A+ a quarter ago – and I don’t think I could /finish/ the exam. Sure, I could take it and without a time limit, get through all 50 problems. But it’d a bit of a struggle to actually go through it timed. But that very well may just be me. :)</p>
Just saw a reference to the College Board “blue book” in comments on Amazon – so I take it BB refers to the official prep books put out by the college board.? </p>