<p>Okay, no one jump on me for starting this, but I felt that none of the existing threads address this issue.</p>
<p>I think many other people have had this problem, but it seems that the Princeton Review's test is harder than actual tests. For example, where I would normally score a 35 on the ACT on a real ACT exam, I would always score a 32 on a PR exam. Likewise, I score 2350 on the real SAT while I only score 2200 on the PR exam. Is this because their test is harder or because their test is written badly?</p>
<p>On to the ACT. I've had personal experience where a Math answer was supposed to be -12/5 (like I KNOW), but the only answer choice that came close was -5/12 (which ended up being "right"). Also, I've had problems with really ambiguous answers in the English section, and answers that just don't make sense in the Science section of the ACT, even with their "explanations" (which I feel really aren't explanations for the right answer at all, simply explanations for the wrong answer).</p>
<p>Anyone else feel my pain? Thoughts on their review program? Better books that you think are out there?</p>
<p>Yeah, I kind of agree. I usually score higher on the Collegeboard practice test than on the PR ones…I think Princeton just wants to prep you by presenting ‘more difficult’ material. Also, in the PR 11 Practice test there are grammatical, typo, and other such mistakes…</p>
<p>Really? I hope that is the case next time.
I’ve always thought the Princeton Review was a lot easier than the actual test…I did poorly on the actual one verses the Princeton Review ones. :(</p>
<p>somehow I find the Princeton SAT CR sections are harder than OG and the real test. Well not exactly harder, but the logic is a little different. </p>
<p>Don’t know if there are anyone else who have encountered my situation…</p>
<p>Jumper101, maybe you had a bad test day. The Princeton Review (in my opinion) enjoys throwing in extremely hard concepts just to throw you off guard, or they may even go out of their way to trick you. In a way, I think it’s good because it’s like training to fight a dog by fighting a wolf.</p>
<p>i completely agree with this thread. for some reason, i seem to be more comfortable with the CC book. I make a tad more errors in the Princeton book, but I guess if its said to be harder, it would be good prep.</p>
<p>Im taking the January 23 SAT for my first time. Any comparisons on the actual with the CC book or Princeton? like levels of difficulty, similar styles…?</p>
<p>There were a ton of typos in the Princeton Review books that I used too. In the end, Barron’s ACT 36 helped me a lot more than Princeton’s 1296 ACT Questions.</p>
<p>i haven’t tried practice tests from the blue book yet. i’ll be doing them from tomorrow onwards.
i’ve done practice tests from the princeton review so far, so i cant compare between the two.
are you guys sure the blue book’s standard matches accurately with the actual SAT? is it easier than the princeton review?</p>
<p>Wait, what’s the blue book? Is it College Board’s official SAT guide? It’s not necessarily “easier” but the correct answer is easier to spot (in my opinion). I would use the college board’s study guide for the SAT.</p>
<p>The Princeton Review does a good job in regards to modeling the style of actual questions. In my opinion, yes, it is harder and is much easier to make “stupid” mistakes. If you’re taking the SAT, definitely use CollegeBoard’s prep book: it contains 10 REAL tests from the test makers. Use PR only if you want more practice.</p>
<p>As for the ACT, use the Princeton Review… (because ACT only publishes 3 of their real tests). I’ve found that Barron’s does an even worse job than PR. (I’ve never used ACT 36 though, maybe Skywalker can enlighten us more. What does this book contain?)</p>
<p>In my experience (as a parent), PR is pretty close. It’s problem, like all of the other publishers, is that it has typos/mistakes that the Real thing does not have. </p>
<p>wrt SAT: PR is pretty good.</p>
<p>wrt ACT: the issue, IMO, is that the ACT is not as consistent from test to test as is the SAT. For example, one of the the science tests appears much easier than the other two (in the Red book). Thus, it’s not surprising to find a variance between the Red book and PR. IMO, there is a variance within the Red Book itself.</p>
<p>For math & science practice, I think Barrons is best for kids desiring high scores.</p>
<p>^^Barrons is difficult, yes, which is why I added the point about students who wanted “high scores”. If you are aiming for a 32+, it’s waste of time to practice with easy problems.</p>