Customer Reviews

Math Workbook for the SAT I (Barron's Math Workbook for the SAT I)

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

 

 

I've taken my SATs May of 2003, and October 2003. I scored 740 for May SAT and achieved 780 for October SAT. This book is one of the best books for mathematics. It depends on how well you use this book. Anyways, I'll tell how i used this book.

First week: I bought the book, went over the concepts, structures, tricks, strategies, one of 10 REAL SATs practice exam to know what score i would rank, read through beginning stuff.

Second week: Starting this week, I work on chapter 3, which deals with arithmetic skills and concepts. There are 8 lessons in chapter 3. I did 2 lessons a day starting Monday, and then Friday, I relax and review the lessons I've practiced. When you study, you must MASTER the concepts. Knowing the concept does not help.

Third week: There are 7 lessons in Chapter 4 which deals with Algebra. I do two lessons a day, for 4th day, when I only do 1 lesson, I work on my weaknesses in Chapter 4. Then 5th day, I review and study. When review, review lessons from previous chapters so that you won't forget.

Fourth week: There are 5 lessons in Chapter 5. I work 2 lessons a day, and then I review and study as usual.

Fifth week: Chapter 6 deals with Geometry, which was one of my weaknesses. So I decided to learn 1 lesson a day since there are 8 lessons and SAT strongly emphasizes a lot on geometry. So fifth week, I've done 4 lessons, one lesson each day. 5th day, I reviewed.

Sixth week: I've continued and finish last 4 lessons and reviewed as well

Seventh week: I went back to my routine plan and studied two lessons a day, and then reviewed.

Eighth week: I worked on Chapter 8, last chapter before practice exams. 5 lessons, study.

9th week: Then after I've studied these chapters, I go over and review all the problems, questions, concepts from previous chapters. I review chapters 3-5.

10th week: Same as 9th week but I reviewed chapters 6-8.

11th and 12th week. I took practice exams to familiar myself with the exams. After you see the score you've got, go to problems and check to see if you made a mistake because you weren't careful enough. Then assume that it's correct and check your score again. For instance, You got 630 on practice exam but if you didn't make stupid mistakes, what could you have gotten?, 650? 700?

From this point, you're pretty much set for SAT Math. Note that I'm one of the biggest slacker with horrible English skills who's from Korea and still get high score. I am NOT a genius or some nerd. I received grades of Bs and Cs in mathematic courses in past and if I can pull this off, you can. This is a 3 month plan I've made beginning of junior year.

My parents told me that cramming does not work and that I should space out studying to learn more effectively. I am a fan of Bruce Lee and he has stated long time ago that "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." This means that you shouldn't assume you know the concept just because you've solved few easy problems. You should apply the concept as many times as you can and do them properly.

People say "practice makes perfect". It does not. PERFECT practice ALMOST makes perfect. You'll never get your goals to be perfect if you don't practice it properly and people make mistakes once in a while, so nobody is perfect.

In Psychology, It shows that spaced practice and overlearning helps for studies because overlearning and spaced practice puts your learning to long-term memory where it wont' decay for a long time.

When I say review and stdy everytime, it means, know the concept really well and master them by applying them as much as possible to every problems. When i say two lessons, it means, solve every problems in those lessons. I've also used Kaplan Math Workbook for practice problems to strengthen my concepts. I've studied previous chapters When I was studying chapters 4/5/6/7/8 to prevent my brain from forgetting.

I used this method to tutor students also as well. It worked for my studnets. I've raised most students' scores. My best student raised his score from 580 to 720, then he quit learning from me after 3 months, learned on his own from knowing this method for 2 months, and achieved 800. Student getting higher than a teacher? If I can do this, anyone can.

It does not surprise me that a SAT Prep teacher does not care for this book. If more students bought and used this book, their math score would improve dramatically and the SAT prep teachers would be out of business. Would I rather spend 225 dollars on a course for improving my score or 15 dollars for a book to do the same. I chose the book and boy did it work. I bought this book and used it for about 2 months prior to my second SAT. I knew I should have spent longer time with it, because I wasnt able to get all the way through this in-depth book. Yet I improved my math score by 105 points just by using this book only half of the way through. Imagine if I had the time to read the whole book! I am really impressed with Barron's. I strongly urge this for anyone who is looking to improve their SAT math skills....Oh and when I took the actual SAT I recognized about 90% of the math problems from the Barron's book. So yes it does help tremendously.

I've only completed 50 or so pages in this workbook, but it has immediately covered many of my weaknesses. Although this book is helpful to all (except for the very low or very high scorers,) I think it will be most beneficial to those who are currently in the 600's. I highly recommend this book.

Barron is always the best study tool for the SATs, and this math workbook is tremendously helpful. It not only gives you a million math problems to work through, it tells you little tricks and approaches to the math problems. Plus, you get explanations for all the problems. It's terrific, and helped me a lot.

I highly recommend this book. I first took the SATs in May of my Junior year. I got a 640 on the math. I then bought Barron's Math Workbook (2nd Edition), along with the College Board's 10 Real SATs, and re-took the test in December. My math score improved 120 points--- I received a 760. This book is very thorough and effective, the questions have understandable answers, and it also offers good tips. However, I would strongly recommend getting the College Board's book in addition to this one, as the practice on real tests in invaluable.

I'm an SAT tutor that actually takes the SAT three times a year. This is a great book and I wish all my students had the discipline to use it. The complaint from the other SAT tutor is not relevant to the objective of raising your score (which if you are scoring in the 500's can easily go up 100 points if you use this book in conjunction with the eight practice tests in the College Board Official Study Guide). This book remediates your math skill weaknesses which is the first step in preparing for the SAT math section. Once completed, (just the sections you are weak or rusty in)then dive into the eight practice tests in the College Board book which combine math reasoning with math skill. My other favorite resource for my students is Acing the New SAT I Math by Greenhall Publishing---an excellent resource to use by itself or in combination with Barron's. It's actually more comprehensive than Barron's and ideal for the student that is looking for a challenge and a score over 650. I would do the Barron's book first and then the Acting the New SAT I Math for each math section. Have fun!

This book really helped me review for the math section of the SAT. It covers every type of question and gives a thorough review of every math concept you will need to know for the SAT. I highly recommend this book if you are looking to raise your scores significantly.

This book really helped me a lot. This book has everything you need to know for the SAT I Math. It's easy and fun to learn. To be honest, you have to use this book wisely. I'm happy that i got 780 with this book even though i didn't finish this book thoroughly. This covers every material you need to know. This book covers the concepts, gives lot of practices, and gives you lot of sat tricks and tips for you to know. It's a school's Algebra and Geometry textbooks mixed in one.

I am a math tutor who has used this book to help several kids study for the SAT. It is a good review of the material covered on the SAT. It has a full section explaining each type of question followed by plenty of practice problems ranging from easy to very difficult. I have not found many mistakes in the book. There are answers and explanations for all the problems in the book making it easy for students to self teach. There are also practice tests which I feel are a great deal harder than the actual SAT. The Appendix to the book is an excellent math review listing all the math concepts needed very consisely allowing a quick review the night before the test.

The math section was always my weakest. I always scored in the 500's, with my highest score being 560. I started using this book about two weeks prior to taking the test. I recommend using it earlier than that, so you can go through each lesson slowly and precisely. Since I didn't have that much time, I only concentrated on my very weakest points. If I had time to review everything I could have scored higher.
The book has many, many practice problems with explainations, which is the best way to prepare for the test. Some people find it difficult to learn math with a book and not a teacher, but the explainations in this book are easy and thorough.
Going into the SAT, I was hoping to score a 600 on the math section, but expected a 580. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out I scored a 620. That may not be high to some, but that was more than I needed to get into my choice of colleges.
I believe this book was the reason why I exceeded my expectations. If you have self-discipline, it is a great way to study.