Gruber's Complete SAT Guide 2009 (Gruber's Complete SAT Guide -12th Edition) 12th Edition

by Gary Gruber (Author)

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ISBN-13: 978-1402212024

ISBN-10: 140221202X

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More Than 7 Million Gruber Books Sold!

"The best book on the SAT" -CBS Radio
"Gary Gruber is the leading expert on the SAT" -Houston Chronicle
"Gary Gruber is the most prominent guru of SAT preparation." -Chicago Tribune
"His methods make the questions seem amazingly simple to solve." -Library Journal
"Dr. Gruber knows the ins and outs of the SAT." -Los Angeles Times

Get the Skills That Unlock the Answers

With the explanation to a question, you can answer that one question. With the Gruber strategies, you can answer thousands of questions! These strategies show you how to think about problems best, and can be used consistently on every SAT test.

The Fastest, Easiest Way to Improve Your Score

Features the Exclusive Gruber System That has Raised Actual SAT Scores by More than 600 Points!
Unique Diagnostic Test Shows You Why You Got Questions Wrong-And How to Correct It
Tips of Writing a High-Scoring Essay
Inside Info on How SAT Questions Are Created
Student-Praised Writing, Vocab, Math and Reading Sections
5 Full-Length SAT Practice Tests with complete explanatory answers keyed to the Gruber strategies and basic skills

Effective Study Tools That Are Actually Fun

101 Most Important Math Questions You Need to Know
The World's Shortest SAT Test (16 Questions)
The 291 Most Important SAT Words
Proven Strategies for Solving Questions Quickly
Tons of Practice SAT Questions, with Every Answer Keyed to the Gruber Strategies and Basic Skills
The Gruber Prefixes and Roots that can give you the meaning of more than 150,000 words

Use the Most Trusted Methods

More schools use Dr. Gruber's books for SAT courses than any other SAT books.
PBS chose Dr. Gruber to train teachers nationally to improve the nation's SAT scores.
National learning centers, state agencies and state education departments have contracted with Dr. Gruber to improve SAT scores and critical thinking ability.

Review

"If you buy only one SAT test prep book, choose this one! It's the only book I've seen for the SAT that fulfills all of my high expectations for an ideal test prep study guide." - About.com

About the Author

Gary R. Gruber, Ph.D., is recognized nationally as the leading expert on the SAT, test-taking methods and critical thinking skills. His books on test taking and critical thinking skills have sold more than seven million copies.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Excerpt from the Introduction
I. Important Facts About the SAT

What Is On the SAT?
It will include a student- written essay and a multiple-choice writing section testing student's ability to identify sentence errors, improve sentences, and improve paragraphs. Although grammar and usage will be tested, students will not be asked to define or use grammatical terms, and spelling and capitalization will not be tested. This essay section will be the first part of the test. The Math section will include arithmetic, geometry, algebra I, and some advanced math covering topics in Algebra II, statistics, probability, and data analysis. The test will measure reasoning ability and problem- solving skills. The other parts of the test will contain some long and shorter reading passages, a long paired passage, a short paired passage, and sentence completion questions.

How Will the Test Be Scored?
There will be a range of three scores each from 200800 for the Writing, Math, and Critical Reading.

How Long Will the Test Be?
The total time of the test will be 3 hours and 45 minutes.

What Verbal Background Must I Have?
The reading and vocabulary level is at the 10th- to 12th-grade level, but strategies presented in this book will help you even if you are at a lower grade level.

What Math Background Must I Have?
The Math part will test first- and second-year algebra (Algebra I and II) and geometry. However, if you use common sense and rely on just a handful of geometrical formulas and learn the strategies and thinking skills presented in this book, you don't need to take a full course in geometry or memorize all the theorems. If you have not taken algebra, you should still be able to answer many of the math questions using the strategies presented in this book.

Is Guessing Still Advisable?
Although there is a small penalty for wrong answers (1/4 point for 5- choice questions), in the long run, you break even if you guess or leave the answer blank. For a full explanation of why, see p. 61, Strategy 3. So it really will not affect your score in the long run if you guess or leave answers out. And, if you can eliminate an incorrect choice, it is imperative that you do not leave the answer blank.

Can I Use a Calculator on the Math Portion of the Test?
Students can use a four- function, scientific, or graphing calculator. While it is possible to solve every question without the use of a calculator, it is recommended that you use a calculator if you don't immediately see a faster way to solve the problem without a calculator.

Should I Take an Administered Actual SAT for Practice?
Yes, but only if you will learn from your mistakes by seeing what strategies you should have used on your exam. Taking the SAT merely for its own sake is a waste of time and may in fact reinforce bad methods and habits. Note that the SAT is released to students on their Question and Answer Ser vice three times a year, usually in the January, May, and October administrations. It is wise to take exams on these dates if you wish to see your mistakes and correct them.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sourcebooks; 12th edition (July 1, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 1100 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 140221202X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1402212024
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 10 - 12
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.8 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 2 x 11 inches

Customer Reviews:
11 ratings

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Gary Gruber

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Gary R. Gruber, PhD is recognized as the leading expert on standardized tests, test-taking methods, and critical-thinking skills. Gruber’s programs are used more than any others by the nation’s school districts, and proven to result in the highest-documented school district standardized test scores. The Washington Post called Dr. Gruber “America’s Super Genius,” and PBS selected him to train the nation’s teachers on how to prepare students for the SAT. Dr. Gruber has consulted with all the major testing organizations, including the College Board and ETS–the world's largest private educational testing and measurement organizations. He has published over 40 books, with more than 7 million copies sold. His website is www.drgarygruber.com

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RHF

A good thinking skills SAT Prep book in need of revision

Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2008

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This SAT Test book has consistently been strong on good test strategies and thinking skills yet its author and publisher need to revise, update and correct mistakes in this otherwise good test-prep book. The root "anim" is the root list has erroneously been given the meaning "year" since the first edition...1980's? Check out the redundant use of "er,or" in the "suffix section". Other errors include no lines specified in the margin of the very first reading passage section (EXAMPLE 2,p.134.in the,2009 Edition). Numerous 'strategy' and 'test' examples and some solutions need to be updated/revised. Why the redundant use of examples from the "Strategy Diagnostic Test,Part2" and the Strategy Section"? All five "SAT Practice Tests, Section 3" should be reviewed and updated with present SAT test questions, i.e., more 'line specified' reading questions; math questions should reflect more clever updated thinking demonstrated by the College Board test questions. I only use Gruber's SAT Practice Tests as individual questions and as timing exercises. I use only Real SAT Tests in the College Board Publications for my students when they take full tests.

Therefore ,although I regularly use this book, I have developed my own strategies that can make use of and/or extend Gruber's.

6 people found this helpful

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Petrosian

Excellent strategies, but hard tests

Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2008

I work for a tutoring company. With my employer's permission, I use this book after my students have exhausted all of my company's prep materials.

This is an excellent book for SAT tutors; a average-to-good book for students using this book as their sole source of preparation; an excellent book when used in conjunction with the SAT exams published by the College Board.

This book teaches critical thinking strategies which are essential for not only the SAT, but other examinations you will take in high school and college. I cannot recommend the strategies highly enough. Other SAT test prep books teach you tricks. The Gruber book teaches you thinking strategies which will serve you for years to come.

I will focus on the math content, as that is what I usually use this book for.

-Critical Reading Section-

The questions in the review tests are a little harder than the actual SAT. The critical thinking strategies are useful.
The vocab list is extensive, and perhaps a touch overly difficult, but it would be a good list for a student to work with if they want to do very long term preparation (12+ months plus) for this test.

-Writing Section-

The writing section is an afterthought, in terms of content review other than the practice tests. If this book ever gets revised, this is the section that needs to be beefed up. (The writing section hasn't been expanded from the 10th edition.) The practice test questions are a touch harder than the actual SAT questions.

However, this book has a section on writing the essay which would be helpful for many students. It also has a section on grammar that should be required reading for every high school student in this country. Grammar is not taught extensively in schools anymore, and this book gives you a back to basics course in the subject.

-Math Section-

Math Practice Test Questions- Unlike the SAT, the questions sometimes seem to be randomly placed within the section. An entire section can be very easy, and the next section can be brutally tough. The questions are tougher-to-much-tougher than the actual SAT. (Students using this book on their own should be made aware of that.)

Questions on the practice test are linked by a numerical code to the content review (covered below) as well as the general math strategies (covered at the start of this review). As such, they can serve as a reminder of the general math principles that the were just part of a specific test question. It's helpful if you get the question wrong, or omitted, and can even be helpful if you get the question correct.

Math Content Review- Excellent. If anything, it overprepares you for the test. It covers some areas (such as set theory, and certain geometric formulas) that are not covered on this test. This section can be a godsend if you are weak in this subject.

After each content review section, there are 50 practice questions which cover what you reviewed. These questions are much harder than what's on the test.

-Summary-

This book prepares you for a test that is more difficult than the actual SAT. But the strategies it teaches, as well as the essay review and grammar review sections mentioned in this book, are worth their weight in gold.

This book should be used in conjunction with the book of SAT exams published by the College Board. (The Official SAT Study Guide) You will likely score higher on those more realistic practice tests than the harder Gruber practice tests.

-Addendum-
The 10th and 11th editions of this book are 99.95% the same as the book under review. If you can buy a copy of those books (at what I assume would be a very inexpensive price), you are getting this book.

This book has been "revised" by slapping a new cover on it and printing the year 2009 on the cover (as opposed to 2008 for the 11th edition.)

(This is logical to do from a business perspective <Would you buy a SAT book in 2009 with the year 2008 on the cover?> but it is worth mentioning, anyway.)

79 people found this helpful

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Goran Jovicin

Review of Gruber's SAT book: 5 Stars

Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2008

So...at first I was a little hesitant to switch books for my tutoring class, but this summer I conducted a thorough review of many of the SAT books on the market. I decided to classify my findings here on amazon.

Gruber's books I rated as 5 stars because of the following:
1. Great content including easy to advanced questions for all sections of the exam.
2. Easy to follow examples with thorough answer explanations.
3. Math sections covering all concepts with lots of practice problems.
4. "Like real" exams with explanations to all questions (unlike some of the books I reviewed that only give the answer but no explanation).
5. New writing section with entire grammar and writing sections

What pushed me over the edge to 5 stars: the unique critical thinking skills included in the book that teach lessons beyond the SAT test. Great book.

7 people found this helpful

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M. McKinstry

Very useful guide with great features

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2008

I was thrilled to see the 2009 version of Gruber's Complete SAT Guide. I have used his books for decades with outstanding results with my students. His new additions to the 2009 version like the "Gruber Hot Prefixes and Roots" (which give you the meaning of over 110,000 words) is excellent and a great way to learn the important prefixes and roots of words. Also his "Words Commonly Mistaken for Each Other" is a great addition. The additions to the Math Refresher and strategy sections are also particularly useful. I was also happy to see that the "101 Most Important Math Questions You Need To Know" is now keyed to the specific sections in the Complete Math Refresher section. His books get better and better and I can't wait to have my students use this 12th Edition.

3 people found this helpful

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Catsup

Great Help!

Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2009

This book, hands down, is the SAT help book available! It seems to be a little unknown secret, as most buy Barron's or the blue College Board book.

The math section is a great help. It shows great shortcuts, and ways to approach the "trick" problems. Though with that said, you still have to know Algebra, as it is not an Algebra help book. It just explains time saving tricks to use while taking the SAT.

The CR and writing sections are also better than other books.

Overall, this book helped me raise my score by 170 points! 60 points in Math, 30 points in CR, and 80 points in Writing.

This was the best $14 I spent on test prep!

One person found this helpful

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M. Garvey

Excellent book from high school teacher

Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2008

I have been searching to use a book for my high school class on the SAT and this has been the best book I have used. I love the examples and real practice tests. The vocab section and grammer cover so many points. Highly recommened for any student preping for the SAT or wanting to boost their critical thinking skills.

One person found this helpful

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Gruber's Complete SAT Guide 2009 (Gruber's Complete SAT Guide -12th Edition) 12th Edition

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