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Cracking the SAT, 2012 Edition (College Test Preparation) [Paperback]

Princeton Review (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)


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Book Description

June 7, 2011 0375428291 978-0375428296 Original
If you need to know it, it's in this book! Cracking the SAT, 2012 Edition includes everything you need to know to master the Math, Critical Reading, and Writing sections of the SAT. It includes:

• Access to 5 full-length practice exams
• Our exclusive "Hit Parade" of vocabulary appearing most frequently on the SAT
• Tons of drills and detailed explanations to show you exactly what to expect on the exam
• Thorough review of all SAT topics, including essay-writing techniques and a focused grammar chapter
• Key SAT strategies and a breakdown of SAT myths to help you feel more confident on test day


Product Details

  • Paperback: 768 pages
  • Publisher: Princeton Review; Original edition (June 7, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0375428291
  • ISBN-13: 978-0375428296
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 1.7 x 10.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,999 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
53 of 54 people found the following review helpful
By Karen
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Princeton Review has finally achieved a remarkable goal: A radically new cover design around zero changes from last year's text!

Since 2005 when they revamped their textbook for the new SAT, they have annually produced a new edition. Every year a shiny new cover with a new student of different ethnicity. And every year they managed to adjust the layout a wee bit: change a word or two here or there, but keep essentially the EXACT SAME TEXT from year to year! As a test prep tutor who uses this otherwise helpful book for her students, it is infuriating to be forced to buy a new book every year - rewriting all my notes - just to match the new page numbers.

In 2010, they added another practice test into the book, the only real, if small, improvement, since the rest of the text either stayed the same or lost some of its punch. It is well known that as one edits something repeatedly, it tends to lose energy, as any student working on his or her college application essay is aware. This certainly happened to The Princeton Review SAT text: The Critical Reading section in particular lost a lot when they chose, in 2007, to merge the Long and Short Reading Passages techniques, resulting in a confused and less effective approach to these passage types which require very different techniques and focus.

But this year -or rather, next year, since the 2012 model arrives with almost a half year to go- they gave up all pretense at creating new value. Shamelessly, they radically changed the cover to a dull black and white with a single student smiling in the void. (At least I'll be able to differentiate it from the army of their 2005-2011 editions on my bookshelves!) But the interior of the book is absolutely identical to 2011! I have compared the two texts side by side and flipped at random to dozens of pages in both books and they are the same, totally.

So, pick up a good second-hand copy of 2011 or 2010 if you like and save some money. The Princeton Review is a good course and their basic test-beating techniques are definitely helpful. This text in conjunction with the SAT 'bible' ("The CollegeBoard's Official Guide to the SAT") used for its practice tests, accompanied by "Tutor Ted's SAT Solutions Manual" are the best study trio I have found. For students seeking extra math help, Barrons dedicated "SAT Math Workbook" is terrific, as is the collection of free lessons and CollegeBoard math questions explanations available for free online at Khan Academy.
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26 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Good, but to an extent August 1, 2011
Format:Paperback
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 might be able to 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.

Critical Reading was their strongest section, between the Princeton Review methodology for passage analysis and their vocabulary list. However, there were slight drawbacks, namely the method they use for passage analysis is slightly hard to swallow at first. Once you get used to it, it becomes much simpler; however the first time you read through it and apply it, it may seem ineffective. The vocabulary section was very good, but if you want a higher score, you may need vocabulary supplements.

The Writing 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. If you want to snag a higher score, I'd look somewhere els. I'd recommend looking as SliverTurtle's guide (just google it) if you intend to reach or break a 2100. He (or she; I have no idea who wrote it) talks about everything you may need for a high score on the SAT's.

Oh and good luck!
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By Lynne
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
As a tutor, I'm very selective about the SAT books I use with my students. When one student recently completed all the practice tests in the College Board's SAT book (the only book I ever recommend), I resorted to the Princeton Review. I was deeply disappointed with the critical reading questions; they were too easy and sometimes the wording was inaccurate (e.g. asking what was implied in a passage when the answer was explicitly stated). My student, a high school senior who has taken many advanced and AP classes, also noticed the inferiority of the content in this book. I won't be using it again and will be recycling my copy.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Nice shape.
Came new and in three days. No rips or tears in the book basically perfect form. I would say get if you need it cause it really does help you a lot.
Published 1 month ago by SilverJenni
There are better options
I'm a current high school junior studying for the exam and I've used the College Board book, Barron's, McGraw Hill, and Princeton. The tactics in this book are not thorough enough. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Cecilia
Great book....horrible tests
Practice test 4 section 6 is undeniably a math section, it starts on p256 and the first question is about the number of books on shelved. Read more
Published 3 months ago by VICTOR LORICA
Decent, but has poor editing
As is obvious in the title, this textbook is poorly edited. One of my major gripes with this book is that after each practice test, there is a table of answers for all sections for... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jerry Tsai
Ss
So far, I love the way that this book step by step guides you on picking a right question. I'm only about 100 pages through, and I've gotton sample questions but when answering and... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Ss
Good SAT preparatory resource
This is decent resource to prepare for the SAT. It is written in a very approachable, straight forward tone. However, it is not the best SAT preparation book. Read more
Published 7 months ago by NuclearJulian
Good to increase interest.
I purchased this for my daughter who is in high school hoping she would do a few questions each night. She actually is using this book and says that she thinks it is helpful. Read more
Published 7 months ago by KK
Still the gold standard, 10 years later
I used this book when I was in high school, and recently bought it for a friend's daughter. Flipping through it, I found references to old friends like Joe Bloggs, as well as very... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Guest
This book is great!
I love this book to death. It gives you SAT-specific tools and techniques for knowing which questions are worth answering, figuring out tricky questions, setting goals, and much... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Katie
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