<p>I haven't even taken the real thing (taking it this January), but I felt that these were some helpful review books</p>
<p>-Blue Book (College Board's official study guide)
-Rocket Review
-Barron's SAT 2400</p>
<p>I bought a whole bunch of others, but they were worth next to worthless:</p>
<p>-Princeton review 11 SAT practice tests
-Kaplan's 2400 <-- worst of all. DO NOT BUY THIS !
-Barron's New SAT </p>
<p>Please, if you know any other outstanding / crappy prep books, please post below to help others (including me) make their best prep choices while not purchasing really crappy prep books.</p>
<p>I find Princeton Review's 11 Practice tests the most helpful book of all. I also recommend Princeton Review's Smart Word I and II, as well as its How to Crack the SAT.</p>
<p>I got the Princeton Review's Cracking book and I found it pretty useless and the things it said were pretty obvious, to me, at least. Is the RocketReview any better? I mean, the mind behind both books is the same, so is it really different? I'll buy the 2400 Barron's book (since I'm ~2100 now, from the practice tests that I've done) and I wonder if I should also buy the RR book.</p>
<p>Barron's usually have tests that are slightly harder than the actual. Get the 'Official Collegeboard' Book if you can. Makes everything seem very easy lol so dont study from it, but I believe the tests are a good indication of the level of toughness you can expect. Be warned though, the official collegeboard books dont have answer explanations. You can order it online. </p>
<p>The best book to study from, IMO, is the Kaplan Writing and the Kaplan Critical Reading, for English. Yep, they're separate books, but they really explain well. For me, a teacher had them and taught me from them, and it really helps. They also have tons of excercises with answers. I got a 770 and 750 on my C.R, and all thanks to those books. My Writing MCQs were really good too, but for some reason I bombed on the essay. Which reminds me, if this is the first time you're doing it, be careful of the essay. Just stick to the basic facts and guidelines; they dont want a good story, they just want the proper 2-3 examples, suitably developed, with the right number of a paragraphs. </p>
<p>Blue Book (Official SAT Guide by College Board, with 8 real sat tests)
TestMasters (Complete Solutions and explanations to the 8 real tests)</p>
<p>You can have as many other books as you like, I suggest either Rocket Review or Barrons 2400, but get at least one other book of your choosing.</p>
<p>To use the two required books correctly, refer to the fairly obvious study method, dubbed, the Xiggi method. You can read it all here, post #575</p>
<p>Sometimes the testmasters book is available on Amazon.com but usually they are sold out.</p>
<p>Important -- Accept advice regarding the SAT and SAT preparation at your judgment, as long as it compliments the Xiggi method. The Xiggi method is far from complete.</p>
<p>However, DO NOT ACCEPT ADVICE THAT CONTRADICTS EITHER THE XIGGI METHOD OR THE USE OF THESE TWO BOOKS AS THE CENTER OF ANY SAT PREPARATION PROGRAM. The Xiggi method is incomplete, but what it has is perfect. Don't listen if someone argues otherwise.</p>
<p>Grubers is good
I just got RR, reading through it. Seems ok, but alot of it is basics.
The essay grader for rr is what made me buy rr in the first place. </p>
<p>And if u wanna study vocab then Barrons Hot word is AMAZING.</p>
<p>O and obviously, everyone should have the blue book ... the practice tests are worth the money. </p>
<p>So if you have the money/time get:
- Blue Book
- OPTIONAL: Solutions Manual for Blue Book
- Barrons Hot Words
- Gruber
- OPTIONAL: Rocket Review</p>
<p>If you dont have time:
- Barrons Hot Words
- Blue Book
- Grubers </p>
<p>Well it depends where u score. For example, my score range isnt amazingly high, but when i make mistakes i understand where im wrong. And for the VERY few times i dont understand how to solve it, I could use cc or just ask a friend. </p>
<p>Plus i have a tutor (lol) who explains me any problems which i miss, so yea, to answer ur question i was thinking from both perspectives.</p>
<p>Bottom Line = Get Solutions Manual (unless u have another source to help answer questions, like me.)</p>
<p>I LOVE Princeton Review's stuff. I did its 11 Practice tests, memorized its Word Smart I and II and got 650 on the CR and 710 on the Writing with perfect essay! Nonetheless, I agree that if I want a 700+, which I probably do, I will need Barron's 2400!</p>
<p>
[quote]
Well it depends where u score. For example, my score range isnt amazingly high, but when i make mistakes i understand where im wrong. And for the VERY few times i dont understand how to solve it, I could use cc or just ask a friend.</p>
<p>Plus i have a tutor (lol) who explains me any problems which i miss, so yea, to answer ur question i was thinking from both perspectives.</p>
<p>Bottom Line = Get Solutions Manual (unless u have another source to help answer questions, like me.)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Hah! Good reasoning. I suppose I just assumed that everyone did it themselves, like I am. If you have a tutor or ask CC for the solutions, that works too. Prolly easier to have the book as well though =-).</p>
<p>I like PR's 11 tests as well. It's not good for review since it's just tests, but I found them to be a good representation of the actual tests. It "thinks" similarly to the real SAT. Also, the "cracking the SAT" has good practice tests, but it's study material is pretty much common sense, and I didn't find it to help.</p>
<p>for writing, I recommend the **McGraw and Hill **book. Seriously, it gives you a comprehensive list of ALL possible errors that the SAT can pull on you. Except for idiomatic errors, which, unfortunately, you just have to know...</p>