<p>I'm taking the MAY SAT I test, so I wanted to ask u guys which is better for prepping and practicing problems. I have the following:</p>
<p>Barron's writing, reading, and math guides
Grubber writing, reading, and math guides
Grubber and Barron's 2400
Direct Hits volume 1 and 2
Cracking the SAT 1 for Princeton
I have the real tests from march 2005 till may 2012.</p>
<p>Can u please tell me which to start with and which to end with to get the best score.
I took my first SAT at November 2012 and got 1600:
Math: 600
Writing: 600
Reading:400</p>
<p>Really want to get 1900 to 2000. Please help appreciate it.</p>
<p>PS: I know a lot of people open this and get bored and therefore don't respond. Please respond. I drastically need ur help. I'm an international student.</p>
<p>My advise is that you only use these books to obtain a general understanding of the various concepts/grammatical rules that you may be tested on, but when it comes down to drastically improving your scores, you have to work with real tests. That means obtaining copies of real tests from the past, solving all of them, analyzing the questions you got wrong, and using the Internet to help you. There’s a lot of useful information on these websites that is a lot more helpful than most of these rip-off books.</p>
<p>Take for example writing. Barron’s and Gruber give you a list of a bunch of useless idioms and diction errors I’ve never seen on a real test. </p>
<p>Like what is the difference between “desirous” and “desirable” or “corroborate” and “collaborate”? Instead, they give you a bunch of words like “affect” and “effect.”</p>
<p>And if you have all those real tests, then it shouldn’t be a problem. Never solve these worthless tests from Kaplan, Barron’s, Princeton Review, or any other test that isn’t the real test. </p>
<p>And when you solve one test, review it 20 times. That’s a lot more helpful than solving 10 new tests. Why do you think most students who don’t improve always miss the same types of questions over and over again? Humans have an awfully short retention rate. You think you’ll remember something but you have to drill it home repeatedly so you don’t make the same errors again.</p>
<p>Direct Hits volume 1 and 2 are MUSTS for CR.
Use the real tests. As donnykim said, take the “prep book” tests with a grain of salt. Only released tests are the most accurate.
For math, try to figure out the types of problems you get wrong and work problems from your books. Personally, I used PWNtheSAT Math Guide for math.
For CR, keep in mind that THE ANSWERS ARE IN THE PASSAGE. Seriously. That’s all you really need. Also you might want to answer passage questions as you go (mark the passage with line-reference / question # to help).
For grammar, look at Silverturtle’s grammar guide on CC. Helped me get 80 on PSAT writing.</p>