User
anonymous68
Best books for SAT and SAT II prep?

Princeton vs Collegeboard vs Kaplan vs Barron’s & more

And which are the best ways to prep for subject tests?

8 Replies

User
harrymellsop

I found the Barron’s textbooks helpful, although significantly more difficult than the actual tests. If you can nail the exercises in the Barron’s book, you’ll be sorted for the final test.

User
anonymous68

Hmm I heard the Barron’s was not so good for the maths II, can you provide any insight regarding this?

Also which SAT subjects did you end up sitting? And and general advice? Thanks!

User
harrymellsop

I found Barron’s quite useful! Just had a chat to Jamie and he found it great too. I sat SAT Maths II, Physics and Literature.

I’d pick subject tests that are a) relevant to your intended major, and b) subject tests that you feel that you can excel in.

Start studying early - I left my run super late!

User
anonymous68

Ahhh I’m starting very late too! Thanks for your advice - I’ll go purchase the books!

So to make sure, the ACT can completely replace the SAT main test?

User
harrymellsop

Yep - that’s correct :slight_smile:. Let me know if you have any other questions!

User
anonymous68

Thanks Harry! I’d love to hear your thought process behind picking the SAT over the ACT? I’m still in dilemma of which to do - did practise test on both and got same score :confused:

User
harrymellsop

I really don’t think there’s a huge difference between the two! If you’ve received strong diagnostic scores in both, then I’d pick the one you’re most comfortable with - there’s not a huge amount in it. It’s slightly easier to receive a perfect ACT score over SAT, but it’s slightly easier to improve your SAT over ACT.

User
a.tapper

I’ve found the best book to work from first is the Princeton - it’s very general and covers content well. After doing practice drills and tests from there, and if students want more practice or help with certain parts of content, I find the Barron’s books are great. As Harry mentioned, they are harder and test you more, so if you feel comfortable with Barron’s you should feel comfortable in the test.

The best study tip I can give is practice to the time. Many students fall behind in their timing and simply don’t get to answer all questions which causes big scaling issues not in your favour, particularly for the common tests like Maths and Science. So just keep doing practice tests and figuring out your time limits on questions, and you’ll feel more at ease when you’re sitting in the test centre.

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