Customer Reviews

Cracking the SAT, 2011 Edition (College Test Preparation)

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

 

 

This is a great study tool, but when my daughter went to take the online practice tests, we learned her code had "expired", 5 weeks after purchase. No where in the materials does it state that you need to register online immediately. Very disappointing.

This book is by far the best tool for SAT preparation. It teaches very useful tactics and presents a complete vocabulary list, which provides 99% of the hard words in SAT tests.

I bought this book for my daughter who is preparing to take the SAT. It arrived on time and in great condition. The material is easy to navigate through. We would recommend this.

The Princeton Review is a great book for what it aims to do: provide you with a decent score on the SAT's. It does not, however, prepare you to do exceptionally well on the SAT's (and by that I mean 750+ in any given section). Basically, if your goal is to break 650 or maybe hit a 700, this book is perfect, and I am sure that if you use it properly, you can nail a 700 in every section.

The Math prep is not at all comprehensive or in depth. They do a nice job of laying out basic concepts, but for the most part the strategies are poor. They have this thing called the "Joe Bloggs technique," which essentially says something to the effect of, "on easy questions the tempting answers are usually right, on medium questions the tempting answers are rarely right, and on hard questions the tempting answers are never right." They aggrandize this method beyond its actual ability, which isn't much from the start. They do have very useful techniques for percentages, ratios, and averages, but they never explain strategies to help you with the harder questions.

I can't say much for the Critical Reading as a whole, because I didn't really use it (I took the Sat Subject Test in Literature, which is far harder than the SAT I CR), but their vocabulary section is really good. The list of vocabulary words is excellent, and they have good strategies for the sentence completion. This section temps me to give it a higher rating.

The Reading Section was abysmal. The review of grammatical concepts was nonexistent and the strategies for writing the Essays weren't really flushed out, and as a result you do not get a sense of what the essays are like or how to write one.

So again, if your aiming for a 650-700, this book will do the job perfectly. If you want to snag a higher score, I'd look somewhere els. If you want to score highly in math I heard Dr. Chung's book was great ([...] and Gruber's as well ( [...] though Gruber's is a complete review, apparently only the math section is good. For high scorers on the CR, I recommend Direct Hits [...] As for the essay, I found this link to be helpful: [...]. If your looking for a great approach for the SAT, SilverTurtle's post ( [...] is an approach par excellence.

Oh and good luck!

I worked as a 'coach' for the Princeton Review 20+ years ago, so when my daughter needed to review for the SAT's this book was the first one I thought of. I'm pleased to see that PR still maintains the slightly irreverent approach to the SAT's that make it more interesting for the reader than just another review book. My daughter read it without complaint and even once said "this is a really good book" which is high praise indeed for a test prep book.

As for the results - well, we're still waiting for the test scores. But my daughter said the test was 'easy' which I hope is a good sign.

very good book breaks down everything into simple terms for easy understanding helps you a lot i recommend this for everyone who wants to get a good score

I purchased this book based on reviews to raise my reading SAT score, and I was able to do just that with this book.
I improved my score from a 2060 to a 2350 boosting my reading from 610 to 800, and here's how I did it:
Used princeton review's general SAT prep book and read through the reading sections
Go to satvocab.com --> the devices for memorization may seem silly, but on test day you will be thanking them, I can guarantee you, I used the site to memorize up to 30 words a day
Finally, use the big blue collegeboard book to go through review questions and go through final priming so that on test day you can be sure of yourself and breeze through the test.

SAT tutors have said this is the most comprehensive guide to the SAT test. If you are taking the SAT or taking a SAT prep class, this would be the book to buy.

I loved this book! It should be the main SAT prep book that anyone uses, in addition to the official SAT guide by the collegeboard, which is a great source of short reviews and real SAT tests. This is the best prep book for the SAT that i've found out there, and is much better than the Barron's or Sparknotes prep books. I'll list the main reasons why I love this book and why it should be the main SAT prep book that anyone uses:

1)Great organization of the book into the 3 sections found on the test: the writing section, critical reading sections and math section. In each of the sections, it tells you strategies, tips and tricks, goes over some exercises and then gives practice questions at the back.
2)The strategies highlighted in each section proved to be an invaluable source of information. Unlike the tips and tricks written about in other prep books, the princeton review book actually gave some useful strategies for each section that I haven't heard before. When I tried some of these strategies out, I found that my scores actually improved and that my test taking time was shortened.
3)The vocabulary review in this book is the best I've seen in an SAT prep book. There are about 15 pages of the most-tested vocabulary on the SAT that you MUST know, along with a definition and a short, usually quirky sentence using the word. After going over the vocabulary in the review book and taking the actual SAT, I must say that I've never seen on a word on the SAT that wasn't in the vocabulary review in this book. Knowing all the words will definitely help you out for the SAT.
4)The math review in this book is definitely solid. It goes over all the math concepts you need to know and then gives plenty of practice questions.
5)There's about 10(i think?) practice tests in this book that were very helpful. They're a bit harder than the real test(the critical reading is wayyy more difficult than the actual SAT, so keep that in mind) but they'll still prepare you very well. I took sections of each of these tests after I read the corresponding section review in the PR prep book and I found that my score improved a lot!
6)Perhaps the best part of this book is how conversational and easy to understand the language is. It sounds like a funny friend who is very informed about the SAT is telling you about the test. The language made it easy for me to read the book and to learn.

Going over this book will definitely prepare you for the SAT because it teaches you everything you need to know. After I used this book, I took the SAT feeling prepared and ready to ace it! With the use of this book, I got a 2300+ score on the actual SAT. I recommend this book to everyone who needs a solid prep book for the SAT!

*Also, there's no point buying the 2012 version because the content and EVERYTHING is the same. You can also buy the 2010 version since its exactly the same as 2011 and save money!

Strategy of eliminating the wrong answers and guessing from those that remain - kind of assumes you don't know the answer. While there is some value in this, the emphasis should be on understanding the material. It did contain a good list of vocabulary that may be on the test.