SAT Prep

SDN Members don't see this ad. (About Ads)

Hey Guys,

What's the best material to sue for the SAT? My sister just took the test and got a 2000 but on her practice ones using college board practice tests she only got one wrong in each section (math, reading, writing). How well do the college board tests correlate with the real thing? Any suggestions on the best review books for the writing and reading sections will be helpful.

She's really bummed so I'm trying to help her out and maybe get her some practice material for Christmas. haha

Thank you

The Official SAT Study Guide, 2nd Edition

Most people including myself would highly recommend the Official College Board SAT Study Guide, now the 2nd edition. It seems odd that your sister's scores varied that much because the Blue Book simulates actual tests in difficulty and length. Starting with an 1850 practice score & 1870 actual score, I practiced with the Blue Book until I got up to a 2050 (+ or - 50 points) on the practice tests, which was about 2 full one-sitting tests and 3 tests taken over many days. I ended up with a 2010 on the actual test. Maybe she took different sections of the test at different times? The questions are the same difficulty, so if you just maybe spend 2 or 3 Saturdays doing a full test between an hour or two of practice each week, all should be fine. A 2000 really isn't a bad score...it's higher than many people ever get, but I know the feeling, because I was just "ok" with my score for a while also.

An excellent resource for math strategy is Gruber's SAT 2400; it gives wonderful techniques.
One of the best sources, though, is free, and people can help you on all three sections. This link gives you great help on the critical reading section; it helped me get a 700, probably would have been close to an 800 had I studied every possible vocabulary word...but anyways here it is.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...fectively.html

I went out and got her the green book which I believe is the 2nd edition that you guys recommended. She took her practice exams out of a blue book though but I think it is the old edition. On the front it says march 2005 (the green one is from 2009).
I also bought her a novel to add to her christmas present. just a sat book would be depressing.

thank you for the tips. ya a 2000 is higher than what i ever got. but it's just the fact that she did so much better on the practice ones. and she's a junior so she has time to re-take.