SAT Bio Princeton vs. Barron's vs. Collegeboard Practice Tests??

Test Preparation SAT Subject Test Preparation
1

Hello. I have the Barron’s, Princeton Review, and Collegeboard Official Guide for the SAT Bio subject test. I’ve read through Barron’s and Princeton, taken practice tests from both, and taken a practice test from the Collegeboard Official Guide (real SAT subject tests that have been administered in the past). Here are my results:

(For all tests, I did either E/M first based on what I would have actually done during the test, but then I did the other section just for question exposure and to see what I would have gotten)

Princeton Review
Test #1: E - 670, M - 680
I took E first
Test #2: E - 700, M - 670
I took E first

Barron’s
Test #1: E - 760, M - 740
I took M first
Test #2: E - 750, M - 750
I took M first

Collegeboard (a previously administered test)
Test #1: E - 750, M - 770
I took M first
Test #2: TBD

So basically I’m really confused, because on all the threads I’ve seen on here, people say that the Barron’s tests are harder than the actual SAT subject test, and that the Princeton practice tests are pretty on par with the actual SAT subject test. However, I did considerably better on the Barron’s tests than on the Princeton tests. I also did well on the Collegeboard official test (one that’s been given before). My question is, how might these scores actually correlate in the test? I don’t know if I’m on track to get a 750+ or a 670, and while the test is in less than 36 hours and there’s not too much I can do in the form of prep, I’d like to know how I’m doing.

On the Princeton tests, I mostly missed questions because of misreading questions/bad insight/interpretation on my part, bad question format (imo), and on the first Princeton test I hadn’t actually read the book (I had only read Barron’s). There was some lack of specific knowledge, but those things are fixed now after seeing what I missed on the practice tests.

On the Barron’s tests, I felt like I did poorly before grading and there were a lot of questions where I wasn’t entirely sure about the knowledge or answer but I deduced it through logic/basing it on knowledge I do know, and obviously I got most of them right. The collegeboard (actually administered) test was overall pretty easy imo and I tripped myself up or missed because of reading.

Not sure if I’ll get any replies to this before I take the subject test, but either way I’ll update this with my score on the second Collegeboard test. It’s my last practice test, so can anyone give me some links to online SAT Biology practice subject tests? And with the way I approached the previous tests and the scores I got, how will I deal with the actual test? Thanks. Sorry for the long post.

2

I have the question. Here are my scores in order.

Barron’s 1: 770
Collegeboard 1: 800
Collegeboard 2 : 780
Princeton Review 1: 780
Barron’s 2: 800
Collegeboard 3: 750
Princeton review 2: 720

I’m really scared because my test is tomorrow​ and I’m on a downward trend. I’m gonna flip through the entire Barron’s SAT book tomorrow and write down anything new. Then I will memorize all the hormones, taxonomy, biomes, etc. I’m hoping I can get a 800 again.

PS. The Princeton review tests are really poorly written. They ask the most random questions. For example, “what happens to a cell in 0.9 mole solution?”. How am I supposed to know whether it’s hypertonic or hypotonic? Another question, “what biome has black bears, squirrels, and maples?” IDK. IDC.

3

@KiaAfzali how did you take 3 college board tests? I thought the college board book only releases 2 tests? Please let me know because I’m taking it tomorrow too. Thanks!

4

I’m wondering the same thing as @tooksattoday1 , I got the book and it only has two tests. Update, I got an 800 on the second released practice test, which is a good sign.

I also have to agree with @KiaAfzali that some of the PR questions are poorly worded or are just bad questions in general. The released tests were significantly easier to me than the PR or Barron’s tests, and so I’m hoping that tomorrow the test won’t have any poorly worded/bad questions like PR and that it also won’t have any (imo) more difficult questions content-wise like Barron’s.

I’ve already taken all 6 practice tests in the books that I have, and so I’m gonna try to find some online (I heard that Sparknotes has one). I feel pretty prepared content-wise, I don’t think there’s anything the test can throw at me that I’ll be completely unfamiliar with and that I won’t be able to logically come to the correct answer for.

Also, @KiaAfzali regarding your downwards trend, it’s likely the difficulty of the tests or just your nerves and test taking procedures. Based on your scores, the declining grades probably aren’t related to gaps in knowledge, and so if you stay calm you should do fine on the test tomorrow. Good luck to both of you.

5

@APLearner thanks good luck to you too.
For future reference, collegeboard has released a sat bio book with 2 official tests in it. It has also released a book with 1 official test for each of the subject tests. That’s how I got 3 official tests

6

I was extremely worried about time after taking the Princeton Review tests, since they seemed to take a lot longer than any of the other practice tests I took. When I took the test today, though, I finished with about 15 minutes to spare. That doesn’t mean that I’m not freaking out over how I did today, though.

7

I was extremely worried about time after taking the Princeton Review tests, since they seemed to take a lot longer than any of the other practice tests I took. When I took the test today, though, I finished with about 15 minutes to spare. That doesn’t mean that I’m not freaking out over how I did today, though.

8

@APLearner
What did you think of the actual test compared to your practice tests?

9

It was okay. I took Bio-M, and I know I messed up on the last two questions, and I think I probably got one or two on core wrong. I was surprised at the lack of evolution-related questions.

10

That’s an issue with the test. You might spend a lot of time learning a specific topic and have very few or any relevant questions.

11

The graph on the last experiment just seemed completely unclear to me. Looking back on it, I understand what they meant for it to be, but at the time, I had no idea what the test was trying to say.