Customer Reviews

SAT Subject Tests: Mathematics Level 2 2005-2006 (Kaplan Sat II : Mathematics) (Kaplan SAT Subject Tests: Mathematics 2)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Even though the name and cover remains the same as Kaplan SAT subject test math level 2 2005-2006 edition, they've corrected all the errors. These next two paragraphs are about what I think happened and if you don't really care then you can skip to where my book review starts.
Unlike Barron's test prep books, Kaplan along with Princeton review, doesn't actually change anything in their newer editions ever year but just the covers with more recent dates on such as 2005-2006 edition in this case, to appeal more people by making them think as if its a newer book with the most recent test information. However, I've compared my edition of this book with my friend's that looked exactly the same and discovered that the errors on mine have been corrected. Turns out that he bought his around April 2005 and I bought mine over the summer.
What Kaplan did was that after they've released the book for the school year of 2005 and 2006, they found out numerous errors in their book and corrected them but couldn't really change anything to distinguish the newer and the older because they don't put the edition numbers like 5th or 6th edition but the years so they couldn't put something like Kaplan SAT subject test 2005-2006 second edition.

Book review (finally..)
This is a good review book stating every concepts and formulas neatly and concisely. Personally, I think this is the best book for review if you've already learned most of the material. It's divided into chapters such that there are separate chapters for Algebra, Plane Geometry, Trigonometry, etc. In each chapter it has the most common types of problems for that category (algebra, trig, function, etc.). First in the beginning of each chapter there's a warm-up section with one problem for each type of questions, then there are detailed explanations and analysis for each type. It explains the concepts, shows how to solve them step by step and for some questions shows easier alternative ways to solve them. After that it ends the chapter with a follow-up test with one problem for each type of questions just like the warm-up test.
This book gives you the essentials, not enough to get every single question on the test but enough to get an 800 since you can omit up to about seven questions and still get an 800 if you get all the other questions correct. I don't think the questions on the actual test are really tricky as long as you know what you're doing.

Princeton Review's isn't very well organized and seriously lack problems. It teaches you concept and then gives you some problems and concept and problems in disorderly manner. Two practice tests in this book are similar in difficulty to the actual test and could be useful.

Barrons' like usual is too hard and teaches you way too much information that you don't need for the test. Although it contains the most number of practice tests out there, (eight practice tests, nine including the diagnostic) they are all much harder than the actual one and I don't think they help much.

If you really want a safe 800 and get every single question right, I suggest you use Rusen Meylani's Complete Prep for the SAT Math Subject Tests Level 1 and Level 2. I have this book but didn't do it at all because the lack of time and the fact that I was intimidated by its thickness (more than 500 pages or maybe 600 I can't remember) but supposedly it has literally all the information and all the types of problem that has appeared on the SAT math subject test.

I got an 800 and if you master Kaplan's book solving every single problem you will too. (By the way I omitted five questions) If you're planning on buying just one book I would strongly recommend this one.

There's one thing I want to add. In trig chapter on this book, there's a list of double angle identities and half angle identities. I don't think you really need to know them for the test. I didn't memorize them and there wasn't one question on the actual test that required me to. You should know other trig functions on the chapter though.

Like everyone else said: for every problem set about HALF the freaking problems have some sort of error, whether it's the answer choices, typos in the concepts, or w.e....

In a math book, having a typo can SERIOUSLY screw up the concept; it's not like literature where if you typed "literatueur" people can't understand it... I spent a long time trying to figure out why my answer didn't match the "correct" answers in this book, and after doing that for half the problems, it was very obvious that the editor for this book was a jerk...

I would've written this review almost a year ago, but I threw away this book in some random corner of my house and found it recently; of course, this time, i placed it where it really belongs: the trash.

If you're already good at math like me, and want a comprehensive book to score well with little practice, I'd get the Barron's version instead. Of course, the Barron's is notorious for always being full of crammed information and excessively hard problems than necessary, but for math, that's actually good! You do'nt have to read or do all the problems in the barron's math; all i did was flip through the week before to sectiosn i wasn't as familiar with (i.e. probability and etc.) and learn those formulas and i ended up getting an 800, evn though i skipped 2 questions on the day of the test

I am a seventh grader looking for some out of school math, so I bought this book along with the barron's one. Knowing that barron's was harder than the real thing, and because I had not learned half the material on the test, I used this book first. It tought me the basics in a well organized matter, although at some times it did not explain very well. The most annoying part of this book was the number of errors. There were about 5 just in the first chapter including 2(-8)=16 and a refrence to the wrong answer choice. This book will teach you the foundations very well but if you want an 800 buy another book as well (the sparknotes book is online and you can get there 3 practice tests by simply loging on as a different person every time, for you first practice test is free).

I just started workin' on this book a few days back. In the first and most basic chapter (Algebra), I found out 8 errors!!! I have decided to use another book and would recommend the same for everyone else!

I insist that Math books should be totally free of errors. This book has way too many!

My son bought this book to prepare for the Math II subject test. The book covered all of the SAT's topics, but the practice sections were horrible. There were errors everywhere. Most of them involved simple algebra, but many were typos. The book would make mistakes like 1+3=2. In many situations the answer key would contradict the answer explanations. On the plus side, the full-length practice tests did not have too many errors, and they gave an pretty accurate prediction of my son's score on the SAT Math II.

My sister purchased this book so that she could prepare for the SAT 2 in math. She started to review the book and had a few questions. I helped her where she needed help, and found that there were numerous mistakes made. In the first two sections alone, there are at least four mistakes. One is just a typo, but the rest are algebraic mistakes. How can a test book be helpful to a student if it has so many mistakes in it? We are going to return the test book for a refund and buy a different one.

This book is filled with mistakes. It is hard to use because the answers don't match up and the page numbers are off. I strongly recommend that amazon.com users buy any other SAT study books oher than KAPLAN books. My math book was a waste of money because its errors make it difficult to use.

The errors in this book toatally overshaddow any positive sides it may have. I'm using it to prep for the Math IIC right now and it's frustrating the hell out of me. There are so many mistakes it should be called back. Don't buy it -- you'll be better of just reviewing your course material.

Although I consider Barron's textbook as full with information, and quite complete, I must say that I was very happy when I received Kaplan's. In fact, the material in there is given in a brief and clear manner. You practically can read the whole textbook in just one day!!! (Of course, I don't advise that, but...)

Very easy to read, and to understand. You first pass through a mini-test, and then learn the material by applying it to the exercises you just had. So you easily remember the lesson. I'm quite happy with it.

Of course, I am studying from other textbooks too, but I think that if possible, you should pass through this one. And in case you have no time to study at all for the exam -> that's the perfect textbook to quickly learn the main material.