tee06

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?

ryanberry07

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.

Thanks man.

westside24

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?

xur2007

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.

My questoin is, will the SAT II writing prep books be a viable practice for the writing section for the new SAT?
I'm sorry if this question has alreayd been addressed. I am still trying to catch up to reading all the posts.

-Ray

2400SAT

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.

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.

tee06

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?

lavenderdream

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.

NorthWestLover

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?

gcf101

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

Of course, people get to this plato with nothing but their own efforts, but it might take you (much) longer.

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.

xiggi

"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."

Gcf101, I am really perplexed by your post as I am not sure about the Satechies' belief you are mentioning.

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.

If you reached such conclusion after reading my posts, I am afraid that I failed to convey my message clearly.

gcf101

Sorry Xiggi, I over-generalized.

First off, I need to disclose that I am a professional tutor, but I did not join this forum for the purposes of self-promoting (not that I find it a wrong thing to do within the moral boundaries).

After reading your discussion with the SAT prep professionals (PeteSAT, Godot, xittamarg, risingstars_markg - I hope, I did not miss the other names), I decided that I agree more with Godot on the question of independent vs. coached SAT prep than wiith the other participants.

So, when I mentioned a theory, I think, you do not believe in, it's just this single aspect. I should've been specific.

There is no need in rehashing this topic - I can't add anything significantlly different to it.

Other than that, I strongly believe in your prep plan and recommend it to my students wholeheartedly.

Just one comment to your quote (how do you make it appear in a neat grey box?):
There is an ocean of SAT prep books out there, and, as one can see from this forum, "which books are good/better/best?" question is one of the more frequently asked.

I think, a good tutor can save a student tons of grief by selecting not just better books, but pinpointing the best sections.

What sets good tutors apart is also the ability to present a student with a concise and WORKING "toolkit" (using PeteSAT's term) of techniques, thus enabling a student to prep instead of raking through the multitude of books.

xiggi

GCF, thank you for the clarification. I have recognized many times that there are cases that are in dire need of tutoring. I also believe that I have been able to maintain a cordial relationship with most of the tutors who participated in this thead, as well as with a number of others. As in any profession, there are true professionals and there are charlatans. Throughout my posts on CC, I've always tried to make sure that I am not against tutors but against ineffective or misleading tutoring outfits.

I also admit that I disagree with some of Godot's adversarial positions, namely that students CANNOT reach the highest plateau without professional help. My position is that a student who spends enough time preparing in earnest for the test AND participate in forums such as CC will probably find few surprises on the SAT, and that there are no secret techniques only known by tutors. This was amply illustrated when Godot posted secrets that he had not seen anywhere. It was childplay to show that the secrets were actually old news on CC and that I had covered them years ago on CC. Frankly, I am absolutely convinced that Godot could not teach me a SINGLE thing about preparing for the SAT, but that is not the point. The reality is that there are many students who find great help by hiring tutors, but there are also many students who could do as well without the outside help. A fact that Godot has not been willing to accept!

There are millions of students taking the SAT and all have indvidual needs. The paths to success are multiple, and none of them is inherently better than othe others because the audience presents different background. My only objective has been to point students in a slightly different direction and offer an alternative. My road might be the less traveled one, but in the end all roads lead to Rome or to a ... great school!

killaerone

First of all, I would like to thank Xiggi and all of the other posters for this tremendously helpful thread.

I figured that it would be helpful to use the 10 Real SATs for the CR in addition to using the Blue book (8 Real NEW SATs).
Well, I was just curious as to the difference between the 10 Real SATs First Version, Second Version, and Third Version. ARE THEY REALLY 30 DIFFERENT TESTS!? it can't be..
Also, what is the difference between the three or so versions of the Real SAT IIs.. I doubt they each version contains different tests (of the same subject)

Thanks

lavenderdream

killaerone - each "new" book differs in two tests from the last edition, if I'm not mistaken.

The best way to get different SAT subject tests is to get the "Official Guide for SAT Subject Tests" (it's several years old now) and "Real SAT II's" (the big blue book) ... I think the big blue book is the same as "Real SAT Subject Tests", which was just released in May.

Correct me if I'm wrong, everyone ...?

Godot

Xiggi,

I appreciate your input, as always. However, I do find the need to clarify and/or modify my previous statements so that we are clear on what MY positions in this debate are. In any debate, it's quite easy to make unwarranted assumptions, exaggerate stated positions, or simply misunderstand various opinions. I'm afraid that you might have done so with my words. And if I have been careless in my use of words, or if my positions have appeared too extreme in the past, I apologize for that.

I DON'T believe that students cannot reach the highest plateaus without extra help. More than a few students do, actually, in my experience. I also believe, however, that good professional help, in the form of a tutor, is beneficial in the vast majority of cases. In general -- without rehashing all of my previous arguments -- professional tutoring can make the test preparation processs more efficient (sometimes a lot more). A student can perhaps study on his own to achieve a 200-point increase in 5 months, but I, or another competent tutor, can perhaps help the same student do so in one. Additionally, I think most would agree that it might be very difficult -- NOT impossible, mind you, but very difficult -- to achieve the highest scores without some professional tutoring.

And when I posted the "secrets" on this site, they were only small tricks that I've discovered to be effective, but I never claimed that they were previously undiscovered, nor did I state that they were the most important or the most effective. I was merely responding to your criticism that I have never posted any "tips" or "secrets" on this site. (The reason that I had not, and still really do not, is that I believe there are enough experts, and students, on this site to come up with the answers themselves, and I don't have the time to make 20 posts every day. On more than one occasion, though, I have offered what advice I could as well as solutions to various SAT questions.) It might very well be true that you cannot learn a single thing from me, but what would that really prove?? You are someone who has studied, worked on, taken apart, analyzed, and posted on -- to the tune of thousands of posts -- on the SAT for a very long time. It's no surprise that you may not learn anything new from me or another tutor. Unfortunately, 99% of students are not as learned, experienced, practiced as you, and they can probably learn a thing or two from me or someone else. And I don't feel obligated to prove myself to you on this site. I am not going to post all of my "secrets" (I'm using that term facetiously, as I don't really regard them as secrets, just valuable strategies, experience, and know-how that an experienced test prep professional should have) just to see if I can teach *you* a thing or two or to demonstrate to you that I am a competent tutor. I'd rather teach the hundreds and thousands of other students who CAN benefit from my help a thing or two (and who perhaps appreciate me more). Notice I am not making any claims whatsoever to be the "best" or the most effective tutor out there. I simply really enjoy helping students, and I genuinely believe that my students benefit from my help (and enjoy the process at the same time!). That is really why I hang out and post on this site (aside from learning from others as well, including Xiggi).

I have stated -- more than once, I think -- previously that I DO believe that students CAN achieve significant progress on their own. Professional tutoring is NOT absolutely necessary or even recommended in every single case! My point is simply that in some -- SOME! -- cases, professional tutoring may help a student significantly -- perhaps more than she can help herself, even with the aid of books or other tools, in a reasonable time. I hope you can appreciate that I DO concede YOUR point!

There are indeed multiple paths to success. I -- and many others on this site -- thank you, Xiggi, for sharing your insights and views on this site.