SAT Prep Books! PLEASE HELP!

<p>Hello CC,</p>

<p>I am a rising Junior and I am currently studying for the SAT. But I have run into a dilemma , I am currently using the famous College Board Blue Book. I invested in this book because it is made by CB and the practice tests are very accurate. But as I am going through this book I have found that the strategies aren't the best. My question to you guys is, how should I supplement the Blue Book? I have the Barron's, should I use that to study from and then take the practice tests from the BB? I know all practice tests I take should be from the BB, but i just want to know how should I supplement it, Kaplan, Princeton Review, Barron's, etc? Which is best? I find Critical Reading to be my weakest section. I would appreciate it if people who have taken the SAT and have scored 2000+ would answer this question, no disrespect to others, I just aim for a similar score near the 2200+ range. Thanks for the help guys.</p>

<p>Strategies here on CC are the best. Learn from those who have gone before you. As for published books, the Black Book and the Unofficial Guide aren’t bad.</p>

<p>Princeton Review is the most prestigious book. I haven’t tried using it, but it’s highly commended. I used Barron’s which I noticed tended to be harder than the actual SATs which might be helpful because it’ll challenge you. Kaplan is another option, but I don’t hear much about it.</p>

<p>I got a 1960 the first time around (with absolutely no prep), used the Kaplan book and then got a 2190/1460. I don’t think all the improvement was the book. I think the first time I was nervous, inexperienced, etc. But the book was still helpful. I didn’t really look at other books so I wouldn’t be able to offer a comparison, however. Best of luck!</p>

<p>Use both volumes of direct hits to learn vocab for the test. There are 400 words that you must memorize.</p>

<p>My son succeeded with the Blue Book.</p>

<p>You don’t need any other books, with the Blue Book and Barron’s you are fine. Just practice, practice and practice some more. Circle all the ones you get wrong, look up the answer and do them again. Best of luck.</p>

<p>If you’re already scoring high (2000+ or so), Kaplan’s 2400 book may be of use to you. I believe other companies make similar versions, but that’s the one I used. It’s advertised as advanced practice for advanced students. It operates based on the assumption that you can already get the easy questions right, so there’s no point to teach you guessing strategies and the sort. So, it focuses on teaching you what you need to get the harder questions right and gives you a bevy of difficult SAT questions to practice with.</p>

<p>Thank you…I’m taking the SAT in a month and I’m trying to get the best score possible</p>

<p>Try Barron’s 2400. Sometimes it seems unnecessarily difficult, but it’ll ‘overprepare’ you for actual SAT questions. For math, I found PWN the SAT useful and for CR, noitaraperp’s method is wonderful/free. You’ll find them both with Google quite easily.</p>

<p>I used the Barrons, and felt the practice tests prepared me well. Got a 2240 on the actual test.</p>

<p>As for the Blue Book, I’ve never even heard of it, so I’m afraid I can’t supply advice for that.</p>

<p>The only books I used were the Blue Book for practice tests (don’t even read anything else they have in there), Princeton Review for tips and strategies, and Direct Hits (only briefly looked over the first volume). Did pretty well with just those three books and 1.5 weeks of rigorous study. So I’d say they help a lot.</p>

<p>You might like the answers that are pinned to the top of the specific SAT subforum.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/774818-posting-specific-forums.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/774818-posting-specific-forums.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Here is a link for some more practice tests if you need more</p>

<p>[www.kevinrweaver.com</a> - /kevinrweaver/sat/](<a href=“http://www.kevinrweaver.com/kevinrweaver/sat/]www.kevinrweaver.com”>http://www.kevinrweaver.com/kevinrweaver/sat/)</p>

<p>Check out your local library. There are around a dozen current prep books in the market and your library may have a few.</p>