Customer Reviews

McGraw-Hill's SAT, 2008 Edition book only

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As an SAT teacher, I first took notice of the earlier-edition Amazon reviews that frankly identified the book as a tool capable of reaping major rewards, provided the student invests time and hard work. I reiterate those sentiments, and recommend the book to those willing to shore up their skills to tackle the SAT, and beyond it the lifetime of academic challenges.

A no-non-sense tone underlies the book. Because of the style, a reader might either take comfort from recognizing the traditional voice of school instructors, or shy away in search of quick fixes. In my case, I acknowledged indebtedness to my high school teachers for developing me with the conventional wisdom. The reader could seamlessly absorb this book into high school education.

Onto some specifics:
.The outstanding essay section fashions the student, step by step, into a logical thinker capable of wielding the power of language. Educators might find intellectual familiarity with Joseph Williams' college text, Style. The content, however, is accessible to a high school student willing to learn.
.As a labor of love, the compiled passages and questions show social conscience, scientific wonder at the world, and appreciation of beautiful language.
.The meticulous organization and sub-organization form branches of learning that could be selectively viewed. A reader could take a step back and glean the entire content, or zoom in locally on the areas of greatest need. Other books on the market do cover the question types, but not with this type of crystal-clear vision. A conscientious student could navigate to problem areas and relentlessly eliminate the shortcomings; this is a highly effective way to maximize one's score.
.Though serious, the book is not so ponderous as to ignore the need for a student to exercise a nimble mind at times rather than stay in an overly scholastic pose. The authors come right out and say that the SAT math is different from school math. They equip the student for the occasion.
.Unless I am mistaken, I believe this book was the first to market with those clever, word-root based vocabulary flashcards, which I see in many books now. I also believe in the effectiveness of math flashcards for burning the quantitative thought patterns into the brain. Sometimes, drilling is necessary; I tell my students to shuffle the deck and keep working until instant recall.

Overall, the book offers a highly effective program to build up a student from ground up.

This book gives terrific practice tests and sound advice to students preparing for the SAT. Students improve their scores through a sensible approach of practicing by taking mock exams, and there is plenty for them to learn at the same time. All sections give succinct test taking advice as well as comprehensive conceptual and practical information. My child benefited greatly from using this book - and I learned a few things too!

I've been teaching for over twenty years and done a bit of SAT tutoring, and I found this book terrific. The range and clarity of the practice questions and explanations are great preparation for the test, and the study tips are of use for and well beyond the SAT. That's double value--immediately practical, and naturally encouraging of general good habits for life long learning.
Unlike some SAT prep programs, this one is not cynical or smarmy. It doesn't propose a besting of the test or a quick fix but gives solid, comprehensive preparation, with common sense and savvy, in a tone that's both wise and with it.

A well-organized back-to-fundamentals guide to preparing for the SAT. Anyone who wants to be thoroughly prepared for the SAT should work methodically through this book. While the number of full-length SATs included is impressive, it's really the concept reviews and practice problems that set it above the others.

The book itself is good at giving tips and reviews on how to solve the various questions in the SAT, and has a large vocabulary section that possibly pays for the book itself. The mock-SATs, however, sometimes have incorrect questions such as in the grammar section especially. The detailed answers are nice, but there are typos galore. Sometimes it is hard to follow the explanation for a math problem because you have to go back and find out that they put a 6 where they really meant an "a" variable.

The program gets annoying after a while. It is definitely nice to have your answers graded immediately, but the clock still runs during an untimed practice test. It doesn't do anything, it just subconsciously rushes you. It also suffers from impossible questions and incorrect grading (For example on one Math section it gave me two incorrect answers on obvious questions, and in the explanation area it explains how to get the exact answer I got! Go figure.) Basically, your score is based completely on luck and varies wildly depending on how the program feels that day.

But honestly, it does help significantly, so I am willing to look past the flaws and see a beneficent product.