Gruber's Complete Preparation for the New SAT, 10th Edition [Paperback]

Gary Gruber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2005

Fully revised and updated for the New 2005 SAT, this 10th edition of the SAT guide used in more schools than any other book features proven strategies to help you attain the perfect score of 2400.

Praised on national TV, radio, and in hundreds of newspapers around the country for his revolutionary Critical Thinking Skills method, Dr. Gruber—“the leading expert on the SAT” (Houston Chronicle)—offers students:

• 5 complete SAT practice tests modeled on the 2005 format
• New tips on the SAT writing test
• An expansive vocabulary builder to boost your score on the new written test
• The inside track on how SAT questions are developed and meant to be answered
• Key strategies to assist in the general, math, verbal, and written sections of the test
• And much more!

Based on more than 30 years of research, Gary Gruber's method and books have helped millions of students successfully prepare for the test that determined their future. Let him help you succeed!

Editorial Reviews

Review

“America’s Super Genius!” (Washington Post )

“His methods make the questions seem amazingly simple to solve.” (Library Journal )

“Gary Gruber is the leading expert on the SAT.” (Houston Chronicle )

“Gary Gruber is the most prominent guru of SAT preparation.” (Chicago Tribune )

About the Author

Gary R. Gruber, Ph.D., is recognized nationally as the leading expert on the SAT, test-taking methods, and critical thinking skills. His books on test taking and critical thinking skills have sold more than seven million copies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1072 pages
• Publisher: Collins Reference; 10 edition (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060581700
• ISBN-13: 978-0060581701
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.4 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,542 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gruber's New SAT, February 16, 2005

By 

curbsideprophet89 (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gruber's Complete Preparation for the New SAT, 10th Edition (Paperback)

I knew that the Gruber SAT books for the old SAT were great, so I purchased this book when I saw it in the bookstore. I haven't gone through it in depth, but it seems to be one of the best SAT books for the new version. It has a lot of helpful features like the "101 Most Important Math Questions You Need to Know How to Solve" and a very thorough "Math Refresher" that will definitely raise your score. The word list is great, as the definitions are very concise and easy to remember. The 5 practice tests seem to be very realistic. The grammar review is phenomenal. It goes over basically all the grammar one could possibly need to know for the SAT, and it also seems to contain some extraneous information that will be very helpful for a high school English class. For some reason, my high school teaches no grammar, so I need all the practice that I can get for the writing section. This is probably one of the best SAT books for actually learning the material. The Kaplan and Princeton Review books won't help you learn a lot, though they will provide you with a lot of practice. The three best books for the new SAT are, in my opinion, McGraw Hill's SAT I, Barron's How to Prepare for the New SAT, and this one. They are also quite thorough, and you don't need to purchase more than 1 or possibly 2 of the 3 to be well-prepared for the test. Good luck :)

37 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I got 2190. I think that's pretty decent., June 15, 2006

By 

K. S. Chong (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gruber's Complete Preparation for the New SAT, 10th Edition (Paperback)

It's all you need. Not cluttered like Barrons. Not vague and inaccurate like Princeton. Not full of typos and errors like Kaplan. It's nice and concise, and if you decide to study many months before the SAT, it has a comprehensive list of vocab words. The lessons are easy to understand. Watch out for the occasional typos though, like any other book. It has good practice too. My advice: PRACTICE!! Whatever you get wrong on the practice tests, check the answer explanation and learn from that. If you're still confused, go back to the lessons because they're pretty good on Grubers. Out of the books I've seen, I think Gruber's is the most dependable. Was recommended by a friend who got 1590 on old SAT.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best SAT textbook I've used so far., February 14, 2007

By 

Legolas Greenleaf Whittier (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gruber's Complete Preparation for the New SAT, 10th Edition (Paperback)

This is not the kind of book that is mainly about strategies to get you through the test (Princeton Review's "Joe Bloggs" comes to mind, here...), so it's not recommended for last minute studying. However, when it comes to actually teaching the things that you need to know, Gruber's is really, really good.

I've had problems in the past with textbooks that are riddled with careless errors that caused significant confusion, but I can't say that I found any major errors in the book, or even any typos. What's also nice about this book is that it gives approximately equal emphasis to each of the sections- I've had books that completely ignore verbal while focusing on math, and vice versa, but Gruber's gives you a thorough grounding in everything.

1) The diagnostic section was great. The book opens with a short math and verbal diagnostic, but also had a section about "the 101 math questions that you most need to know how to solve", which was great for pinpointing lingering issues that I had.

2) Regarding the math section: It's quite thorough, with lots of handy practice questions interspersed throughout the lessons. One caveat: I didn't use this section all that much, because I had separate books that were entirely devoted to the math portion. However, I still found it to be extremely helpful when I did use it.

3) The verbal section is fine. It focuses mainly on the vocabulary portion of it, which I personally feel is unnecessary- the SAT only has a few vocab questions, and it's not really worth the time to spend hours and hours improving your vocab for a couple points. They did cover it thoroughly, though, with sample questions. I would really like to see some more sample reading passages in the next edition, but they do have tips for reading long passages in the "Strategies" section.

4) The grammatical section is the best I've seen- I haven't come across any other textbook that comes close. It's also the section that I needed most, especially since I (and most people I know) haven't been taught proper grammar since... never, really. What's nice about it is that it actually teaches you grammatical rules, including those about misplaced modifiers, dangling adjectives, etc., instead of mostly expecting you to wing it. In fact, I think that the grammar they taught in the book was actually more difficult than what the SAT required: I shed tears over the grammar section when cramming, but I breezed through the writing portion when I took the actual test, so I think the level of difficulty is a good thing. The only problem I had was that in the part about the essay, it didn't thoroughly emphasize the fact that you need clear examples in your essays, either from history, literature, current events, or personal experience. Otherwise, it helped my score to no end.

The practice tests at the end were really nice, and there were a lot of them, with thorough explanations for each answer. Two thumbs up.

I recommend it unreservedly, if only for the grammar section alone.