Customer Reviews

SAT II: Chemistry (REA) -- The Best Test Prep for the SAT II (SAT PSAT ACT (College Admission) Prep)

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

 

 

Don't get me wrong. REA is an excellent AP History preparation book. But, when it comes to the SAT II Subject Tests, the REA books are nothing in comparison to Barrons and Kaplan. REA does not go into depth. The organization of the book is poorly put together. Unlike REA, Barrons starts off their book with the simple subject of matter. REA jumps to to top of the pyramid at the start of the book without even establishing a foundation. The discussion on matter and the periodic table is almost the last area reviewed. In general, the REA Chemistry book is vague. It lists out equations and then expects you to understand them without explanations. After taking the Chemistry SATs twice, I strongly suggest Barrons. The Barrons book definitely reflected my 790 score. If you buy Barrons, don't just think that you will automatically do great on the Chemistry SAT test. You're going to have to read.

I am very strong in chemistry but the SAT II test was still much more than I could have handled without this book. When I took the first practice test I got a 500 score and was very upset, but I reviewed the questions I got wrong and got better and better. I received a 750 on the actual test and know that it is because of this book.

One of the best ways to learn is to take frequent tests and review the answers. This book was designed for exactly that process. The title promises to be the "best test preparation" for the SAT II cheistry. I think it is for a certain market. It has six pratice tests with explanations which put it right up with Barron's which also has six. The review is very terse which is best unless you don't happen to understand something in which case look at the demonstration problems in a general chemistry textbook. The coverage is stronger on general principles relative to its coverage on particular labratory reactions such as T/F: does HCl(g) gas react with NH3(g) to produce a white smoke? This is in a Barron's test. Whether or not this book is valuable to me is beyond any debate. It is because it has six original practice tests which take about an hour each and supplies the answers with explainations.

I'll cut straight to the point - the course review is quite nearly unintelligable, especially the part about organic nomenclature. The editing is abysmal; numerous typos abound, and there are certain questions on the provided practice tests where the answers don't match up and the explanations are just wrong. I would bet my life on the fact that the following statement is false: "All matter is composed of small particles called molecules". We all know atoms, rather than molecules, fit this sentence better, but apparently, the book doesn't agree. The typo problem especially hurts when you're trying to make heads or tails of a question and the typo just throws everything off (i.e. 10.2 when 1x10^-2 is meant). All in all, if you absolutely need to practice and can't find anything else, use this as your last resort. I have to admit, it's better than nothing.