Test Only SAT Prep Books Rankings

Prep. Book Reviews

Scroll down for an explanation of rankings

TEST ONLY SAT PREP BOOKS

Ranking	Name
1	The Official SAT Study Guide

2	11 Practice Tests for the SAT (Princeton Review)

3	Kaplan 12 Practice Tests for the SAT, 2007 edition

EXPLANATION

The Official SAT Study Guide was the easy choice for top honors since all of the contributors use it for their tutoring or teaching. Indubitably, it is the standard by which all other test books are measured. It contains 8 practice SATs which were created by the same people who write the actual SAT. This book does, however, have some drawbacks that may lead some students to select one of the other two books in the list.

The most important drawback of The Official SAT study Guide is that it does not contain explanations. The answers to each exam are located immediately after each exam, but there are no explanations. A minor drawback is that none of the tests has the equating section. The equating section is a 25 minute section that does not count towards the student's score.

Princeton Review's 11 Practice Tests for the SAT comes in second, because the tests it contains were not created by College Board. This book has 10 SATs and 1 PSAT. The tests in 11 Practice Tests are not only extremely accurate to actual SATs but each one has an equating section. Further, every test has explanations to every question. Since 11 Practice Tests or the SAT features extremely accurate exams, like The Official Guide, but also has an equating section for each exam and solid explanations for every question, some have asserted that it is a better book than The Official SAT Study Guide. However, we cannot rank Princeton Review's book above The Official Guide until there is definitve proof that its exams are as accurate as those in The Official Guide.

Kaplan's offering is also very strong. It ups the ante with 12 practice SATs. It gets ranked below The Official SAT Study Guide because its tests were not created by College Board. It gets ranked below Princeton Review's book because its tests are just a little less accurate than those in Princeton Review's book. Every question has an explanation, but no test has an Equating section.

No student should be disappointed with either Kaplan 12 Practice Tests for the SAT, 2007 Edition or Princeton Review's 11 Practice Tests for the SAT and PSAT. Indeed, there is little difference between all three of these books.

If you are looking for the most accurate practice tests, and you don't mind that there are no explanations, then The Official SAT Study Guide is the choice for you. If you want explanations and more exams than The Official Guide then go with 11 Practice Tests for the SAT. If you want more than 10 tests, then Kaplan's 12 Practice Tests for the SAT, 2007 edition is the choice for you.