Customer Reviews

Barron's How to Prepare for the PSAT/NMSQT: PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (Barron's PSAT/NMSQT)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This book is extremely poorly edited and filled with errors. Although there are explanations for every question on the practice tests, many are entirely wrong. Example: How many 2 digit numbers are there which do NOT contain the number 9? The correct answer is 72. Their answer? 71...how? Subtract out "..the ten numbers from 90 to 99 plus the 9 other numbers that end in 9: 9, 19,...,89". That's a direct quote, and last I checked, 9 had just one digit. This is simply one of many examples of poor editing, and completely incorrect answers/explanations. Definitely try something else.

I agree somewhat with what other the reviewers said that "this book has too many errors," and it does have a lot of erros. However, I don't think that there is another PSAT book on the market that parralels all the things in this book. First of all, the writers went into great detail about all the question types and there were TONS of practice problems and a test to review each question type to diagnose your weak areas. Then there was a 1300 word vocabulary list and a succint PSAT high frequency word list. There was even roots to help with unfamiliar words that you may encounter on the day of the test. And lastly but not leastly--there were 10 practice tests. This is probably the best PSAT, SAT, and even SATII:Writing book that there is out there. The mistakes are nothing compared to the breadth of knowledge and tips that this book provides. This book is definitly worth every last penny.

Thanks to this book I did so well (1360 -- I only got 1040 when I took the PSAT in 10th grade) that I am really feeling confident about my SATs this spring. The book taught me everything I needed to know. I improved much more than my friends who took courses. The tactics REALLY helped a lot. I found out that I could get a higher score by not trying to answer all the questions. The math sections in particular were great. Even though your PSAT scores aren't sent to colleges, you want the experience of good scores before you take the SAT. GET THIS BOOK!

Although the number of practice exams was helpful, this book was filled with errors and the answer explanations were hard to understand. Look for another book.

Okay, at first glance, this book looks great. 7 tests (one of which is a diagnostic), compared to the other new PSAT books' 2 or 3, and a giant vocab list, holy crap - MUST BUY, right?

NO. This book has tons of errors, and yes, I am talking about the 12th edition released in 2004. I'm talking like ~2-6 completely wrong answers a test, and even more typos and wrong underlining, which is extremely frustrating, especially under timed conditions. It's the TWELFTH EDITION for christ's sake. Also, this book covers some math that is not on the real test, and is overall, known to be way harder than the PSATS actually are. You will get ~40 points lower than you should, which is not necessarily a good thing. The errors and the crappy questions are the cause for the low score, not because it is "challenging" you and is making you a better test taker by giving tough questions. Do not buy. It's a waste of your time and money.

This book is so much worse than the Princeton Review it's amazing. The typos are so bad that in the practice tests' answer sheets, the 2nd math section is missing the bubbles for the (e) answer choice! So I had to make my own little bubble while taking the tests.

The tests also seem to be unbalanced. My score on them went way up from the diagnostic and then by the 6th test was back down to almost my original diagnostic score! Very VERY depressing. Until I picked up the princeton book and aced the practice tests in there, I was feeling like I was going to do horribly

The practice tests are also WAY harder than the actual test, although they are a lot of practice, even with the errors, so this is the book's only saving grace.

The explanations are horrible compared to the princeton review's, and the writing section is particularly apalling. It does not even attempt to help you! It has bad advice, and no, i repeat no, coverage of the grammar you'll need to know.

I'm so glad I got the princeton review book just in time to go through before the PSAT, it was so much better.

All of these reviews are for the absolutely wrong edition of this book! This book came out only a few months ago in 2004, and these are 2003 and past reviews. Hello? Amazon.com is really slipping here.

I bought this book as an impulse after seeing it contained eleven practice exams, plenty of practice. However, the questions are terrible representations of actual questions, the answers are often mistyped, and wrong portions of sentences are underlined. The format of the book is not conducive to a true test either. If you are studying for the PSAT I recommend getting the Princeton book and a solid SAT II Writing book. Don't be conned by the many practice exams inside, they won't help you at all.

Covers all topics in great detail... The 1300 word vocab list is excellent, and covers just about every word you need to know in order to get an 800 verbal. LOTS of reps in ELEVEN full practice tests with explanations for every question.

well its good for practice but lot of errors....but i feel best in the market but can be better