Customer Reviews

Barron's SAT Subject Test in Physics

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

 

 

I'll put it out now - I ranked top 5% for the NJ science league for physics I . I've had many experiences with questions aimed at really testing your knowledge, and some of these questions do that. But some of them do it too much, to an extent where the question covers information NOT even in the information they cover in their chapter review sections. Worse, there are many glaring errors, both in their review, in their tests/questions, and their reasoning for their questions. Their questions, like i said, aim to test you, but often it only comes off as confusingly worded. Sometimes, the answer they find uses numbers different than initially stated (one question used 125m/s, but the answer worked off 100m/s.).

To be honest, the only thing going for this book is its name - barrons, without a doubt, is tough. But too tough, even for the writers of the book. If physics is not a strong subject for you, then find another book. You will most likely find it easier to follow

I'm afraid I have to agree that this book is not that great. It's surely better than nothing, but I wish I'd chosen one of the other books. I was in a hurry and assumed they were all pretty much the same. I got it for my son. Once I actually started looking at the practice tests I was dismayed to have caught one outright physics mistake (saying that charge moves through a capacitor in one of the answers). I can't believe the actual test isn't at a higher level than this book's sample tests. I hope the SAT doesn't really rate assigning the proper name to a law as being as important as knowing how to apply the law. Which law is Charles's and which Boyle's? I'd forgotten, but so what? Dumb low level questions overall (Do you know F=ma?). If you're in a hurry and don't have a choice, this book is OK. If you have time and a chance to compare, I think you'll probably go another way. The Princeton book probably is based on actual tests, which I assumed this one was, but now doubt.

The 2010 Edition is coming.

I hope the editors can fix all the errors so that this book can compete with the Princeton Review one.

I also hope the editors can retain all the challenging problems in this book so that test-takers can always "over-prepare" themselves by using a Barron's book.