Which Vocab Book Performed The Best On the March 14 SAT?

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
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<p>Last year, the Dark Knight analyzed the performance of a number of vocab books. The Dark Knight is now a senior headed for Vandy. So I thought it would be interesting to update the Dark Knight’s analysis. So how did the various vocab books perform on the March SAT? Is Direct Hits still the best? Is Kaplan still the worst? Did Barron’s 3,500 word Mini-Dictionary have all the words?</p>

<p>I took the March SAT and read all the CC critical reading posts. I believe there were 23 key level 3 - 5 vocabulary words that were answers or part of answers on SCs and CR questions. Here they are: Compunction, Mellifluous, Florid, Intemperate, Inimical, Perplexing, Hampered, Unorthodox, Pragmatic, Malfeasance, Pastoral, Innuendo, Acclaim, Cerebral, Superficial, Anecdote, Pertinent, Pervasive, Profound, Epiphany, Anecdote, Metaphor, Provisional. </p>

<p>I reviewed 7 vocabulary books. Here are the results:</p>

<li>Direct Hits: 435 Words, 14 Hits, 1 hit per 31 words</li>
<li>Rocket Review: 323 Words, 9 Hits, 1 hit per 35.8 words</li>
<li>Barron’s Hot Words: 396 Words, 5 Hits, 1 hit per 79.3 words</li>
<li>Princeton Review: 253 Words, 3 Hits, 1 hit per 84.3 words</li>
<li>Kaplan’s SAT Score Raising Dictionary: 1000 words, 11 hits, 1 hit per 90.9 words</li>
<li>Barron’s 3,500 Word Mini-Dictionary: 3,500 words, 19 hits, 1 hit per 184 words</li>
<li>Kaplan’s SAT Book: 500 Words, 2 hits, 1 hit per 250 words</li>
</ol>

<p>Well there you have it. As many CCers noted Direct Hits did a great job on the March SAT. Kaplan’s is still the worst list of all. And surprisingly, Barron’s did not have all the words. Their famous mini-dictionary did not have INTEMPERATE, PERPLEXING, MALFEASANCE, or EPIPHANY.</p>

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<p>barron's baby!</p>

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<p>wow...direct hits owned. RR also put up a good amount. Direct hits, RR, and PR alone gave me a perfect on SC.</p>

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<p>those 4 words barrons didnt have are pretty easy so...</p>

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<p>Sparknotes had pretty much all of them, except mellifluous, methinks.</p>

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<p>Direct Hits was great. I head it wasn't good in Janurary, but in March it had many hits.</p>

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<p>Nice work! Thanx!! DH definitely ruled on the March test. Kaplan - LOL!!</p>

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<p>i've never heard of direct hits!! oh well doesn't matter now because i didn't miss any vocab questions...
just read books...ALOT</p>

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<p>Yeah, my English class at school has a vocab section, and I was fine with just that. Even though I haven't used words such as melli-whatever and malfeasence, I was able to get them correct. I think the MOST important thing is knowning roots, suffixes, and prefixes. It can really help. Even though there could be no correlation whatsoever, with mellifluousness or whatever I thought mel- like melodious, so I went with that. And like, pigs<em>at</em>sea said, I didn't get any vocab wrong (not to be arrogant or anything).</p>

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<p>Does anyone how has Gruber's worrd list fared?</p>

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<p>Actually Barrons DOES contain ''perplex'' and ''malfeasance''</p>

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<p>Nice job lovetotext! Thanx for keeping up the CC tradition of rating the top performing vocabulary books. Interesting to see that Direct Hits and Rocket Review continue to be the top performers. Barron's 3,500 word dictionary will always have most of the words. The trouble is that you have to learn almost 200 words for every hit. And of course, Kaplan remains awful. Keep up the great work!</p>

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<p>Yes but Barrons mini dictionary also prepares well for the passages,providing you with enough college-level vocabulary that helps you understand the texts perfectly</p>

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<p>^^Thanx sooo much Dark Knight. Yu did a great job. Good luck at Vandy!
^ The edition of Barron's that I used did not have malfeasance and perplexed. I promise to go to Border's tomorrow after school and check the newest edition.</p>

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<p>If i were the president of Kaplan i would put an end to the company hhahaha.THeir stuff must have graduated some Albanian college :D:D:D:D:D</p>

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<p>God damn, what in the world is Kaplan putting on their list...</p>

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<p>kaplan is terrible as usual. Princeton review is much better but not that much</p>

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<p>is barron’s hotword like a separate book or is it included in their sat book? i can only find “hot word barrons” which has 350words, not 390</p>

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<p>barron’s does have “malfeasance”. it also has “temperate”.</p>

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<p>is barron’s hotword like a separate book or is it included in their sat book? i can only find “hot word barrons” which has 350words, not 390</p>