Customer Reviews

Gruber's Complete SAT Guide 2009 (Gruber's Complete SAT Guide -12th Edition)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I work for a tutoring company. With my employer's permission, I use this book after my students have exhausted all of my company's prep materials.

This is an excellent book for SAT tutors; a average-to-good book for students using this book as their sole source of preparation; an excellent book when used in conjunction with the SAT exams published by the College Board.

This book teaches critical thinking strategies which are essential for not only the SAT, but other examinations you will take in high school and college. I cannot recommend the strategies highly enough. Other SAT test prep books teach you tricks. The Gruber book teaches you thinking strategies which will serve you for years to come.

I will focus on the math content, as that is what I usually use this book for.

-Critical Reading Section-

The questions in the review tests are a little harder than the actual SAT. The critical thinking strategies are useful.
The vocab list is extensive, and perhaps a touch overly difficult, but it would be a good list for a student to work with if they want to do very long term preparation (12+ months plus) for this test.

-Writing Section-

The writing section is an afterthought, in terms of content review other than the practice tests. If this book ever gets revised, this is the section that needs to be beefed up. (The writing section hasn't been expanded from the 10th edition.) The practice test questions are a touch harder than the actual SAT questions.

However, this book has a section on writing the essay which would be helpful for many students. It also has a section on grammar that should be required reading for every high school student in this country. Grammar is not taught extensively in schools anymore, and this book gives you a back to basics course in the subject.

-Math Section-

Math Practice Test Questions- Unlike the SAT, the questions sometimes seem to be randomly placed within the section. An entire section can be very easy, and the next section can be brutally tough. The questions are tougher-to-much-tougher than the actual SAT. (Students using this book on their own should be made aware of that.)

Questions on the practice test are linked by a numerical code to the content review (covered below) as well as the general math strategies (covered at the start of this review). As such, they can serve as a reminder of the general math principles that the were just part of a specific test question. It's helpful if you get the question wrong, or omitted, and can even be helpful if you get the question correct.

Math Content Review- Excellent. If anything, it overprepares you for the test. It covers some areas (such as set theory, and certain geometric formulas) that are not covered on this test. This section can be a godsend if you are weak in this subject.

After each content review section, there are 50 practice questions which cover what you reviewed. These questions are much harder than what's on the test.

-Summary-

This book prepares you for a test that is more difficult than the actual SAT. But the strategies it teaches, as well as the essay review and grammar review sections mentioned in this book, are worth their weight in gold.

This book should be used in conjunction with the book of SAT exams published by the College Board. (The Official SAT Study Guide) You will likely score higher on those more realistic practice tests than the harder Gruber practice tests.

-Addendum-
The 10th and 11th editions of this book are 99.95% the same as the book under review. If you can buy a copy of those books (at what I assume would be a very inexpensive price), you are getting this book.

This book has been "revised" by slapping a new cover on it and printing the year 2009 on the cover (as opposed to 2008 for the 11th edition.)

(This is logical to do from a business perspective <Would you buy a SAT book in 2009 with the year 2008 on the cover?> but it is worth mentioning, anyway.)

So...at first I was a little hesitant to switch books for my tutoring class, but this summer I conducted a thorough review of many of the SAT books on the market. I decided to classify my findings here on amazon.

Gruber's books I rated as 5 stars because of the following:
1. Great content including easy to advanced questions for all sections of the exam.
2. Easy to follow examples with thorough answer explanations.
3. Math sections covering all concepts with lots of practice problems.
4. "Like real" exams with explanations to all questions (unlike some of the books I reviewed that only give the answer but no explanation).
5. New writing section with entire grammar and writing sections

What pushed me over the edge to 5 stars: the unique critical thinking skills included in the book that teach lessons beyond the SAT test. Great book.

This SAT Test book has consistently been strong on good test strategies and thinking skills yet its author and publisher need to revise, update and correct mistakes in this otherwise good test-prep book. The root "anim" is the root list has erroneously been given the meaning "year" since the first edition...1980's? Check out the redundant use of "er,or" in the "suffix section". Other errors include no lines specified in the margin of the very first reading passage section (EXAMPLE 2,p.134.in the,2009 Edition). Numerous 'strategy' and 'test' examples and some solutions need to be updated/revised. Why the redundant use of examples from the "Strategy Diagnostic Test,Part2" and the Strategy Section"? All five "SAT Practice Tests, Section 3" should be reviewed and updated with present SAT test questions, i.e., more 'line specified' reading questions; math questions should reflect more clever updated thinking demonstrated by the College Board test questions. I only use Gruber's SAT Practice Tests as individual questions and as timing exercises. I use only Real SAT Tests in the College Board Publications for my students when they take full tests.

Therefore ,although I regularly use this book, I have developed my own strategies that can make use of and/or extend Gruber's.

I was thrilled to see the 2009 version of Gruber's Complete SAT Guide. I have used his books for decades with outstanding results with my students. His new additions to the 2009 version like the "Gruber Hot Prefixes and Roots" (which give you the meaning of over 110,000 words) is excellent and a great way to learn the important prefixes and roots of words. Also his "Words Commonly Mistaken for Each Other" is a great addition. The additions to the Math Refresher and strategy sections are also particularly useful. I was also happy to see that the "101 Most Important Math Questions You Need To Know" is now keyed to the specific sections in the Complete Math Refresher section. His books get better and better and I can't wait to have my students use this 12th Edition.

Good find...I always suggest Gruber's books for my students studying for standardized tests such as the SAT. His material is extremely useful and his strategies are not to be without.

I noticed new additions to this 12th edition book which make it even better than the last 11th Edition. For example the "Hot Prefixes and Roots" which gives you a real easy way to learn some of his important prefixes and roots and which will get you the meaning of lots of important words.

1. The math section is great with good explanations. I also like how the book contains many practice examples in each math strategy section. The tests have a good balance of types of questions and challenging problems.

2. The verbal section is very good and covers so many vocab. words. Specifically, the prefix and roots sub-sections are very helpful to teach students. Students can learn without having to memorize each word!!

3. The grammar and essay sections are very comprehensive. The section could contain a little more essay examples and samples but hopefully other Gruber books will come out soon, even a standalone writing book. I feel like it contains so many rules the book could be used as a grammar book by itself.

Great book!!

This book, hands down, is the SAT help book available! It seems to be a little unknown secret, as most buy Barron's or the blue College Board book.

The math section is a great help. It shows great shortcuts, and ways to approach the "trick" problems. Though with that said, you still have to know Algebra, as it is not an Algebra help book. It just explains time saving tricks to use while taking the SAT.

The CR and writing sections are also better than other books.

Overall, this book helped me raise my score by 170 points! 60 points in Math, 30 points in CR, and 80 points in Writing.

This was the best $14 I spent on test prep!

I have been searching to use a book for my high school class on the SAT and this has been the best book I have used. I love the examples and real practice tests. The vocab section and grammer cover so many points. Highly recommened for any student preping for the SAT or wanting to boost their critical thinking skills.

The author provides a good overview of the new SAT
exam which is geared toward critical thinking skills.
For instance, there is a new writing section which
requires the development of a lengthy essay which is
concise, creates interest and closes the presentation
so that the reader can draw valid inferences.

The vocabulary is challenging. The presentation contains
words ; such as, antithesis, assuage, blase' , callous,
maraud, postulate and viscous.

The mathematics problems stress careful thought and
contemplation. Some questions have thoughtful algebraic
manipulations. For instance, what is the probability of
having two men in a room of 3 people? The model
solution is 3/8 .

P( man/woman being selected) = 1/2
The intersection of 3 points is (1/2)(1/2)(1/2) or 1/8
1/2 - P( intersection of 1/8)= 3/8

The reading passages require candidates to read the
questions first. Then, go back and make a selection
based upon the most general answer or a careful research
of details in the paragraph. Overall, the preparation
is superior for candidates who will sit down with this
review text faithfully.

A friend of mine recommended I use this book and it has really helped improve my child's math skills. Her score went up over 200 points!! The new 2009 guide had everything she needed including new practice exams and extra grammar skills. Recommend.

By using this book alone and this book alone, our daughter raised her SAT score by 330 points from the first time she took the test! AMAZING!!!