The Official SAT Study Guide: For the New SAT
by The College Board
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Book Reviews of The Official SAT Study Guide: For the New SAT
Book Review: A must-have for your SAT prep; but no accurate diagnostic tools
Summary: 4 Stars
Official materials are always the most important for the SAT, and this is currently the only source available for authentic SAT questions. The questions and essay topics contained in this book give a nice overview of what an SAT-taker will see on test day, so it would be wise to complete and review as many questions as you can in this book.
This book is about 890 pages long. Approximately 380 pages are devoted to test preparation material at the beginning, and the remaining 510 pages or so contain the actual eight practice tests. Most people rightly focus their energy on the practice tests in this book, as they are the most important.
The first part of the book, the test preparation section, offers a good enough review, but it lacks the candor found in books not written by the publisher of the test. The review section has overviews of the SAT, the Critical Reading Section (which used to be called the Reading Comprehension Section), the Writing Section (which was introduced in March of 2005), and the Math Section. The review of the Reading Section is okay, but truth be told, it's very difficult to coach SAT reading in a book--there's really no substitute for having a live teacher help you with the reading. The review of the Writing Section gives an overview of the grammar tested, but it doesn't even begin to touch on the range of grammar rules and usage `tendencies' that you would need to know to ace the SAT. The sample essays, however, are extremely helpful. Be sure to read through ALL of them to make sure you understand what the SAT is looking for in the scoring. Finally, the Math Review section has a nice overview of general math, but if you're having difficulty on the harder math questions on the SAT, you'll probably need to turn elsewhere for help, as I don't think there's enough emphasis given to the hard math questions in this book.
This book, however, has two important shortcomings. First, it does not contain any explanations, so if you've missed any of the questions, you won't be able to check this book for explanations. College Board offers access to explanations, but at a cost. Many other websites also offer explanations, as well. Second, the tests do not give an estimate of your score; rather, they give a score range. For example, you might take a test and find out that on one section your score range is 480 to 560. Of course it's always better to have a single number, not a range.
All in all, the single most important book currently available.
Book Review: The standard for SAT prep, but not without its flaws
Summary: 4 Stars
The following is an abridged version of a review found on CEEAE dot org:
The Official SAT Study Guide is the standard for SAT preparation. This book is written by the College Board and ETS, the companies that administer and author the SAT. So the problems found in this book are as close to real questions as we have right now. The Official SAT Study Guide is the follow-up to "10 Real SATs". "10 Real SATs" was the standard for preparation for the old SAT. Now with the New SAT, College Board released a new book, The Official SAT Study Guide.
The Official SAT Study Guide consists of two main parts. The first 300 pages consist of introductions to the test, sections and question types as well as some test-taking hints (the hints should not be confused with strategies, since they are so basic in nature). This part of The Official SAT Study Guide is largely useless. It may serve as a good introduction to the SAT, but it falls far short of providing any real strategies.
The second half of the book is where the Gold lies: 8 full-length exams. Each exam closely mirrors real SAT exams and even has an accurate answer sheet to bubble in the answers. Students have almost universally praised these exams as the most accurate to the real SAT. Also, all 8 of the full exams are in the book, not on some superfluous CD as in many other books.
This book, however, is not without its flaws. We will only list one of the major flaws here, but if you would like to see the full list please venture over to CEEAE dot org. The most significant flaw in The Official SAT Study Guide is that there are no explanations provided to any of the exams. We were surprised by this since so many students, tutors and counselors complained about the lack of explanations in "10 Real SATs". We just figured that the College Board would have included explanations in their most recent release, but unfortunately they have yet to do so. Perhaps the next edition will be accompanied by explanations.
Note: This book as well as more than 20 other SAT prep books are reviewed and ranked on CEEAE dot org. Every book review has a direct link to its amazon page, so you can read the reviews, view the rankings and then return to amazon to purchase your selections.
Book Review: Great Start to Studying for the SAT
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Official SAT Study Guide: For the New SAT" by the College Board is where studying starts for the famous high school exam. It is their test, and so it is important to see their prep materials. Stop with that, and you'll sell yourself short. However, if you skip this book, you will miss out on the insiders version.
What Good Is This Book?
The College Board version presents their bias. That's good because they know what is coming up in the next exam.
The practice tests are so important. The College Board gives you eight of them, but try to take more. Again, start with this book, and move onward.
What's missing? The good stuff. More exams. Other voices. The reality is, the playing field for this test is not level. Those taking courses on SAT test taking have an advantage, as do those plowing through Kaplan books, or those published by the Princeton Review. Skip those options, and expect a lower score than you could otherwise have received.
What's really missing? The hardcore strategies. The College Board isn't intending to make the test easy. They want it fair, and to be an exam of true gained knowledge. While this noble desire eventually will be the real indicator of collegiate success, the point of most students for taking it isn't about potential success. It is about money, and/or acceptance to the school of their choice.
Get into that incredible college, and continue the same effort in your courses, and the world is yours. It starts with getting accepted.
Who Needs To Buy a Book?
The SAT is coming up. If you're bright, you'll do well. Doing well isn't good enough. If getting into the local state college is your goal, consider it done. Get something above a 'C' GPA, and something above 1,000 or 1,100 and you meet your goal.
If scholarships, or acceptance at a better school are important to you, then you need to study. Good students study. Great students study a lot. "The Official SAT Study Guide: For the New SAT" is part of that studying.
I fully recommend "The Official SAT Study Guide: For the New SAT" by the College Board.
Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com
Book Review: Certainly good for now, but some short comings...
Summary: 3 Stars
As the "NEW" SAT approaches
(Old SAT I + SAT II Writing - Analogies - Quantitative Comparisons + Short Passages = "New SAT") people are obviously looking for ways to prepare. I purchased this book thinking it would be essentially the successor to "10 Real SATs." Indeed I found, like "10 Real SATs":
-) Description as to the format of and basic strategies for the SAT
-) More SAT practice tests than anything by other prep companies (Eight)
Overall, the strategies given are very sterile and are not very helpful as compared to something by Kaplan or PR. Typical advice is obvious and often identical to free material published by the collegeboard, "Read all the answer choices, then mark the best one on your answer sheet." The guide offers no vocabulary list. The advice and "strategy" offered by this guide could probably best be considered an extended instruction sheet.
The actual exams offered are probably the best current representation of the NEW SAT until the actual test has been administered, but they are far from perfect. While these tests are by the test-makers, unlike "10 Real SATs", which sported actual tests from past administrations, these tests are only samples of what should be expected. To add to the frustration, because the Collegeboard doesn't know the actual difficulty of the NEW SAT, they are unable to offer an accurate scoring guide to allow users to figure out their scores; a certain number of questions correct in Critical Reading will translate to the ambiguous score of "700-800", theoretically meaning one's score on the practice test could be "2100-2400" which would tell one nothing about one's performance from test to test.
At the same time, prep companies do not know the scaling of the NEW SAT either, and so the scores they list are rather arbitrary.
In conclusion, it's going to be rather difficult to get any feeling of one's performance or an estimated score on the NEW SAT prior to the actual test. Take these tests simply as an educational experience to familiarize yourself with question types/pacing, the score this book will give you will be too vague to be of any interest.
Book Review: You Need This Book
Summary: 5 Stars
Everyone wanting to get into a top college needs this book. The practice tests are THE most like the actual test. If you are an average or above average student, this book may be enough to prepare you for the SAT. You will definitely find out your weaknesses and then can decide if you need additional help.
I am a Mom and have helped two daughters study for the SAT. We tried all the books: Grubers, Princeton, Barrons, McGraw-Hill, Kaplan. These books provide very good explanations and give lots of material to review, but their practice tests are not actual, old SAT tests. You need the Official SAT Study Guide and you need to give yourself enough time to do all the tests and to review all the answers you get wrong. A teacher or fellow student might be able to explain the answer because this book does an AWFUL job of explaining the answers. Most of the time there are no explanations. Nevertheless these practice tests are most like the real SAT.
If you need additional help (and we did), your local school may know of someone who gives SAT review classes. Of the other review books out there we liked the KAPLAN books best. They had excellent explanations. Please make reviewing for the SAT a priority the summer of your sophomore or junior year. Treat it like a summer school class.
If you still are not getting above a 600 on each section (above 600 is what most top colleges want to see) then focus only on your weakest section and ignore the rest. After taking the official test, identify your weakest section again and study only that and take the test again. (My daughters each took the test four times!)
The top colleges want to see scores above 600 (if possible), community service, decent GPA, challenging high school coursework, and something in your essay that suggests you are a person who will contribute to the school environment or classroom discussions.
I do not like the SAT. I think many of the questions are unfair and depend upon your experiences and NOT your abilities. But what can we do----it's required. Best wishes on your studies. I still have one more child to train for the SAT!