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| Author: The College Board
Publisher: College Board
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $13.57
You Save: $6.38 (32%)
Rating:  116 reviews
Sales Rank: 99
Media: Paperback
Edition: 4th
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 889
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.1
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 8.3 x 2.1
ISBN: 0874477182
Dewey Decimal Number: 378.1662
EAN: 9780874477184
Publication Date: January 7, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 A must-have for your SAT prep; but no accurate diagnostic tools August 31, 2006
9 out of 12 found this review helpful
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.
 SAT Guide June 14, 2007
9 out of 15 found this review helpful
This book was invaluable for SAT studies. Many of the vocabulary words were on the test.
You Need This Book December 13, 2007
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
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!
Still the Best SAT Prep Book, but it has some weaknessess February 17, 2006
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
There is a more comprehensive review as well as rankings of other SAT preparation books on CEEAE dot org's website.
This book is the standard for SAT preparation, but it does have weaknesses.
The main strength of this book is that it is written by The Collegeboard, the company who writes and administers the SAT, so the 8 practice tests in this book are the most accurate tests available for SAT preparation. While these tests are not old exams, they are very close to the real test according to test takers reports of the recent SATs.
This book, however, has two major weaknesses. The first 300 plus pages of the book discuss the exam. These pages are basically worthless, they discuss some very elementary strategies and information, but any test takers will likely already know these strategies. However, the 8 practice tests that follow those pages more than justify the cost of the book. The other major weakness is that no explanations are provided for any of the practice test questions.
This is a summary of a review available on CEEAE dot org's Website.
Best book out there for the New SAT! January 12, 2005
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I am very happy with my purchase of The Official SAT Study Guide. This is the only book out there that has tests created by the test maker. The detailed descriptions of each section, including the New Essay section, are a plus. It is great that they have essay questions with sample essays. The 'Keep in Mind' approaches give me valuable insight on the new SAT. Since I own the book; I am able to go to collegeboard.com and receive free online score reports and sample essays for all of the practice tests. I am also a subscriber to the Official SAT Online Course and I am able receive answer explanations for the all of the questions in the practice tests. The online course also has auto essay scoring for all of the essay questions in the book-that means I can go in and type my essay and receive feedback instantly. I also love the interactive lessons. I think that is my favorite part!
I think the study guide and the online course make a great pair in studying for the new SAT. It has already given me the confidence that I will be ready for the new SAT!
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