CEEAE's Review of Barron's Prep Book (23rd Edition)

Prep. Book Reviews

Barron's How to Prepare for the SAT: 2006-2007(23rd edition)
6/29/06 - Composite Review

REVIEW SUMMARY
CONCLUSION
We can now marginally recommend this decent book since the most glaring errors have been rectified. However, we still think that it reads too much like a textbook.

THE GOOD
-- A ton of practice problems and all of the practice
   problems have explanations
-- Comprehensive coverage of the material tested on the
   SAT
-- Good tie-ins between practice areas and questions on
   practice exams

THE BAD
-- Math, Sentence Completion, and Identifying Sentence
    Error questions on the practice tests are not very
    SAT-like
-- Practice exam scores are only presented as a broad
    range of possible scores
-- Reads like a textbook, not an engaging review book

FULL REVIEW
Barron's How to Prepare for the NEW SAT 23rd edition is an updated version of the previous edition that was not well received by our reviewers. The 23rd edition fixes the plethora of errors found in the 22nd edition.

NOT VERY SAT-LIKE
After completing the diagnostic and practice tests, the reviewers agreed:
   1. The Sentence Completion questions were far too easy
   2. Reading Comprehension questions were accurate to the real SAT
   3. Math questions were not very SAT-like
   4. Improving Sentence questions were similar to actual SAT questions, but a little too easy

Every reviewer was surprised to see that scores for the practice tests were only assigned ranges not individual values. For instance, if you missed 6, 8 or 10 questions the same 50 point range was applied to all of these scores.

HAVING DIFFICULTY FALLING ASLEEP?
Even after the desired update was provided, we are still be reluctant to recommend this book. Overall, this book plods through the material in a manner that is likely to bore even the most avid reader. It reads far too much like a textbook, and not enough like a review book.

STRONG POINTS
Barron's How to Prepare for the NEW SAT 23rd edition does have its strong points. The first is that there is a multitude of practice problems for each of the subject areas and question types. Indeed there are more practice problems and test "tactics" in this book than in most other books we have reviewed so far. More importantly, explanations are provided for all of the practice questions. In fact, explanations are provided for all practice problems in the book. Additionally, Barron's does a great job providing a comprehensive review of all the topics covered on the SAT. Finally, the practice areas and questions provided in the book are tied into the practice SATs (6 provided in the book) rather well.

Additionally, the section explaining how to correctly complete and compose the essay was verbatim with the scoring rubric provided by College Board, as well as the instructions provided to actual essay graders. Hence, we largely agree with the information and test "Tactics" pertaining to the essay.

Finally, Barron's is the only prep book that comes with vocabulary flashcards, and although some of the most relevant words are are not found on these flashcards, we still appreciate this novel presentation as many students use flashcards for rote memorization of vocabulary.

McGRAW-HILL BETTER THAN BARRON'S?
If you are looking for a comprehensive exposition of the material needed for the SAT, and you are wary of its textbook-like presentation, then Barron's may be a good choice. However, in our humble opinion, McGraw-Hill's SAT 1 is still a better option.

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