Average Rating: 
Rating: - This is the best review book of any kind I ever used!!
This book is incredible. I studied with it all spring and took the SAT I on May 1. My scores were 290 points higher than on my PSAT!!!The best part of the book are all the strategies for solving the math problems. Using them, I was able to answer at least 10 or 15 questions that I would have otherwise had to leave out.The practice tests are really good. They are just like the real thing, so doing them is really good practice. If anything, they are slightly harder, so the real one I took in May seemed easier.I would recommend this book to anyone high school student who will be taking the SAT I. My younger brother is in 9th grade and he just started to read it.
Rating: - Very useful if you want to STUDY.
I bought the 20th edition of this book, and I was not disappointed by it. This is the only book I used, and it took me about 1 month of moderate effort to work through, with the exception of the vocabulary (this was the trouble spot for me, since I'm not a native English speaker). The vocabulary certainly requires more time -- and spending 1 hour a day for 6 months will help more than spending 6 hours a day for 1 month.Positive: 1) It doesn't put the whole emphasis on test-taking tricks -- knowing the tactics is useful, but tactics alone will not get you very far. You need to actually solve the questions. 2) It contains sections where material is actually presented, and explained. It also contains explanations for all the tests. 3) It seemed to me to cover very well the real test, in terms of types of questions present. 4) The vocabulary is well-tuned, and contains just the words you'll see on the actual test. The cars are helpful. It is also helpful that the lists contained words which may not be considered difficult -- this is helpful for those with different levels of English. 6) The tips for solving math problems are not just plain-old "eliminate the answer choices", but real scientific ways of achieving results -- Very Useful. Negative: 1) There's very little information on how to obtain a scaled result from the number of questions right/wrong. Therefore, at first one can't say if the tests were more difficult, or less difficult than the real test. Only after getting the Q&A Collegeboard service, was I able to conclude (as if it mattered:) that Barron's is slightly more difficult than the real test. I'll say it again: Very Good Coverage of All the Test Areas. Teaches you how to solve the questions in a smart way, not to perform answer-sheet magic in a dumb way.
Rating: - You don't have to buy many SAT books
If you are going to take the Sat I would only recomend you two books: 1. How to Prepare for the Sat I (Barron's How to Prepare for the Sat I, 21st Ed) 2. 10 Real Sat's from College Board (2nd Edition)The first book will help you too much with vocabulary even though I think that 3000 words are too much too memorize but you'll be able to study from the most important words selection if you don't have enough time. It also have flashcards to play if you want. It is a good book to prepare you for the math section (with every topic you'll have to cover), so I don't think you will have problems with that in the exam if you take a carefully review of the explanation and do all the math problems to practice, It's definitely good at this, the best I think. The problem is the reading part of the test, this book won't help you, thats why you have to study from the 10 real sat's book it will give some important advices and it have more difficult tests in this section. The second book is good but not enough, the 10 real SAT's will help you very much, but in my opinion it's the only good thing it has besides the reading part explanations. The first book has 7 test to improve yourself, I recomend to do one every week, it also have an answer sheet that will explain how to solve every problem and will tell you which chapter you have to study harder. Please don't buy every book you find, you wont cover all of them. These are the only two books you need, I guarantee you a good score.
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