The 2nd edition of the Critical reader is really great and provides lots of exercises to work through. I also have the college panda writing book, its good but it does not offer much explanation for answers and why certain answers would be wrong. I am taking the SAT for the first time aswelll well on Jan 21 first and I am scoring in the 600s in Reading/Writing. However with both books i have seen som improvement in my score. I would highly recommend both books for further practice as well as tips and strategies.
@Czeska what about Barron’s for writing MC?
@kidfood - It is a good idea to use Khan Academy and the College Board practice book together because KA continually guides you to questions you have gotten incorrect (a great feature), but it is important to practice complete sections in the allotted time also, just to keep the pacing correct (and to practice avoiding careless errors on easier questions.) Best of luck!
Would getting a Princeton Review book from 2014 be completely pointless when studying for the SATs? I am taking my first SAT in June, and plan on getting more than 2 books.
Is melter’s grammar and critical reading along with Steve warner’s math books enough for my sat prep? Please suggest some books if necessary…
@ivyhopeful My advice would be that if you have a lot of time and want more practice then you can get that book, as fundamentally they are the same, so it will help build your Base. But if you don’t have much time like in your case, just focus on New SAT books as they will get you familiar with the pattern of the paper.
@aarvark Yes, those books are perfect if read properly along with Khan Academy practice tests and official question papers. If you want more practice in Grammar, just buy Erica Meltzer’s Grammar practice tests book.
I want to share my experience, so that others can learn something new.
I started with the old SAT, and i used lots of books ranging from Kaplan, Princeton Review to Barrons. I gave the test three times but couldn’t get past 2140.
Then when the new SAT came, i threw them all away and just bought Erica Meltzer’s CR, Grammar and extra grammar practice questions(though i never opened this one) and Dr Chung’s book which I rarely used. I tried to complete the books properly and in the sections which I had difficulty solving, I went to Khan Academy and practiced as many questions until I was confident enough. (By confident I mean , I got a streak of 5-10 questions right) I also regularly gave the official tests by printing it from Khan Academy. I scored around the range of 1500 on those tests. Now the most important tip: after the tests, I analysed each and every question, especially the ones I got wrong and made notes about them and revised these notes before giving the next official test.
My hard work payed off, I got a 1550 on the new SAT! A 790 on the CR/Writing section and 760 on the Maths which I was really dissapointed in because my Maths is strong and I missed 800 just because of 2 silly mistakes. Isn’t it ironical that I got a 800 on Maths Lvl 2 and 760 here? Lol
No, do not get the College Panda math book. You could if you want to confuse yourself
I was wondering whether or not the Ivy Global New SAT book was a good book for practice and strategy. Could someone with experience of the book help me out? Also, if it is not a book you’d recommend could you possibly recommend me some other book(s)?
Is McGraw’s 2017 book helpful?
Is Erica Meltzer’s The Critical Reader good for someone (me) who’s getting 2 - 4 wrong on KA’s Level 4 Science, History, and Social Science, and 7+/- wrong on KA’s Level 3 Literature? Those are with ~20 minutes of time out of 11 questions, and I could get less wrong answers (asides from Literature) if given more time. Looking to get a 750+ on SAT Reading.
I’m taking the May SAT, so I have a little less than 2 months to prepare for the SAT. It’s frustrating seeing how hard I’m finding SAT Reading, because I’m easily breezing through SAT Math and Writing 
Hello, does anyone know if the College Board Official SAT Study Guide 2018 is different from its 2016 version? Like, are the sample tests different?
Thanks
I’m scoring around 570 on the math sections. Can anyone recommend the best prep book to use to boost to a 750?
Have an old SAT book from 2015 from Princeton Review- is it worth doing problems from this book still?
Only if you have a lot of time in hand. The basics are basically the same so it’s pretty good to build a solid foundation
Do not study material for the old SAT, and do not use prep books by big companies like Princeton Review.
I agree with the poster who mentioned Panda for math and writing and Erica Meltzer for reading. All Panda and Meltzer books are good. I specialize in math and also like Barrons Math New SAT Workbook, Dr. Jiang’s, and Mad Math for math. Barron Math Workbook was rewritten, but most of the books by standard firms like Barron, Kaplan, Princeton, and so on, copied too many questions from the old SAT. They were mediocre before, but are awful now.
I know it’s not books, but the website Khan Academy has 4 free practice exams for both Math and Reading tests, with solutions and explanations for each. They give you a score and you can study specific question types if you want. I brought my reading score from 670 up to 750 by studying for the SAT over the course of a month. Hope this helps 
I am using the Focus Group PSAT 8/9 with younger students who have not had Algebra II yet. It is a good workbook by topic, but pretty hard, geared to students looking for top scores.