Customer Reviews

Math SAT 800: How To Master the Toughest Problems

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

 

 

As a high school teacher of a rigorous college preparatory course, I am always looking for the latest, best, and highest quality SAT prep materials available. I have read and used all the other books out there from all the different companies, and in my opinion, this one is extremely user-friendly (well-organized and clear explanations), relevant (covers the problems students need to know), and overall, a great tool for high-achieving students. It is a great value for what you get. I am excited to use it in the classroom and highly recommend it.

As a math tutor, I have had students whose SAT math target scores range from 600 to 800. A friend recommended this book to me about 3 weeks ago and I decided to do an experiment right away.

First I used the diagnostic test at the very beginning of this book to test my students and divided them into several groups, then chose different combinations of math topics from this book for those different groups. The examples and detailed explanations under each topic are very well written and organized. The students who were already at the 650-level responded really well--most of them are at the 700-level right now after just 2 weeks of reading and practicing. Several students who started at about 550 also pressed me again and again for harder problems from this book.

Everybody wants a little bit challenge from time to time!

This is a clear, concise, and well-written book that will help students master the most challenging Math SAT problems. The book contains numerous sample problems in all of the topical areas that the Math SAT tests, and provides a detailed, comprehensive, and easy to understand set of explanations. I would highly recommend this book for any student attempting to raise his or her math score - it is a terrific value.

This book was recommended to me by a math major at Yale (just to be clear, I do *not* think she used this book herself...she's probably just looked at it), and it has proven its worth. Although (as some of the other reviewers have pointed out) the book does seem to expect the reader to learn on his/her own, the hundreds of practice problems are more than worth the price. The explanations for the each of the problems are also mostly correct, and they're fairly concise.

For me, personally, this book has really boosted my confidence. Many of the problems here are harder than anything I've seen on an actual SAT (or any practice SAT, for that matter), so once you know how to approach these, the real SAT math is a breeze. That being said, this book can become very frustrating. I have literally thrown the book down and cried on a few occasions.

But it's worth it, especially if you work through the problems and read the explanations carefully. Over the summer, I spent about...thirty or forty hours on the whole book; most students can probably just look over their weakest areas, since the book is conveniently organized by topic.

Anyways, enough with the description and on to the actual numbers: before this book, I usually made around a low 700s score on practice tests. My real score on the math section of the June 2009 SAT was a 700. I've yet to re-take the SAT, but so far, my scores on practice tests (I've been using the Princeton Review practice test book, as well as the CB official one) have consistently been in the high 700's to 800 zone. Since I haven't really looked at any prep book since this one, I'm sure the majority of this point increase is thanks to Math SAT 800.

With so many SAT prep books that focus on the general student, this is a clear and concise book for the student attempting an exceptional performance in math. Very efficient--no space wasted on easy stuff.

After buying this book and sharing it with my students (who were confused, frustrated, and overwhelmed by its contents), I have to question exactly who the target audience is. The problems are definitely challenging, but there is no background material to help the reader understand the solutions. Instead, the book simply presents question after question in no particular context, with the assumption that the reader will miraculously "get" the underlying theory.

My students, for the record, all excel in math - many of them have scored extremely well on the quantitative portion of the SAT, which makes them the target audience for this book. And, without exception, every one of them put it down in frustration, wondering how it was supposed to "teach" them anything.

My gut feel is that this book is targeted strictly at math "whiz kids" who want to prove how smart they are. It has NOTHING to offer anyone else on an instructional basis, except a pulsating headache.

This book is meant to help one perfect their skills for the SAT math test. The problem is, the book is full of mistakes! Some of the solutions are just wrong, and for some questions, the correct answer does not even appear as one of the answer choices! Unfortunately, it is not a matter of spelling mistakes or typos, but some solution methods and definitions provided are simply incorrect. Students using this book may end up learning an incorrect method as a result. It is a complete waste of time trying to sort it all out when there are plenty of well-reviewed SAT books to choose from. I am a math teacher with a degree from the Mathematics Department of Princeton University, and would NOT recommend this book as a study tool.

good book if you're looking for "medium" and "hard" type problems to practice for the SAT, which make the difference between getting a 600-700 and getting an 800. You don't have to waste time solving the easy problems that you already know how to do, or leafing through the official practice sats to find good practice problems.

the book is divided into 11 sections, so you can focus on the type of problems you want (e.g. word problems or geometry). also, there are two practice exams with a mix of all different kinds of problems. And you can look up the answers and detailed explanations to every problem at the back of each section/exam.

this book is also good for the math sat 2 subject tests in math (IC and IIC)

This is clearly the very best math SAT book on the market. Whereas most SAT books have explanations that are too consise for the student who reads the book to understand (sometimes even with a gifted tutor sitting with him), the explanations in this book are very thorough, making the learning process easier. The book is very well organized, the background of the authors is extremely impressive, and the problems range from hard to very hard to extremely hard, making it ideal for students who wish to up their scores from say a 600 to an 800. I greatly recommend this book.

Math 800 is perhaps the most challenging math SAT prep book on the market. It is designed to challenge those with already advanced math abilities - and it certainly does. Kweller Prep suggests students practice only 5 problems per day with this book to supplement their SAT prep regimen. It has a nice array of 'hard-type' questions that can be hard to find elsewhere. Math 800 has slight errors (but most all books do) so it may be best to work with this book alongside a tutor.