<p>Hi everyone. I am a rising sophomore and am self-studying precalc this summer in hopes of making it to Calc next year (AB or BC, not sure which yet) I consider myself to be a pretty strong math student (at least compared to everyone at my school - I took two honors math classes last year and wound up with >100% in both) and am understanding everything in precalc so far. My question is: How will self-studying precalc instead of taking it in a class with a live teacher impact my SAT II Math 2 score? (I plan on taking Math 2 sometime next year, most likely towards the end of the year, in May or June. Hoping for 800.) </p>
<p>Also, since I am new to the whole SAT thing, what prep books are best, and how much should I study based on the info above.</p>
<p>Thanks :D</p>
<p>as long as you get a good understanding of precalc it shouldn’t matter whether it was self-studied or taught in school</p>
<p>you’ll be fine as long as you review the materials and take some practice tests. I took the exam this june and scored an 800. i recommend using pr’s math II guide but only skim the review sections (it’s TOO long >_<)</p>
<p>Pre-calc really isn’t focused at all on the math II, although there’s some very basic stuff on radians and the sort. Mostly focus on algebra to get a good score :]</p>
<p>Dude, we are in such the same boat! I was in Pre-Calc this past year as a junior (it sounds like our schools’ curricula are set up differently; even being in Pre-Calc is seen as impressive), and I wanted to take Calc III as a senior rather than basic Calc (believe me, I know what an ordeal skipping a class sounds like, and I’ve been preparing). Anyway, you’ll be fine as long as you’re good with circle trig (I can’t believe I can’t think of a better name for it - basically I mean that I’m not talking about right-triangle stuff) and advanced algebra. I mean, take a couple of practice tests to be sure, but you should be fine. Also, I’ve heard that there’s a sizeable curve, but don’t quote me on that (no pun intended).</p>
<p>The way the SAT math II works is, if you’re good at math up to pre-calculus level (including logarithms, trig, etc. which you should know before calculus), you should get an 800. Be very careful not to make silly mistakes either.</p>
<p>I know a friend who completely skipped pre-calc and still got 800 on math II, 5’s on all his AP math exams, and qualified for AIME.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your thoughts.</p>
<p>I am planning to get the CollegeBoard review book as well as Barron’s. Will these be sufficient? Any other recommendations? Thanks :)</p>
<p>bumppppp… anyone??</p>
<p>You probably don’t need two review books, especially since you only need to learn/review pre-calc topics and introductory statistics. Maybe take a practice test or go to the CollegeBoard’s website to find sample questions.</p>