McGraw-Hill's Top 50 Skills for a Top Score: SAT Math [Paperback]

Brian Leaf (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 26, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0071613919 | ISBN-13: 978-0071613910 | Edition: 1

We want to help you succeed on the math portion of the SAT*

"What a surprise, what a relief! An SAT guide that actually meets you where you are, talks to you with wit and compassion, and clears away the panic of test taking." -- Rebecca Pepper Sinkler, former Editor, The New York Times Book Review

We've put all of our proven expertise into McGraw-Hill's Top 50 Skills for a Top Score. With this book, you'll master the essential skills identified by a prominent SAT instructor and add points to your score. You'll get focused instruction on these crucial skills, helpful exercises, pre- and posttests to check your weaknesses and progress, and two additional tests on the accompanying CD-ROM. With McGraw-Hill's Top Skills for a Top Score: SAT Math, we'll guide you step by step through your preparation and give you the tools you need to succeed.

Inside you'll find:

• 50 essential skills with step-by-step sample exercises
• A pretest to identify your weaknesses and a posttest to track your progress
• Two additional tests on CD-ROM
• Strategies to help you answer every type of SAT math item

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Brian Leaf, M.A., is the founder and director of New Leaf Learning Center in Western Massachusetts. In his 17 years of private teaching and tutoring, Brian has instructed SAT and ACT preparation to thousands of students from throughout the United States and around the world. His private tutoring sessions have a two-year wait list. Brian is a member of the American School Counselor Association and the Massachusetts School Counselors Association.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (August 26, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071613919
• ISBN-13: 978-0071613910
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 0.4 x 10.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,404 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brian Leaf, M.A., is the author of eleven books, including Misadventures of a Garden State Yogi, Name That Movie!, Defining Twilight, and McGraw-Hill's Top 50 Skills for a Top Score. He is the only man alive to have written both a yoga memoir and multiple test-prep guides. He is not sure if this is a noble or dubious distinction.

Brian is Director of the New Leaf Learning Center in Massachusetts, where he has helped thousands of students from throughout the United States manage ADD and overcome test and math phobias.

Brian graduated from Georgetown University in 1993 with a B.A. in Business, English, and Theology.
In 1999, he completed a Masters through Lesley College specializing in yoga and ayurveda for Attention Deficit Disorder.
Brian is certified as a Yoga Instructor, Ayurvedic Practitioner, Massage Therapist, Energyworker, and Holistic Educator, and he is an avid meditator. He has also dabbled with Bach Flower Essences, Cranio-Sacral Therapy, Reiki, Shiatsu, and Tai Chi. Can you top that?

So what's the connection between yoga and test-prep? Let's just say that one of Brian's first yoga teaching gigs was at the ETS corporation (Educational Testing Service) in Princeton, NJ. They're the folks who make the SAT. So now Brian gets paid hundreds of dollars per hour to share what he learned while the test-makers were half asleep in relaxation pose.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for test taking skills, even humorous! June 30, 2012

By Two kids mom TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

My son actually sort of enjoyed using this book, due to the author's sense of humor and straightforward way of explaining SAT problems. This is really a book about scoring higher on the SAT, not about mastering math concepts. For example, the author suggests using real numbers (picking some numbers) to solve some of the variable problems by plugging into the multiple choice answers. Although as a teacher this makes me cringe, as a test taking skill it is excellent advice. He also explains solving permutation problems (you have 10 players and want to make groupings of 5 people, or how many ways can you arrange 7 books) without ever mentioning factorials. In fact, I found this method of presentation so much more intuitive that I plan to use it in my classes (and then move onto actually using factorials!).

The author also gives advice about when to guess, how to approach the test and so on, all good test taking strategies.
Having the answers EXPLAINED at the back will be very useful for those who do not have a teacher around to explain. His explanations are very straightforward.

I found a few minor errors but none of them mathematical (things like saying the answer was A. 6 when really B was 6).
Before taking the test I had my son take one sample math section to serve as a baseline. After working through this book I had my son take several math sections again using a timer. Overall his score increased by 150 points. I think this is an important addition, doing the problems under time pressure. If you (or whoever you are buying this for) will only do one book, choose this one. But if you have more time, then get another SAT book with practice tests and work those as well.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read book to score over 700 July 11, 2010

By Anuj Goswami

Format:Paperback

Among a crowded field of several SAT math preparation books, this one will get you the highest score with the least amount of effort. The tips are explained with enough examples and followed up with easy, medium and hard questions. The answer and explanations at the back are also elaborate. My only wish that there were a few more "hard" questions on each topic for better practice.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for students between a 500-600-- not tough enough for top students November 15, 2012

By B. Hanson

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I disagree with Anuj -- I use this book (as a tutor) for students who are scoring in the 500-630 range in math and find it effective. There just aren't enough practice problems, though, to make it really comprehensive. Likewise, the book has a few types of problems that are very much missing. It doesn't really test exponents or function problems comprehensively, and also misses out on a lot of the algebra problems. The "Springboard" section is good, but entirely too short.

The problems aren't tough enough to help you get an 800-- but if you're starting lower, this could be a useful tool.

It's a good length for crammers, but not enough for anyone with over two months to prep.

I've been tutoring for 10 years, and have scored perfectly (twice) on the exam myself.