<p>HI i<code>m sorry to bother you,but i need a big advice and i</code>ve no idea who to tak to.You seemed useful to other members.I<code>m planning on taking the SATs and in the SAT2 i want to take Italian,German and Spanish.For spanish i found miself a barron</code>s testbook,but for italian and german i<code>ve been told there aren</code>t any books from barron<code>s or kaplan to be bought,and i don</code>t know what to do,who to ask the names of the publishing houses that publish these tests.I<code>m not from the United States.I</code>m from Romania a pretty small country in south<code>eastern Europe and i have no one else to ask about these books.I</code>ve tried searching on the internet but no trace of them.Could you please ask around and please send me a message on <a href="mailto:Sigheartau@rdslink.ro">Sigheartau@rdslink.ro</a> Sorry for wasting your precious time.
Best wishes.</p>
<p>Looking online, the resources avaliable for the German and Italian SAT IIs are very few. However, if you look on Amazon.com, you will find at least one book with decent reviews. But before you buy any books or register for the tests, why do you want to take three SAT II tests for "foreign languages"? If you plan to apply to American universities (which I am assuming you are since you're interested in SAT II's), then you are advised to take two or three SAT II's but with only one test out of any subject area (one language, one science, one history etc). I would pick the language you are the strongest in and focus your efforts on that.</p>
<p>This is true... even if you're from the U.S. and haven't been overseas or exposed to more than one language, you should still take a variety of SAT II's. However, if you are from the U.s. and never travel and aren't exposed to more than one language but you can speak 5 or something, then you should probably put that on your college app..</p>
<p>I understand your point of view.Well i was advised to take these languages,My first choice was math instead of italian but ,then again i<code>m not that good at math and i wouldn</code>t want to take my chances for it when i could easy get a 750 at italian.German i can handle it,and probably travelling there will help me.In spanish i keep on studying several hours a day.Now i<code>ll start having italian private classes.Anyway italian sounds more appealing to me.My language derivs from italian so i shouldn</code>t have any real problem in learning it.a friend of mine took the same tests on the SAT2 and she started learning italian one month before the test... she got a 780 on italian.
In addition i<code>m planning to study international affairs,Politology, so these languages may come useful someday.I</code>ll check on amazon,but last time i tried they couldn<code>t deliver the book i wanted back to me cause i wasn</code>t in a reachable area.So tough luck what can i say?
Please ask around maybe someone knows.There should be someone who took itaian or german on the SAT but i seem to having finding him/her.</p>
<p>Xiggi</p>
<p>I want to thank you for the time you took to post your test strategies. My D took the steps to heart for her ACT prep and it worked like a charm. Most important was the notion of breaking the test down into sections- and doing one section at a time- first without strict time constraints to figure out weak areas and immediately figuring out how to correctly answer. The immediate feedback was essentia! As she felt more confident with a particluar section- she moved on to the next type.She did not do a complete timed test until the day before the exam- on which she scored her target score- so she was well rehearsed and in the zone and confident! Her actual score was the same as her one practice test!
FYI- there is not a whole lot of ACT recent REAL practice material around- the real book, the act registration material and the on line test- but we were able to acquire some other REAL tests from a tutor in our area- that gave D lots of sections to practice on.</p>
<p>I was always told that watching a sport, for example, can be helpful, but you need to actually DO the drills and practice the plays to be successful in it... So really, practicing for the SAT makes sense... Find out where your errors are... For example, I have calculated that between the 12 college board official practice tests (8 in book, 4 w/ online course) and their quizzes (part of online course), that there are almost 1000 math questions... So by doing all of these practice questions and actually figuring out why you got a math question wrong thus preventing you from making the same mistake twice, you should have all the knowledge needed to get a score in the upper 700's if not an actual 800.</p>
<p>For that math question posed on the previous page, was the answer 99? <em>crosses fingers</em></p>
<p>With my newfound knowledge on the shortcomings of sat classes, what is the best prep book for math specifically on the new sat?</p>
<p>What about the differences between the SAT and ACT?</p>
<p>On a side note: I am going to use the Xiggi method (I also used a surprisingly similar method before) to prepare for a retake of the SAT in October. I plan to improve my Math and Writing scores, but I am very satisfied with my current Reading score. Since most colleges look at your highest scores in each section, should I bother preparing for the Reading section of the SAT again? I think my Reading score will likely drop around 50 points without preparing, but since I am already happy with my score, should I care?</p>
<p>For info on the ACT vs SAT, check out this</a> page. If that link gets deleted, google "compare the act and sat" (in quotes) and check out the first link.</p>
<p>If you're satisifed with your verbal score, I would not stress preparing for it too much, but I wouldn't completely forget it either. When you take practice tests, take all the sections (including the verbal) to ensure that your scores are staying or going where you want them.</p>
<p>Thanks to Xiggi, grammatix man and Godot for all the posts, this gives me hope that I can raise my score substantially without spending hours in a classroom and thousands of dollars. Question for Xiggi: To guess or not to guess?</p>
<p>I want you guys to know that taking Xiggi's advice is beneficial, especially about improving accuracy before speed. As Xiggi suggested, try to do a test, without any time constraints, and do not check answers until you are completely sure that your answer is the correct one. For the first time in my prepping (about 1 year) I have completed a CR section without any mistakes... sure it took me 10 more minutes than normally allotted... but I'll get my time down in a couple more tests.</p>
<p>Thanks man.</p>
<p>Going back to what you said about taking the SAT mant times, I was wondering if they combined the old SAT with the new one. I took the old SAT once and got a 1420, but then our year was supposed to take the new one so i foolishly took it twice without much prep and got 2030 and 2040. If i took the new one again would that mean i took the SAT I 4 times or 3 times?</p>
<p>I believe that Xiggi's method is the most viable and logical method that I have read thus far. I am currently taking SAT prep course that primary uses the new Barron prep book. I must say, the questions in the book are far more difficult than the College Board's Prep Book. I'm also using the old 10R text for practice. </p>
<p>My questoin is, will the SAT II writing prep books be a viable practice for the writing section for the new SAT?<br>
I'm sorry if this question has alreayd been addressed. I am still trying to catch up to reading all the posts.</p>
<p>-Ray</p>
<p>I haven't seen the actual "teacher's edition" for the College Board's Official Guide to the New SAT, but if you poke around in their online course and look in the book owner's area, you'll find answer explanations for every problem on all eight of the practice tests. I bet that this is basically what the teacher's edition contains.</p>
<p>However, note that the explanations given, particularly for the math problems, tend to be the most "mathy" or "official" ways of approaching the problems. Often there is a much better strategy-based way of answering each question, and of course the College Board isn't going to explain this. That's why IMHO the Official Guide works best as a supplement to a good prep book that lays out the strategies.</p>
<p>this is a question for anyone, Is it absolutely necessary to have a solutions book (like the one from testmasters) for the blue college board book? I really dont want to spend any more money, but is the blue book useless without one?</p>
<p>tee06, i personally didn't find the need to use explanations - practice was adequate, and i could just review the others on my own. This is true especially if you need help in math ... my weakness was critical reading, and oftentimes a dictionary or a re-read of certain pieces made me realize what i had done wrong.</p>
<p>Dear Xiggi,
SATs are making me little nervous since english is my 2nd language, and I've done horrible on the PSAT that I took on sophomore. I've lived here for 4 years, but I still don't know a lot of words you'll see on SAT. Is there some sort of special way to raise my score? What should I do?</p>
<p>tee, I am not familiar wiith the testmasters book, but I subscribe to some of the SATechies' belief - one that is not shared by Xiggi.</p>
<p>This belief is that your prep work becomes many-fold more efficient, when a book or a person helps you with a deep analysis of the questions you are working on.</p>
<p>It includes identifying a cluster of similar questions and corresponding technique(s), explaining multiple ways of approaching and how to find the fastest one, and showing present and possible traps, as well as the most common mistakes.</p>
<p>Two critical conditions:
you do 95% of work,
and
your quide, be that a book or a person, is of high quality (you can learn from mediocre books and coaches too, but working on your own might be more efficient).</p>
<p>At some point you'll stop using "training wheels" and start referring to your helper(s) only occasionally to verify that you are on a right track.
You'll be able to squeeze more practice work in a much shorter time, and also do your own performance analysis.</p>
<p>Of course, people get to this plato with nothing but their own efforts, but it might take you (much) longer.</p>
<p>Sounds a lot like a typical slick prep book/service advertisement, does not it?
The fact is, really good books and tutors do deliver this promise.</p>
<p>"tee, I am not familiar wiith the testmasters book, but I subscribe to some of the SATechies' belief - one that is not shared by Xiggi."</p>
<p>Gcf101, I am really perplexed by your post as I am not sure about the Satechies' belief you are mentioning. </p>
<p>Could you please explain what it is exactly the theory I do NOT believe in? It seems that you are intimating that I do not believe in following "good books" or "good advice" or do not believe in deep analysis of questions or patterns. </p>
<p>If you reached such conclusion after reading my posts, I am afraid that I failed to convey my message clearly.</p>