Customer Reviews

Kaplan CBEST: California Basic Education Skills Test

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I just took the CBEST and it's far easier than any practice exercise in this book.

In the math section, this book will have you racking your brain trying to remember quadratic equations and all the geometric formulas for area and volume. There's nothing remotely that difficult on the CBEST. Most of the actual CBEST math questions involve averaging, calculating percentage, and reading graphs. There are a few basic (and I mean basic) algebra problems, and the geometry doesn't go beyond calculating the perimeter of a rectangle.

The reading section in Kaplan has questions that are just plain confusing, and frankly, I thought some the answers, were wrong. One of the tricks on the actual CBEST reading section is to give you 2 choices that are technically right, but one is the "best." The reading problems in Kaplan often have 3 choices that are equally correct. I have an English degree and I missed 20 out of 50 on Kaplan's practice exam. The real CBEST reading test is far more straight-forward.

If you want to prep for the CBEST, save your money and download the free sample test on the CBEST website, [...]. If you absolutely feel the need to purchase a test prep book, you're better off with Barron's book, which gives a more accurate depiction of the actual CBEST, along with some good test-taking tips, such as when you're having trouble deciding between 2 choices on the reading section, go with the one that's longer--it's usually right.

The Kaplan books will more than likely give you a bad case of test jitters and insomnia the night before the test.

This book makes me so mad that I don't know whether to burn it or take it back so Kaplan loses out on my money. There are typographical and format errors all over the place, explanations are vague, the math section is needlessly excessive and overly extensive, and the reading section is grossly lacking. I consistently scored around a 35 on the reading sections, but vehemently disagree with about half of those missed points because the poor wording of the question, the vague answer choices, or the faulty reasoning of the answer explanations. This book is full of contradictions and errors. I passed the CBEST, but with no help from this book. There is another reviewer of this book that says to go to the CBEST website and review there, and I agree wholeheartedly. The practice test on their website is much more indicative of questions you will encounter on your test, and it is free. Whatever you do, don't buy this book. It's a waste of your time and money.

Alright so basically I thought this book would be the most helpful in studying for the CBEST which I am taking in a week from tomorrow. Over the course of studying and trying the practice tests I wish I had invested in the CliffsTestPrep CBEST right off the bat instead of having to run out and purchase it tonight. Kaplan is supposed to be a good company for study guides such as this yet they make typographical errors and especially when they are on the practice test portions you can imagine why this becomes a problem. Such errors as using "?" in place of the multiplication sign and the not equal to sign in place of the pie sign? I mean come on, you're training people to pass their CBEST yet you're making such errors? Not to mention at times it was a bit hard to follow. I would not recommend this book to anyone. You want a good study guide for the CBEST? Go purchase CliffsTestPrep CBEST instead.

At first, I thought this would be a great book to study from- lots of practice tests, and explanations about the answers for each question. But only in reading the amazon reviews, am I feeling better about taking this test in a week. In the math section, The Kaplan book uses several strange symbols in place of simple math symbols-- (" rather than <)(?, instead of a multiplication symbol) It only added to my stress, and it was one more thing to try to figure out, in equations that didn't always even make sense. I feel better after reading these reviews and finding that other people were having the same difficulties, and the actual CBEST doesn't give you these sorts of unneeded curve balls.
The Reading section, I agree with the poster who wrote that there were often several answers that seemed to be correct... I consider English & writing to be my strength, and I did not always agree with the book's "correct" answers.

I hope all you posters are right about the actual test being easier! I was trying to figure out if I could postpone my test because I felt so unprepared, until I read this book's reviews. As advice to other future CBESTers- I recommend getting the sample test off of the official CBEST website. It also eased my anxiety. It's much simpler and more straight-forward than this book.

I just took my CBEST, and the questions in the Kaplan practice tests were very similar to those on the actual test, if not a little more difficult. The only problem I had was that there wasn't really an explanation of how the CBEST is scored and how you could score your own practice tests.

Kaplan's CBEST review book is structured similarly to their other books. It begins with an intro to the exam, how it's scored, the types of questions you will be asked, how much time you have to complete the test, etc.

Then there is a diagnostic test covering all three sections of the real CBEST exam: reading, math, and writing. From this test, you can begin to see what areas need more work than others. Every question has a detailed explanation of why the correct answer is correct.

The next part of the book is broken down by test section. The reading section encourages you to practice reading passages that you might find on the CBEST and then breaks down the skills you'll need to ace this section (e.g. understanding the author's tone, determining for whom the passage is intended, getting word meanings from context). They also recommend you study vocabulary words which they have listed in the back, but since words only appear in the CBEST in very clear context, studying words and their meanings seems unnecessary. The section concludes with another practice set.

As a mathematics major, I cruised through the math chapters in a matter of minutes. The math on this exam is extremely straightforward and relatively simple. You need to know how to do basic computations, fractions, ratios, basic geometry, etc. These chapters are FULL of practice problems on every subtopic so that you can get all the practice you need. Again, this section ends with a practice set with detailed explanations of answers.

The writing section covers the two types of topics given. There are six practice essays with example answers for each one as well as a self-check for strengths and weaknesses.

Finally there are three full-length practice exams. They include tear-out answer sheets, answer keys, and additional detailed explanations of answers.

All in all, Kaplan's CBEST review book covers it all. My only complaint is that in the reading section I found way too many questions to be ambiguous with too many answer choices too similar. I have not yet taken the CBEST exam, so I don't know if that is an accurate representation of the exam, but I sure hope it isn't. Also, I would have liked for them to have included some sort of scale to see where you might be scoring with the practice tests (for instance, how many questions do you have to get right for a passing score (41) on the reading or math sections? How many questions to score a, say, 60?... Their GRE book had a great scale that told you how to determine your GRE score from your raw score on the practice tests). At this point I have no idea if I am in the "passing" range or not... though I would assume so.

Anyway, this is the only book I am using to study, and I am quite pleased with it. Kaplan doesn't let it readers down.

After studying this guide I became more and more discouraged and then started really worrying if I could pass the test. I started wondering about the idiots who created such a ridiculous test. The reading questions are bizarre and often had no good answer, especially with respect to word definitions. The math section tests on things that were never explained and has some distortions of problems that took me 15 minutes just to figure out the solution explanation. If you want to build your confidence stay away from this book. After studying it I went to the CBEST webpage and found out the testers weren't crazy, it was Kaplan

This was the only book I used to review for the Cbest. Found the diagnostic and practice test very helpful. Would recommend it to anyone prepping for the test.

This is an amazing study guide. All examples are similar to items found on the CBEST. I passed the test without a hitch.

I did not get the book instead I got a refund for no reason. Something to do with the post office; that was what I was told by an email.