<p>What is the best SAT Subject Test U.S. History Prep Book?</p>
<p>The ap us history crash course. Its not an official subject test book and was made for the ap test but history is history. I read the whole book to prepare for the ap test and didnt study at all since then and despite that im pretty sure I got a 780+ on the Jun 2 test. Better than any other prep book imo</p>
<p>Barrons, hands down.</p>
<p>Crash Course is acceptable but The Essential Content is the reigning champ. </p>
<p>I also sincerely hope that the above post is a misguided attempt to help the OP instead of a cruel joke. Barron’s is terrible, whether it be the new SAT Subject Test book or the previous versions.</p>
<p>Barrons is definitely the way to go if you have time and wanna make an 800. Direct hits is good if you have like a week to study and don’t mind getting a 750. Direct hits should get you at least a 700. Barrons done fully should guarantee you a 800. Just read their review twice and use the official collegeboard practice tests.</p>
<p>To vouch for barrons I’ll say I read 3 lessons (took about an hour lol) and there were 4 exact questions from there. I’m sure if you read the whole thing thoroughly you’d know 92% of the answers at least. I must say though skip the individual European explorers section.</p>
<p>Direct Hits (new name is the essential content). I used it alone and am confident about a 750+ on June. That said, I had a pretty strong APUSH course so it really was just a refresher.</p>
<p>“I also sincerely hope that the above post is a misguided attempt to help the OP instead of a cruel joke. Barron’s is terrible, whether it be the new SAT Subject Test book or the previous versions.”</p>
<p>What?? No! I just took the US History test last week after studying from Barrons! I thought it was wonderful and almost goes overboard with details.</p>
<p>Yes like alwaysleah said if you’re good at apush and just had it use direct hits. It’s enough. If you never had apush, weren’t good at it, or had it a while ago (more than 3 months) go with barrons.</p>
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<p>Which version of the Barron’s book were you using? I’ve looked at the AP version. I’ve also looked at the latest SAT Subject Test version. </p>
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<p>That’s terrible. If you read CC, DH, or Essential for 3 hours you’d get a lot more hits than merely 4.</p>
<p>I brought my daughter books from the Silverturtle’s post. She used it all along and scored very well on the subject test. But I don’t think she studied/crammed at all.</p>
<p>I used kaplan, barrons, crash course, the essential content, and sparknotes and i found that barons & kaplan were the worst and crash course was in the middle but SP+Essential content was the best you could do. I could make a thorough review on all if you guys want. I got a 790 on the test that day but the 800 would have been mine if i wasn’t cramming like hell for bio E.</p>
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<p>I would love a thorough review of each book.</p>
<p>Um that’s why I said direct hits is better for cramming. But if you have lots of time barrons has every single answer in there while direct hits probably only has 70% of them.</p>
<p>DH has more like 90%</p>
<p>I don’t like the latest Barron’s SAT Subject Test in USH book for two main reasons: </p>
<p>1) The practice tests are unrealistic in scope and difficulty. Gaddafi is way too recent to show up on a history exam. Maybe a current events exam, sure.
2) The “review” section is too lengthy and unfocused. Granted, by thoroughly delineating every event in American history, you are bound to cover some of the stuff on the SAT II USH exam, but you are also bound to cover a lot of irrelevant information. CC, DH, and Essential all cut to the chase in terms of what you need to know and even tell you what you don’t need to know. </p>
<p>I can also personally testify to the effectiveness of The Essential Content. </p>
<p>After taking the SAT II USH exam this June, I came home and skimmed through The Essential Content again. There were only 10 questions on the exam that The Essential Content did not directly answer. And that’s being pretty harsh as well … you could likely figure out most of the 10 through POE, common sense, background knowledge, etc. The merits of The Essential Content are that it is a short read, cuts to the chase, and gives you answers to nearly 90% of the questions. </p>
<p>The choice is ultimately yours. Would you rather read a full-size 624 page review book or a short and stout 462 page review book, even if both provided you with exactly the same amount of relevant information? I’d choose The Essential Content.</p>
<p>My son goes to a school that doesn’t offer AP classes, and he probably will be the only one in his grade who takes any SAT subject matter tests. He took U.S. history class, but it will be useless for the test, as nothing on the practice test was covered in his class. I will get him Essential Content, etc., as recommended here, but has anyone else here taken the test without a U.S. history class (or one at such a low level), and how much studying did you do? Any other suggestions? (No good picking another subject, would be even harder to learn chemistry or math on his own or even with tutor)</p>
<p>Well… I took it without any proper ap or honors class just a run of the mill US1 and 2 class, which were decent at best. I suggest for him to really focus on how to answer questions.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-subject-tests-preparation/1352669-guide-history-sat-ii.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-subject-tests-preparation/1352669-guide-history-sat-ii.html</a>
That’s my guide since he already got my favorite book i suggest to skip the book reviews and go to the strategy part of the guide.
It will take time depending on how fast your son picks up the knowledge and learns how to apply it but if he reads the essential book at least twice (yes i mean completely twice from cover to cover) he will have a good shot at 700+ and if you mix that with the sparknotes practice tests( most accurate tests Trust me) and SP review the 750+ range is completely possible. Feel free to PM me with any concerns or questions.</p>
<p>I’m sorry but the people posting on this thread don’t know crap. BARRONS IS THE WORST BOOK YOU CAN GET.
Do not use Barrons. Nextly, thinking you got a 780+ does not qualify you. This test is incredibly variable and difficult compared to other subject tests. What I used was Barrons initially. I found the book to be a load of crap (I was scoring 620-650 on the practice tests). There is no way in hell Barrons is even close. Now, I understand having a harder book helps, and I agree (I used barrons for math2), but this book is horrible. </p>
<p>What I used instead was Sparknotes. Sparknotes is harder by a bit but you’re pretty much guaranteed 40+ points on the exam. When I took the test in June, I saw many repeat questions from Sparknotes lol. Literally almost word for word. I pulled an 800 using basically Sparknotes. I took one Princeton test, but did not look at the material. </p>
<p>This is how I rate the books</p>
<p>Sparknotes tests: A+
Sparknotes material: A</p>
<p>Princeton tests: A
Princeton material: N/A</p>
<p>Barrons tests: D
Barrons material: B+ (because it is vast and the court cases and 20 points are actually kind of beneficial)</p>
<p>I recommend Sparknotes. It got me an 800.</p>
<p>And one more thing, on Barrons I was getting like 40 something out of 90 right. That’s terrible. The wording is nowhere close to accurate.</p>