Which Books Should I Use (Starting To Get Frustrated)

SAT and ACT Tests & Test Preparation SAT Preparation
#1

<p>I have these books right now:
Blue Book
The Complete SAT and PSAT Study Guide by Grammatix Inc.
501 Critical Reading Questions
Gruber's Complete SAT Math Workbook
Gruber's SAT 2400
Gruber's SAT Reading Workbook
SAT Cram Plan Cliffnotes
McGraw-Hill's 12 SAT Practice Tests with PSAT, 2ed
SAT Gruber's Writing
SAT Math Bible
Rocket Review
Barron's SAT 25th Edition
Kaplan SAT Critical Reading Workbook(3RD Edition)
Dr. Chung's SAT Math
Barron's 2400</p>

<p>So, I plan to use these books for each section:</p>

<p>Reading:
BB
The Complete SAT and PSAT Study Guide by Grammatix Inc.
I DON'T KNOW WHICH CR WORKBOOK I SHOULD USE! (which one is the best?)</p>

<p>Math:
BB</p>

<p>Writing:
Grammatix
RR
Gruber's SAT Reading Workbook
SHOULD I USE BARRON'S 2400 OR GRUBER'S SAT WRITING</p>

<p>My current scores are for CR are around 650-700. For writing my current scores are 610-740. And for math my current scores are 530-610.</p>

<p>I am open to any advice and opinions. Also, if you could kind of include a sort of plan that you think will be most beneficial for me to increase my scores, would be very appreciated. My goal is to get at least above a 2100 the next time I take my SAT.
Srory for the long post, but I am looking forward to everyone's input on my mission to get a 2400!</p>

#2

<p>Your frustration can be tracked to the original question: "Which Books Should I Use." You are making the same mistake as the many students who believe that preparing for the SAT starts with accumulating as many books as possible, and agonizing over possibly missing THE one. </p>

<p>You have all those books now? Great ... those are your REFERENCE books. Go through the BB and through the official tests you can find. Only use your panoply of books to verify a concept or refresh your memory. </p>

<p>"Going through" the BB does NOT mean rushing through the tests to verify your progress. You should devote about one hour a day PER SECTION. If you do that, you won't have more time to waste in scouting the web for the SAT Holy Grail, namely a book that contains all the secrets!</p>

#3

<p>I wish I read your post earlier ^ -__-''</p>

#4

<p>@ Xiggi, I only own about 3 of these books, all of the others are e-books I download for free, but do you really believe that just doing in-depth review of BB tests will really increase my score as much as I want my score to improve compared with workbooks?
Is reviewing BB tests what you personally did? What was your SAT score the very first time you took it, and what was the final score you got on you last SAT. BTW, hanks for the advice...I guess I will study each section of each test in the BB, and if my score isn't where I want it to be I will start doing workbooks. Again, you don't think I should do both, BB Test review and workbooks??</p>

#5

<p>How did you get free ebook on those books?
Really?</p>

#6

<p>
[quote]
but do you really believe that just doing in-depth review of BB tests will really increase my score as much as I want my score to improve compared with workbooks?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>The answer is that I REALLY believe that you will do MUCH better by keeping your focus on the Blue Book and official tests AND participating in discussions that cover recent tests.</p>

#7

<p>Dorkyelmo, google is not that hard to use.</p>

<p>@ Xiggi Anyway, xiggi, do you really think that the explanations given by CB on the Blue Book are really good? I mean I want to know the easy way of doing each question, not the way College Board does it (which is pretty long in most cases). </p>

<p>What do you think on this?</p>

#8

<p>The explanations offered by BB are are rarely adequate. But, that should not be much of an issue in your preparation. Nothing precludes you to seek better answers in the reference books (some are dedicated to solve the problems in the BB) or searching the web for solutions. Chances are that your google search will bring you to ... this site. </p>

<p>I think some like to make things overly complicated. Building a test preparation on the available official tests scores does not mean to abandon all other sources of reference.</p>

#9

<p>well...Whenever I don't understand a problem in my test I always look online. So not having adequate explanation in the BB doesn't really hinder my learning through the BB...</p>

#10

<p>@Xiggi:</p>

<p>What is the BEST way to use the blue book? Is this it: using 3rd party book to concentrate on specific sections, and THEN using the blue book each Saturday and taking a test? Then, after each test, go over and learn from your mistakes and rinse and repeat...</p>

#11

<p>^Thats what I do.</p>

#12

<p>Not really. </p>

<p>There is no real good reason for spending a Saturday taking an entire test. Since most people have taken the PSAT or an official SAT test, there is no reason to take a diagnostic test at the start. My advice is to take one section at a time, check the answers and understand both correct and wrong ones. Over time, keep an eye on the clock, but do not hesitate to extend the time for the first 20 to 30 sections. The objective is to become completely comfortable with all types of questions. </p>

<p>There is no need for taking a full time exam until one is absolutely certain to do well. Taking full tests under timed conditions is way not really necessary, and neither is constantly measuring your progress.</p>

#13

<p>^
How about practicing for essays? Do you think it's unnecessary to write a timed essay once every week?</p>