SAT Books? Do not start new threads. Post HERE!

<p>^^Desi - see post 213 above</p>

<p>My question is whether you can succeed without the blue book, because i kinda live in narnia (outside us) and it is is impossible to find it, but i have some other books though… If yes which other book practice tests do you think are nearest to college board’s ones?</p>

<p>my Sat book suggests
1 .Gruber’s Complete SAT Guide
2. McGraw-Hill’s SAT, 2014 Edition
3.Barron’s sat…</p>

<p>thank you :)</p>

<p>Casey - find the blue book, it will be worth the effort</p>

<p>pfffff i will keep trying to find it… :////</p>

<p>Sat blue book, “how to write a killer sat essay in 25 min or less” by tom clements, barrons sat vocab, and “sat grammar review”</p>

<p>I strongly suggest Direct Hits for vocabulary. For Math, Dr. Chung’s will do.</p>

<p>So I’ve seen many posts about how this book has been extremely effective in increasing scores but the content is difficult to understand unless you’re already scoring in the 600s? Would this be a beneficial book if I’m scoring in the 550s?</p>

<p>My DD was planning on using Dr. Chung’s to study for the test, however she found it to be a poor investment of time and very confusing. None of the complex problems in the book came up on the test.</p>

<p>Gruber’s, it has less grammatical error</p>

<p>thank you :)</p>

<p>Currently have 720-610-700. I’d love to see a 730-650-710 if possible. I feel like I can practice a ton to boost my CR and W, but I need some SERIOUS help with the math. Which book is best? I haven’t taken math in a while (stopped at pre-calc because I suck) and I’ve heard Gruber’s and Dr. Chung’s are kind of confusing and off-putting for people who get easily frustrated by math. Thoughts?</p>

<p>Nevermind…I’m stupid and misread my score. It’s a 720-640-700…now I’d say I’m aiming for 730-660-710. I just take a practice test devoted solely to the writing portion of the test and got a 720 so that’s pretty good, but that math still needs MAJOR work</p>

<p>Im currently a sophmore that plans to take the SAT in October 2014. </p>

<p>Firstly, i’d like to know when is the best time to start studying? (is it sufficient to study from june onwards an hour or two a day?) I should also mention that i’ve attended a british school my entire schooling history therefore i am not familiar with the american system. This is a disadvantage on my part as i have not had continuous practice with multiple choice questions since most of our school’s test are writing based, and if we do get a multiple choice test i do very poorly on them
:(</p>

<p>Secondly, i just finished the practice test 1 (math section only) in the BB and scored 660 without studying. I’d like to know which maths book is best to increase my score to around 750-800 with efficient studying? I currently have the gruber’s complete guide and barrons (26th edition) , are those enough to obtain my goal score? A lot of people here have recommended Dr Chungs book. is it worth it? </p>

<p>Thanks for the help :)</p>

<p>hello everyone! I’ve been researching through lots of threads to determine which math prep book I should buy. Our dear friend nnormal is not very good with the math, so I’ve produced somewhat of a competition. Exciting. Here are the finalists! Please cast your vote for the most worthy book for math SAT preparation.</p>

<p>1) Gruber’s Math SAT workbook
2) Dr. Chung’s
3) Barron’s Math
4) Kaplan’s Math
5) McGraw Hill
6) PWN the SAT: Math Guide</p>

<p>Six it is! I suppose I will consider any other nominations to this highly selective competition only with detailed reasoning of course.</p>

<p>All formality and ridiculousness aside, any feedback would be helpful! I know each of the books has its own specialty/drawbacks. I’m hoping this mega-comparison will be helpful for anyone, but if you need a more narrow direction here are my goals: math is in the low 600’s now and I need it up to at least a 750 (if that’s possible heh). Oh, any combinations you all prefer? For example, Barron’s + chung’s.</p>

<p>I would recommend getting the first, second, and sixth choices. Personally, I prefer the first and sixth. There are some free math questions on the pwnthesat website.</p>

<p>Dr. Chung’s is not very good. The practice tests are unrealistic and very difficult. I can barely score above 600 in Dr. Chung’s but I got a 71 on the PSAT math this year.</p>

<p>I would just like to add one important piece of information to this thread. If you are taking advice from someone here make sure that you know something about that person’s SAT ability.</p>

<p>For example, if you are currently scoring about a 500 in math and a book recommendation is coming from someone that got an 800, you are almost certainly being given bad advice. This bad advice is not the fault of the poster. The book works for him or her because of their already high score. But it will probably NOT work for someone with a 500. </p>

<p>I always prepare my students for the SAT in several steps. I teach students scoring 400 very differently from students scoring 500, and so on. Once a 400 student begins scoring 500, then my teaching method changes to accommodate the student’s new skill level.</p>

<p>Most SAT prep books target a specific score range whether the book discloses this information or not. </p>

<p>There are books that target all score ranges simultaneously, but for these books it is up to the reader to use the book effectively. </p>

<p>Do not try to get to an 800 in a single step - this is counterproductive. If you are scoring 500 you should probably not get a book designed to get you an 800. First study with material designed to help you break a 600. Once you do that successfully move on to more difficult material. This is how you prepare effectively.</p>

<p>This thread is full of conflicting information. I hope that this puts some of the posts here into perspective. It is important to choose good SAT prep material, but it is even more important to choose the best material for you. </p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

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<p>Not surprising at all. Some of us have been trying to debunk the value of this EXTREMELY poor choice. Dr. Chung does not seem to have spent much time analyzing the real SAT and is confusing the level of math on the test. It is important to note that practicing should be note with an official test-centric approach. One does not need to “study” for the SAT, but needs to fill the holes revealed by practicing. In this regard, many books that contains tips and advice will help. Some more than others! Some are filled with irrelevant material and suffer from incredibly poor editing. And, yes, that is what Chung’s Junk is! </p>

<p>My advice would be to pay closer attention to the advice that appears sound on CC, and discard much of what is posted by people who are none others than your peers. You’d end up with the one-eyed leading the blind. </p>

<p>Pay attention to the advice of people such as SATQuantum, DrSteve and PcKeller and identify their books or videos! </p>

<p>All in all, it helps to weigh different approaches to certain problems. There are usually 2 to 3 methods to solve each problem efficiently. There are, however, NO miracle method. All of them rely on working through the existing problems and favoring reasoning and logic over brute math knowledge. </p>

<p>Getting a stack of book to let them gather dust will not help. Working the released tests and using the books as references will.</p>