Barron's vs. College Board vs. Princeton Review vs. Kaplan vs. ACT Inc.

[SwaggaLikeANerd]

List in order which the books mentioned in the title you think is best preparation for the following tests:

1. SATs
2. SAT Subject Test: Math 2
3. SAT Subject Test: World History
4. SAT Subject Test: Biology E/M
5. ACTs

[rspence]

I used Princeton Review for the SAT, and it wasn't bad. Never used Barron's or the College Board practice books. But a couple years ago, my AP Calculus teacher gave us a Kaplan practice test, which was full of errors (e.g. same answer choice twice, or integrate x^2 sin x, but there is no differential "dx"). Given that, I'd be a little uncertain whether I would buy a Kaplan book.

[Lelyke]

For sat ,Kaplan was really good and friendly , Barron's was too formal and had sentences like "the witches cauldron and Berenice lurked" however it was still good, I'm still reading Princeton review , beautiful as well but I don't really fancy Joe Bloggs, they should just get on with the rules already and collegeboard earned my friend a 2060 .So really to maximize your score read everything. Kaplan Sat math 2 got me a 760 if this isn't good enough for you you may try Barron's

[craiggonzales]

College Board --> Barron's --> TPR --> Kaplan

From experience teaching kids.

[AustroHungarian]

Barron's > than Princeton Review in my experience for US History.

[gomdorri]

1. SATs: The big blue book (has previously released tests, and so it's the best practice for the SAT... and the key to acing the SAT is practice practice practice). Barron's has good tips, but bad practice tests, and I like Princeton Review for its vocab and practice tests as well, but people have mixed feelings about it...

2. SAT Subject Test: Math 2: Princeton Review. I haven't taken the SAT II yet (will in October most likely, I dunno), but it's the easiest to read and my cousin used it. He got an 800 so he can vouch for it. I tried reading other math II books and they were hard to understand, and extremely boring as well so it was hard for me to read more than two pages a day lol.

3. SAT Subject Test: World History: If you have the Barron's AP book, that should suffice. That's what my friend studied off of, another 800 with that. If not, the the SAT II book for Barron's.

4. SAT Subject Test: Biology E/M: Barron's. Okay, so a lot of people say that Barron's is bad because it gives you too much excess information, and the practice tests are harder than the actual. I disagree with both, because I found the actual SAT II much more difficult than Barron's practice tests. Princeton Review SAT II bio is decent, but it doesn't prepare you sufficiently. Barron's has a lot of diagrams that Princeton Review lacks... it turns out that I needed those diagrams. The first time I took the SAT II I was relying on Princeton Review, and I ended up getting a 690 because there were at least 10 questions associated with diagrams that I had never seen before.
So yeah... BARRON'S FTW.

5. ACTs : Dunno, the ACTs are ebilllll.

[gomdorri]

By the way "it" in line 2 of the SAT Subject test math II section modifies Princeton Review..... I dunno why I made that sound so ambiguous. Blargh.

[cottoncndy]

SAT: The big blue book
SAT World History-If you had a decent course the book won't make any difference at all since they're all about the same. I used PR but Barron's is supposed to be more detailed.

[FunkyMonkey322]

Hi, i'm taking some of the tests you're taking. Honestly, if you are having a hard time with a subject or trying to learn it, PICK PRINCETON REVIEW. That book will be your best friend when it comes to other subjects (also helped raised my sat math score). I heard Kaplan is good too. If you are good at the subject and want more practice/challenging problems, try Barrons but guaranteed it will frustrate you (unless when it comes to history because its very direct and easy to memorize)

If you are studying for the ACT, Again I put emphasis on GETTING PRINCETON REVIEW. I am almost finished with the book and by the looks of it, the ACT should be a piece of cake.