<p>For me, i’d say it is (according to their techniques/strategies/tricks/mehtods):</p>
<li>princeton review</li>
<li>kaplan</li>
<li>barrons</li>
<li>Official “college board” prep book</li>
</ol>
<p>PR is #1 because at least they attempt to rank schools for you in a variety of different areas. Also the College Prowl'r Guide is good to for student opinions.</p>
<p>I think chanman means for test prep alpha</p>
<p>I would say 1.Barrons, 2. PR, 3. Kaplans, 4. CB</p>
<p>is grubers any good?</p>
<p>It depends on your general scores. If you first take the SAT and you're already close to 700, then it is...
1. CB
2. Barrons
3. Kaplan
4. Princeton Review</p>
<p>If you're well below 700, then I'd say...
1. Princeton Review
2. Kaplan
3. Barrons
4. CB</p>
<p>I agree fully with aignam. I was already pretty close to 700 (old SAT) and I took a stupid KAplan course. Waste of money, you know. They're made for people with almost no experience with the SAT. I'm not saying that they're bad, but I think they're geared towards presenting tricks to solve easy-hard problems. CB and Barron's give good practice problems.</p>
<ol>
<li>Barrons</li>
<li>Grubers</li>
<li>CB</li>
<li>Kaplan</li>
<li>Princeton Review (too easy)</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>CB</li>
<li>Grubers</li>
<li>Princeton Review</li>
<li>Kaplan</li>
<li>Barrons (the book smells funny and I always get a headache when I study from it). Also, dense format and inconsistent font which is frustrating.</li>
</ol>
<p>Are some better than others for specific subjects/people? Like is Barron's better for those who are planning on self-study (SATII)? Or is that just a waste of time cuz they go too in-depth? Can you guys go a little more in-depth on why you (dis)like each book?</p>
<p>Personally, I'm using PR for SAT. I used Kaplan for ACT. Kaplan was nice... I scored higher on the sections I reviewed than on the sections I didn't. I'm not sure if that was coincidence or not. PR's diagnostics are currently driving me insane, but it motivates me to study like hell.</p>
<p>ok basically if you're above 700's already you want CB for practice tests (especially verbal and writing) and Barrons for strategies/review</p>
<p>everyone talks about the SAT haha</p>
<p>what about the ACT?</p>
<p>Well... I can't compare, but I liked Kaplan. Their format is nice and they have explanations regarding the practice problems and stuff. The 2 subjects I ran out of time to review was Science and Math... and those were my two lowest scores. When I say ran out of time, it's because I like finishing each subject before continuing to the next.</p>
<p>Does anyone have advice on what books are good for the SATII's and AP's?</p>
<p>what APS are u talking about?</p>
<p>calc=dont need one
bio=PR/kaplan
chem=barrons
US hitsory=REA
AP Gov=Barons
Comp Sci=PR</p>
<p>REA is Very good tho, for us history.</p>
<p>APs - Stat and Spanish</p>
<p>SATIIs - 2c, Bio, US History</p>
<p>I'm considering replacing Bio with Physics, but seeing that I'm taking Phys next year... I'm not sure if that's such a good idea. Just for fun though, what books would be good for self-study Phys?</p>
<p>Stat AP-Barrons
US History SAT II-Sparknotes</p>
<p>AP bio- CLIFF notes.</p>