<p>Has anyone else done the practice tests (I'm referring to the math part only) in the 2009 College Board's "Official SAT" book and found them pretty easy, only to find the actual test much harder? Also the Princeton Review math practice tests seem much harder (in their review book). Is it only me on this, or have others found this to be the case?</p>
<p>The official book should be the same difficulty as the actual test, and generally I feel this to be the case. Princeton Review is much harder, but the questions may not be like those you would see on the test.</p>
<p>Typically, the review books are at least a little bit harder than the actual test. So, it’s likely that College Board’s official book is more accurate.</p>
<p>Yes, I thought the BB math was a bit easier than the real test. After consistently getting 800s in the BB, I only got a 720 on my first SAT. I then used the two free online tests, and found them much more accurate, getting an 800 on my next testing.</p>
<p>For CR and W, though, BB is pretty much exactly the same. But the last couple problems in the math sections of the real test always seem more challenging than anything in the BB.</p>
<p>That depends… people tend to do better on practice tests because theres less stress… and EVERYONE SEEMS TO BE FORGETTING THE MOST IMPORTANT THING: when you take practice tests you put a circle around your answer, whereas on the test, you actually have to shade in the circle which takes exactly 5-10 seconds for me. Look at that as opposed to the one second it takes to circle the answer. haha. That is REALLY the only thing I hate about the SAT. On practice test, I finish each and every section with 2-6 minutes to spare, whereas on the actual test I finish right on time. See where i’m losing my minutes? anyone have a solution to this problem?</p>
<p>It helps to do the practice tests with the bubble sheets. You’ll get faster at filling them in. If you bubble in groups, it should only take 2-4 seconds for each bubble. Don’t try to make it perfect, just fill up the space.</p>
<p>As others have said, the “Official Guide” offers the most realistic practice for the SAT that’s available, hands down. The only warning I’d give is to be careful about trusting the score converters and the ranges they give. If you get two wrong on the math, your range is NOT 720-800…it’s almost certainly a 740-760. The Writing curve is the most unreliablethe scores it returns are typically 40-50 points too high.</p>
<p>I’ve always found the College Board blue book to be a pretty completely accurate representation of the real deal, although of course you have to factor in things like time, stress, the curve etc.</p>
<p>yeah. actual old tests are totally different from actual test.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for the replies, I appreciate it.</p>