<p>I just took the barrons diagnostic, and, oh horrors, i got a 27/50 (I skipped the other 23, i truly did not know how to do them). This was probably because i had never learned how to do a lot of that stuff, since i skipped 7 months of high school math back in freshman year, and it hasnt really come up since then. Things as basic as logs, etc. Should i take the test in May anyway, and start studying like crazy? Or put it off 'till June?</p>
<p>It's perfectly normal to fudge the diagnostic, or anyother test for that matter, in the Barron's IIC book. I got a 33/50 on their diagnostic and my highest was a 42/50 on the ten tests in their book, and got an 800 IIC. But if you don't know such basic stuff as logs, it may not be such a good idea to take it this year. If you're a junior, study Barron's diligently and actually learn the stuff and take it as soon as possible senior year. Don't cheat yourself and rush. This can be a pretty easy exam if you know the stuff inside out.</p>
<p>I remember last spring my son was barely getting through 30 out of 50 of the Barrons IIC practice test (and not getting all of them right) about 4 weeks before the test. The Barrons book is hard - most say harder than the real test. Keep taking the practice tests and you'll be all right. I think one of the test prep companies (Sparknotes I think) has an online IIC practice test (look through last year's discussion) which was closer to the real thing.
(My son ended up with a 780).</p>
<p>Put it off 'til June. </p>
<p>A few weeks (two and a half, or so) before my own IIC in December, I discovered that I needed seeeerious patching up. There were around ten or so questions that I couldn't do on every test, and the first diagnostic I took was terrible. I had under 30 questions done in an hour. </p>
<p>It took a looot of review and brief learning of new stuff (that my class didn't cover) to get it down to five or six questions and under time. If you've got over twenty, it's a) likely that there's considerable amounts of new material that you need to cover, and b) it's going to take an exponentially longer amount of time to patch things up. If you don't know logs down pat, you might be in trouble, especially with the other things.</p>
<p>Although, there are still two whole months. If you seriously commit yourself, it can be done, I guess. I couldn't say for sure. Use the Barron's book, but I'd also suggest the Sparknotes "Five More Tests" book, simply because it has...five more tests. Practice tests are the most useful aspect of preparation.</p>
<p>I was kinda in HELTAHIR's position. I never got quite so close in Barron's book, and the actual test was comparatively a breeze. I'm pretty sure I got several questions wrong (I skipped two), but I pulled an 800.</p>
<p>I'm not as a scared now that I took the exam from the college board Real SAT II's book and got significantly more questions right. Although I am still scared when you say that because I never learned logs i will flunk. Who knew that moving to the honors math class would cause such damage to my education? I've decided to take it in may, aiming for an 800.</p>
<p>I'm not saying that if you never learned logs you'll flunk. It's just that you need a solid background. If you've never learned anything about logs at all, it could be a stretch if you've got many other things to cover and review. It's definitely a good idea to familiarize yourself with logs, while you could skim over and get a rough idea of the miscellaneous topics (like polar functions and parametrics).</p>
<p>barons is 10 times harder than the sat II math IIC, sparknotes is a much more accurate representation of the test. i took baron and got a 650, and i got a 800 in juanuary on math IIC</p>
<p>Could someone tell me the full name of that Barron's Math IIC book? I wanted to go buy it, but I'm not exactly sure what to look for.</p>
<p>johnnypins -- if you got a 27 on the Barron's practice test, you will likely get an 800 in May if you continue to study dilgently, which you seem ready and willing to do. A 27 two months before the test with little studying is not bad for the Barron's book. Like others have said, go through the book and really learn the material. I would supplement the Barron's book with the Spark Notes -- a little dose of realism (by that, I mean closer to the difficulty of the test). </p>
<p>I would not recommend postponing your test. I really think you'll do fine.</p>
<p>galgrl24 -- it's just called Barron's Math IIC. Trust me, you'll know it when you see it!</p>
<p>i got 27-37 on barrons, then on the real thing i only got 780 :( i don't know where i went wrong, i got 790 and 800 on PR :(</p>
<p>Barron's How to Prepare fopr the SAT II Math IIC</p>