Cracking the NEW SAT with Sample Tests on CD-ROM, 2005 Edition (College Test Prep) [Paperback]

Princeton Review (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

No one knows test-prep like the experts at The Princeton Review. We teach students how to beat the test-writers at their own game. The NEW SAT may be more difficult, but we’ve cracked it once again. Our best-selling test-prep guide has been completely revised and updated as Cracking the NEW SAT. It reflects all the changes in the new test while continuing to offer the tips and strategies that help students perform their high-scoring best.

• Fully revised and updated for the NEW SAT
• Detailed explanations and dozens of examples
• Book with CD includes seven full-length practice tests.
• Free access to extra testing and more help online
• Drills for math and reading sections
• SAT "Hit Parade" list of the 250 most important vocabulary words

Product Details

• Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Review; Bk&CD-Rom edition (September 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375764291
• ISBN-13: 978-0375764295
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.2 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,213,585 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST HAVE, November 29, 2004

By 

Great Faulkner's Ghost (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Cracking the NEW SAT with Sample Tests on CD-ROM, 2005 Edition (College Test Prep) (Paperback)

Princeton Review challenges the ETS party line on prepping and coaching. By studying patterns in the ETS answer choices and question sequences, Princeton Review came up with what it calls the Joe Blog approach. At its core, Joe Blog says that on easy questions, go for the obvious answer that Joe Blog (a hypothetical Joe-Average) would guess; on the hard ones, avoid the "obvious answers, because they are "tricks" to fool Joe Blog.

If you have a shot at 1350 or above this may not be the ideal approach. But for most other people, it could add some hard-fought points. Even for top scorers, the Joe Blog techniques could add points by increasing the odds of successfully making educated guesses on the toughest questions. Moreover, the Princeton Review writers do provide excellent practice beyond the Joe Blog approach. They seem to have studied the content of the test better than most authors, particularly Barrons. If there is one flaw, it is that the explanations to the practice questions need a lot of work.

While not perfectfor everyone, this book is still an important and helpful resource. I do recommend this book overall.

26 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The book bombed!, March 9, 2005

By 

R. Grasha (Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cracking the NEW SAT with Sample Tests on CD-ROM, 2005 Edition (College Test Prep) (Paperback)

The Princeton Review prep-book of the New SAT is not worth it! It begins with "the average highschool student, Joe Bloggs." Not only did the book keep refering to Joe, it makes the student reading the book and studying feel like an idiot.

The strategies the book employs are flawed and do not work. They go over every single detail and step, and it got to be really boring. The book spent most of its time explaining the small details, which got super boring really quick. I do not recommend this book, unless one naturally does not test high on the SAT test, then the explaining of every detain might be nice.

If one wants a really good and excellent SAT prep book, check out the Rocket Review by Adam Robinson, which I would say is the best book to prepare for the new-SAT!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Shortcut Techniques, Not Sufficient in Teaching Material, March 5, 2006

By 

E. R. Morris "E. Ruth" (Cedar Park, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cracking the NEW SAT with Sample Tests on CD-ROM, 2005 Edition (College Test Prep) (Paperback)

This book is great in teaching you the SAT, (teaching how the creators of the SAT think) not teaching what you learn in school, because the SAT is not like school. It DOES go over all the things you will need to know, giving you handy techniques and tricks to use that save time.
However, in, for example, the Math section (where I had trouble), if you are not completely secure in your knowledge of each type of math they show, don't expect to learn anything. There are NO LESSONS. There may be a five-sentence paragraph on quadratic equations and that's as far as they go to refresh your memory.
So unless you know it all and just need a shortcut, I'd buy this book, but pick up some suppliments that delve more into the teaching material you don't know cold. That way you can familiarize yourself with the concepts first, and THEN learn the tricks this book teaches.

So I'd give this book a 5 as far as knowing the SAT, but a 4 since you will probably need additional material