Saturday, June 12, 2010

User Reviews-SAT Study Guide-Grubers SAT 2400

I need to send out a huge "Thank you" to Gary Gruber right now!

If you're looking for an all-around wonderful SAT prep guide, this book is it.  I spent literally hours sitting in the floor of Barnes & Noble digging through literally hundreds of books and Gruber's SAT 2400: Advanced Strategies for the Perfect Score is what I finally landed on and it definitely served its purpose and served it well.

I only had 3 weeks to study for my SAT and I've been out of school for over 14 years. (shhhhhhh)  I also needed a full-ride scholarship and I knew I had to get an amazing score to be able to compete with the kids just coming out of high school.  I just got my scores back and I'm DEFINITELY GETTING MY FULL-PAID SCHOLARSHIP THANKS TO THIS BOOK!! 

The SAT doesn't necessarily test "what you know"; the SAT tests your strategic ability.  If you're memorizing words and all of that, just stop right there.  You're wasting valuable time and you're not going to raise your score.  Gruber teaches you the strategies you need to know to ace this test.


Gruber's SAT 2400: Inside Strategies to Outsmart the Toughest Questions and Achieve the Top Score

-HOW GRUBER HELPS YOU PREPARE FOR THE SAT:

  • The vocabulary part of the SAT is sizable and very intensive, but don't waste time memorizing words.  Instead, study word roots.  If you can learn what 'dis' and 'pro' and other word roots mean, you'll ace this part of the test.
  • The dreaded Math section: No need to panic...this is a straightforward crash-course style lesson covering all of your basics in one chapter.  There are no hard answers in the SAT Math section.  They seem difficult, but Gruber shows you how to break a problem down and get to the core of what it's asking.
  • Critical Reading: Again, Gruber's guide teaches you the strategies you need when taking this part of the SAT test.  (Are you seeing a pattern here?  Seriously, folks, the SAT is all about strategy, strategy, and more strategy...)
  • SAT Writing Test: I'll say it one more time...STRATEGY.  In the SAT 2400 book, Gruber will show you the strategies behind quickly laying out your essay, creating catchy topics (heavily graded), etc.  He'll even show you how to write your essay before test day.  (I did this and it worked...freed up tons of time so I could focus on editing instead of formatting...)
  • Extras: Including the top strategic solutions for the hardest actual SAT questions; 16 questions to approximate your SAT score; general test-taking strategies, and more.
I found a few other books that I did like including Up Your Score: The Underground Guide to the SAT because they were written in a fun way and had some good little tips; however, for the overall, in depth, crash-course style SAT Prep book that I was looking for, Gruber's SAT 2400 definitely fit the bill.

And that, my friends, is the NoBS411 on the best overall SAT Prep Guide book...good luck!!

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