The amazing RocketReview Revolution and the Bluebook

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
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<p>There's a lot of confusion to what SAT review books to use on this forum. Four years ago, my older D followed Xiggi's Method and scored 2330 on her second try ( and a 36 on the ACT). She basically used RocketReview and Grammatix for ideas and inspiration and did all the tests in the Bluebook.</p>

<p>Younger D, who is a rising senior, had a tougher time with the SAT. Without any preparations, she did not do well on her PSAT in her sophomore year with a mere 156. Naturally she was worried, so she started studying last summer. However, she couldn’t find the Bluebook or the RocketReview book, so she just did about a dozen practice tests her sister left behind which included SAT preparation booklets, QAS and released PSAT tests. The results: 196 on the PSAT and 1860( 590CR, 670 M, 600 W) on the October SAT.</p>

<p>Encouraged by her improvement, she asked me to get her more materials to study. I bought her the Bluebook and the Rocket Review Revolution on Amazon. During the winter break, she went over RR briefly; did three tests from the Study Guide, went over EVERY question with College Board’s own explanations and managed a 2020( 660CR, 700M, 660W) on the January test.</p>

<p>From March to June, D sat herself down every Sunday afternoon to study the SAT. Deep down, I think she wanted to do as well as her sister, by early June, she’d already finished reading RocketReview and Grammatix; did the rest of the 5 tests in the Bluebook. Her school was out on May 28, so she did about 6 practice tests from more QAS before the real test. All the hard work paid off: 2280! ( 740 780 760). Now she wants to try the ACT, does anyone have ACT QAS from the last two years? Please PM me if you do.</p>

<p>The new Bluebook has 3 more tests, you can buy it on Amazon for like $12 and you can get the explanations from CollegeBoard. Here is the link on CC: NEW FEATURE: Best of SAT Prep Forum and FAQs. Rocket Review's 06-07 version is SO expensive, like over $300! but according to D, the 05 version is almost the same, and it costs much less. Here is the ISBN #: 0451213114</p>

<p>I hope their stories could inspire you guys who are stuck at low SAT scores. You need to work hard and use the right materials.</p>

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<p>Yay for your daughters!
This story gives me hope of raising my 2100’s-2200’s scores to 2300’s.
By the way, which sections do Grammatix and Rocket Review help particularly on? (i.e. Gruber’s = Math)</p>

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<p>RocketReview was awesome for writing - great scope of the questions on the test. Critical Reading is kinda dubious, the “strategies” in there are kinda substituting actual reading comprehension. Its math is the same, using shortcuts as opposed to actually knowing how to solve the problem.</p>

<p>Grammatix is supposedly good for reading, but it’s basically a strategy that may or may not work for you - reading the passage as little as possible. </p>

<p>I think if I went back, I would probably only buy RR for writing, and nothing else but BB since practice is what’s slowly improving my score. Since you have 2100-2200 it looks like you know pretty much all the concepts in these books (the books are probably directed towards <2000) so just keep practicing.</p>

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<p>There is no equivalent of the QAS for the ACT test. I believe the only available actual ACT tests are the three in Peterson’s “The Real ACT Prep Guide” (2007).</p>

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<p>Not true at all.</p>

<p>The ACT Questions and Answers service is called ‘Test Information Release (TIR)’. ACT offers this service each year with the April, June and December tests. I still have a copy from the June 2008 test which my older daughter took. One may still order copies from tests took up to 2008. There are also 3 or 4 official preparation booklets with real ACT tests in there, I can’t find all of them but you can download the 09-10 booklet from ACT.org.</p>

<p>Also, there are at least two books with previously administrated tests published by the testmaker previous to the Peterson book.</p>

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<p>[Amazon.com:</a> The Rocket Review Revolution: The Ultimate Guide to the New SAT (2006-2007 Edition)…](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Rocket-Review-Revolution-2006-2007-Rocketreview/dp/0451219465/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281661404&sr=1-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Rocket-Review-Revolution-2006-2007-Rocketreview/dp/0451219465/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281661404&sr=1-1)</p>

<p>And a legal copy grammatix is 50 bucks.</p>

<p>That’s quite a bit of money. :|. At least $200 dollars for both.</p>

<p>Still, it’s less than a prep course.</p>

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<p>The 05 copy is cheaper:</p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> The RocketReview Revolution: The Ultimate Guide to the New SAT (9780451213112): Adam Robinson: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/RocketReview-Revolution-Ultimate-Guide-New/dp/0451213114]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/RocketReview-Revolution-Ultimate-Guide-New/dp/0451213114)</p>

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<p>check your local library for one, that is where i got mine from.</p>

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<p>My Devil, does anyone notice at all the OP’s deceptive advertiseme - nevermind, carry on.</p>

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<p>@carlroberts: thanks for the correction, I was unaware.</p>

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<p>fignewton: No problem.</p>

<p>luciferlied: If you take my good intention as advertiseme, I have nothing to say. Most libraries carry these two books, so, yes, check there first. Just don’t use the fake tests in any review books other than the ones published by College Board.</p>