Best test preparation books according to redditors
We found 962 Reddit comments discussing the best test preparation books. We ranked the 301 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 962 Reddit comments discussing the best test preparation books. We ranked the 301 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
Just took the test on Saturday and got 170V/168Q. Let me tell you a few things about prep:
1)DO NOT waste your time or money with Kaplan/Princeton/Barron's etc.. they are inadequate and full of distracting typos.
2)Do use Magoosh.com and/or the Manhattan course. They both come with top-notch instruction and lots of practice tests/questions. I actually used both. For even more practice questions (which you probably won't have time for at this point) check out the 5 lb book of questions.
3) Definitely memorize every word on the free Magoosh vocab flashcards. Knowing these words saved my verbal score.
4) For the love of all that is holy please use the official GRE book that is put out by ETS.
5) Do not ignore the essay. It requires a very specific type of writing. Even if you are a "good" writer you will be disappointed in your score unless you write the way they want you to. What you may not know is that every essay is graded by one computer reader and one human reader. For $13 you can actually have 2 essays graded by the exact algorithm the computer reader uses and you'll get an idea of where you stand.
Please do not practice "tough" for the sake of tough. That is like practicing soccer but using a bowling ball, which may be tough but is rather obviously a bad idea. Practice realistic to get the right content, the right pacing, and the right thought process when you are testing.
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McGraw-Hill is a bad fit for anyone. It does not do a good job of matching the question style or content of the real SAT, and it is rated by this Reddit as the worst prep book in existence.
Kaplan is adequate but not great. I would recommend redoing one of the better books rather than doing Kaplan, but at least it helps you to prepare. The College Board Guide is one of the many excellent books that I do recommend. Other recommendations are listed in the sidebar, quoted below:
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The resources provided in these lists are ones that are highly and regularly recommended by the community. Refer to the survey link below for more information on resources
Free
>Large-scale data analysis of the community including average test and practice test scores, recommended resources, hours studied and improvement, etc.
8 official practice tests + 11 additional real tests from QAS dates. This link contains every SAT practice test that can be found on this subreddit
Khan Academy's SAT page
Official SAT discord
CollegeBoard's Daily Practice for the New SAT available on the App Store or Google Play
Paid
>UWorld question bank with 1900+ questions and explanations
1600.io has video explanations to each question on the 8 official practice tests and 11 QAS tests. The first 4 practice tests and a strategy course are free.
Reading and Writing books from Erica Meltzer (author)
Math, writing, and essay books from College Panda (author Nielson Phu)
Textbook companies with a large number of prep products (such as Princeton Review and Kaplan) are not highly recommended
I also use a "backwards design" method. My process has been really influenced by Understanding by Design by Wiggins & McTighe. I really recommend that book, but here are the key points that I keep in mind:
That was kind of a long explanation, but it's kind of an involved process! It works really well for me, though - it keeps me tied in to the "big picture" of my goals for the kids' learning even as I plan the day-to-day experiences. Hope it helps!
> Well, I just saw this post and want to clear up a few things
Here is the original thread she is referring to. The suspicions/concerns raised there definitely have merit.
>not only did I teach the Binary Solution course at Columbia Law School (and subsequently at the College)
True, based on this article from Columbia's student paper in 1997: [LSAT Course Proves Helpful]
(http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/columbia?a=d&d=cs19970528-01.2.18#)
> I was invited by the then-Dean of Minority Admissions (Dean V Amory) to provide the course at the law school after she saw the videos of my games algorithm
True, based on this flyer from CUNY:
> (a section I cracked long before most of today's companies existed).
??? Just makes you sound arrogant ??? A lot of companies have been around just as long as yours...
> Furthermore, BinSol is, and remains the ONLY complete and general solution for the LSAT, and has the only Casebook that completely explains the LSAT in one volume because it is a true Casebook (not just a collection of past LSAT questions). A Casebook contains a collection of typical and boundary cases organized along the lines of a theory of classification.
This sounds like gibberish. And Mike Kim would like to have a word with you about your book being the only book/course available that covers the entire LSAT in one volume (and his book is sitting at 4.5/5 stars on Amazon with over 160 reviews).
> I could go on in detail, but it's best to just see the best course at one of our free previews at NYU (next one is in Feb 13-14, RSVP here www.binarysolution.com) as for this thread it's clearly the product of competitors, and predictably culminates in a link to another prep course.
You market your course here and in the same sentence attack other people for doing the same?
> Our small, smart course has dealt with attacks since it's inception-- and for good reason -- it's still the simplest, most powerful solution to the LSAT, and reduces each question on the LSAT to a single, bright line, either-or adjudication. And we don't require that you identify the question either - because the method is based on a semantic deconstruction - so you learn to solve as you read. Which makes the approach more natural and Rapid than any other.
More gibberish. With no evidence. WTF is "bright line"? Why is it more natural? How is it more rapid?
> So get the facts first- hand of you are reading this, and when you read something about us make sure to cross-check (eg, read the filtered reviews on Yelp), cause test prep is big business, and companies are known to post in the blogosphere . Good luck !
You know sometimes people write bad reviews...a method won't work for everyone.
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After reading this post and reviewing Binary Solutions' website, everything about you and your company just feels off. Your writing would make me extremely wary of taking your course and of any claims you make.
My recommendations:
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All in all, this post/situation is just strange.
Forget about the practice tests. Try reading these 3 books and they're different from those traditional Kaplan/Princeton books cuz this is more effective and to the point. Look at the reviews if you don't believe me.
Reading - The Critical Reader, 3rd Edition: The Complete Guide to SAT Reading https://www.amazon.com/dp/0997517875/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_CocTCbC509HKK
Writing- The College Panda's SAT Writing: Advanced Guide and Workbook https://www.amazon.com/dp/098949649X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_jncTCb8VQQDG7
Math - The College Panda's SAT Math: Advanced Guide and Workbook for the New SAT https://www.amazon.com/dp/0989496422/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_-ncTCb0K4SM2Y
There's also a dude on this website called 1600.io and he spends a ton of time going over every question on those practice tests you took so he'll tell you the right way to do it. It's free for practice tests 1-4
You don't need to really understand the "underlying physics" to do well on the PGRE. The way to get a good score is to learn a few key facts and what sort of problem to apply them to by rote. Memorize the number 1.22 because it shows up in the Rayleigh criterion. Don't bother recalling that it's the zero of some Bessel function. Cram. Memorize. This is the sort of exam where writing speed can be a huge factor. It's a big, dumb ritual that everyone has to go through that teaches you nothing.
If you buy a PGRE practice book that comes with practice exams they'll likely be similar to the real thing. I can recommend this. A week of cramming from that increased my score dramatically.
What's up dude. Took the LSAT in June. Went from a cold diagnostic of 154 to a 167. (Retaking in Sept for a 170+). Books I used/recommend:
https://www.amazon.com/LSAT-Trainer-remarkable-self-study-self-driven/dp/0989081508/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469539064&sr=8-1&keywords=lsat+trainer
https://www.amazon.com/PowerScore-Logic-Games-Powerscore-Preparation/dp/0988758660/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469539126&sr=8-1&keywords=powerscore+logic+game+bible
https://www.amazon.com/PowerScore-LSAT-Logical-Reasoning-Bible/dp/0991299221/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469539163&sr=8-1&keywords=powerscore+logic+reasoning+bible
Books I used but don't recommend:
https://www.amazon.com/PowerScore-LSAT-Reading-Comprehension-Bible/dp/099129923X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469539188&sr=8-1&keywords=powerscore+reading+comprehension
Get your practice tests here (seriously, do 20+ under timed conditions while filling out LSAT bubble sheets):
https://www.amazon.com/10-Actual-Official-LSAT-PrepTests/dp/0986045519/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469539233&sr=8-1&keywords=10+lsat+preptests
https://www.amazon.com/Actual-Official-PrepTests-Comparative-Reading/dp/0984636005/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1469539233&sr=8-3&keywords=10+lsat+preptests
Also, use https://7sage.com/
Sign up for a free account, and use their logic game explanations. They also have analytics that will track your progress and spit out analysis concerning where your weak areas are.
Good luck!
ETS books for sure. This is stop number 1:
ETS GRE Power Pack
This is stop number 2:
https://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/gre_math_review.pdf
Use stop number two to gauge your weaknesses in math. You can then attack those areas more specifically with a book from Manhattan or online lecture videos. It's okay to use outside material for math stuff, but, for the love of god, please don't use outside materials for verbal. Only use their strategies and then apply them to the real questions.
Don't forget too that ETS has FOUR online tests -- not two. It's just that two of them cost money, but, at $39.95 each, it's a steal.
Also this PowerScore vocabulary list is on point and was clearly compiled from official materials. Most vocab lists are garbage because they heavily emphasize words that you'll most likely not encounter on the real test. However, this PowerScore list just nails them.
PowerScore Vocab List
I think the general consensus is:
Reading | Writing | Math
-------|-------|----
Erica Meltzer Critical Reader | Erica Meltzer Grammar | College Panda Math
| |College Panda Writing | Steve Warner 28 New Lessons - Advanced
| | |College Panda 10 SAT Practice Tests
The first time I took the GRE practice test, I got a 148V/152Q. I am a math major, and honestly, I was not well equipped for the type of questions given on the test. I studied (for only two-three weeks) and ended up getting a 153V/166Q. I used this book to practice/prepare for the quantitative section (it is the one written by the test takers).
You still have time to take the exam and schools will likely only look at the best overall score you sent them. Sign up to take it exactly 21 days from when you originally took it, and have the scores prepared to be sent to all of the schools you are applying to. Buy the book I linked and take a full quantitative practice test. Figure out what type of questions you missed and where were you overconfident, and study that content and do more practice questions.
Finally, don't say stuff like this:
>This all makes me feel like I shouldn’t have even bothered majoring in engineering and giving my life to my department, because ETS has decided that my buck stops here.
I promise you that thinking like this will keep you from being successful and achieving your goals. You will have much worse failures in the future (as does everyone in academia) and it is important to learn from things like this. Don't question your worth just because of one occurrence where you didn't meet your own expectations.
Good luck!
I really respect the time and effort you are putting into studying for the SAT. That is quite a number of practice tests you have completed.
To bump up that reading, I highly recommend Erica Meltzer's SAT Critical Reading (2nd Edition). It's been an outstanding book for many to bump up that score. I find her to be a very outstanding author.
If grammar/writing seems to be the issue, fortunately, Erica Meltzer offers a book covering this topic! Link to her 3rd edition grammar. To reiterate, Erica Meltzer is an outstanding author who really uncovers tips to score high for SAT.
As for math, your best option is College Panda's SAT Math Workbook. I have heard great reviews about this book and I am looking to purchase this book, too. This book should really help you for the math section.
I hope you find these options helpful. You should continue to use Khan Academy daily for general practice on the three categories.
Always remember, quality over quantity. A person that practiced with 4 tests could outperform a person that practiced with 21 tests. I appreciate your studying and wish you the best luck to improve your great score!
Well first you have to look at what the subscores are; if you're doing 26/40 on Reading/Writing, then my advice will obviously be to focus on Reading. For argument's sake, let's say you're at 33/33. This suggests you probably know both Reading and Writing pretty intuitively and just need some gaps filled up and additional practice.
For Reading, Erica Meltzer is recommended, but I would suggest sticking to practice tests and doing deep analyses of your mistakes and all the answer choices (know WHY every wrong answer is incorrect). Reading is a lot less concept-heavy than Writing or Math, so you'll benefit more from exposure to the way the CollegeBoard asks questions. Train yourself from the beginning to look for an answer 100% supported by the text; you MUST NOT introduce outside assumptions EVEN when a question is asking about an "inference" or "suggestion." If you're afraid of running out of the tests, maybe use PSATs in the beginning.
For Writing, you've got Erica Meltzer if you want a very thorough writing style or College Panda if you like things more to-the-point. Meltzer also has a separate workbook of practice tests for after you're done drilling concepts. Give yourself an official section every few concepts to see how much of it you are retaining when forced to deal with the concepts all together without the benefit of being told what to look for. Know your grammar concepts cold but also realize that this section tests some reading too; you'll need to draw from context to determine the best place to put a sentence, identify the most relevant details, or even determine what word is most appropriate. As with Reading, analyze your errors thoroughly; take particular care in trying to tie back errors to concepts.
On the online resource front, you can use Khan Academy (free) for different types of reading passages and grammar concepts and Uworld (requires subscription) solely as a question bank. Feel free to also download the free official SAT Question of the Day App for daily questions (every other day will have an English question).
You can obtain good explanations of practice tests with 1600.io (only first 4 tests are free).
Good luck!
i got a 8/6/8 on the March one.
firstly, your paragraphs are too short - you do not develop your points fully. Thats why you scored so low on the analysis part.
Also, small things like linking the passages really helps.
If I were you, I would buy this book. By using it, I went from a 5/4/5 to my score now:
https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Essay-Battle-tested/dp/0989496465/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522856041&sr=8-1&keywords=college+panda+essay
If you want, I can send you mine
Take it twice if you can afford to do so. The test is brutal and you will want as much preparation as possible. Get a copy of Conquering the physics GRE and take practice tests under test conditions. /r/physicsgre is low traffic but has some very good resources.
Get the main book done directly by ETS. Imo, it's the best one and has the most realistic questions.
http://www.amazon.com/Official-Guide-Revised-General-Test/dp/007179123X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1462402098&sr=8-2&keywords=ets+gre+prep+2016
I took my test in 2014, so you might want to double check that there isn't a newer edition (any edition should be fine, though, really).
Also, if you are just starting to study, I would recommend paying for full access on Magoosh. I think they are very good for the money and would be better than taking a class. It's all online, so you can study comfortably on your own time. Good luck!
To get an idea of the resources you'll need, I suggest that you take an official practice test. It may be the case that you're already scoring above your target scores, in which case you may not need to prepare at all :-).
Resources-wise, be sure to get ETS's Official Guide for GRE. For extra practice questions, ETS (the test maker) has a quant-only book and a verbal-only book, each with 200 questions.
As far as instructional resources go, the one that's best for you will be the one that best suits your learning style.
Finally, it's a good idea to have some kind of Study Plan. We have a one here if you're interested.
Cheers,
Brent
Plan backwards. For each unit figure out your final, summative assessment, determine how long you want the unit to be, and then plan lessons with objectives that focus in on whatever skills or content knowledge you plan on assessing in the final project.
It's worth investing in a copy of Understanding by Design to help you plan your units, especially if you haven't studied teaching in undergrad or grad school.
> The oarsman-regatta controversy was less than a decade ago
Wrong.
This question, if it ever existed, was used in the 70s or earlier. Here's a book from 1994 discussing it as an already "famous" question - they don't give the original source, but they cite the claim as far back as 1980. The SAT had long stopped using questions like this by the 90s.
The reason this one particular question has stayed so famous is because it's atypical - if bias were common, more examples would be given. In contrast, in the past few decades the SAT has shown a decided tendency towards including material that repeats multicultural pieties. Looking through the 10 tests in the official study guide, all of them have multiple reading passages about topics like black women's identities, Chicano labor organizers and Navajo sand-painters. Upper-class-whites only show up if those upper class whites are Victorian women heroically defying gender roles. For the record, I don't think this is a bad thing - talented students from all backgrounds are more than able to handle unfamiliar material, so the content of that material doesn't much matter. But claiming that the SAT is currently biased towards white culture (or has been at any point in the past 30 years) is patently prosperous.
And more to the point, minorities have historically done better on 'cultural knowledge' questions than they have on more purely intellectual questions.
> how can we be confident that any tool we use to measure merit is not corrupted by racial bias?
If a metric designed to predict an outcome (e.g., the SAT, which is meant to predict college GPA) is biased against a group, then members of that group will do better on that outcome than we'd expect from that metric. In this case, we'd expect black students to outperform what their SAT scores would indicate. But this is not the case - holding SAT scores constant, all races have comparable performance in college. Similar checking for bias has been done on just about every standardized test out there - and has confirmed a lack of bias in all of them.
I have personally only used Meltzer's english book, CP's english book, and CP's math book and can vouch that all of these are amazing, but others on this sub also recommend other books. Here is a list of many of them. I hope they serve you well :] (Edit: I apologize for how huge this post is, lol)
English
https://www.amazon.com/4th-Ultimate-Guide-SAT-Grammar/dp/0997517867/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1519610454&sr=1-1&keywords=erica+meltzer+sat+writing
https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Writing-Advanced/dp/0989496430/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1519610514&sr=1-1&keywords=college+panda+writing&dpID=41iRh%252BJb19L&preST=_SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch
Reading
https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Reader-3rd-Complete-Reading/dp/0997517875/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519610443&sr=8-1&keywords=erica+meltzer+sat+reading&dpID=51cR4Uh0YBL&preST=_SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch
Math
https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Math-Advanced/dp/0989496422/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1519610506&sr=1-1&keywords=college+panda+math
https://www.amazon.com/Dr-John-Chungs-Math-Fourth/dp/197452602X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1519610536&sr=1-1&keywords=dr+chungs+sat+math&dpID=51gqq9mu0XL&preST=_SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch
hmm so you’re pretty evenly split there. 41 days may not seem like a lot, but it is plenty of time for a large improvement if you study well and consistently. i can’t truly predict any one number since i don’t know you or your work ethic/capabilities but i’ll try and give u some tips for each section to maximize ur time before the august test :)
math: if you haven’t already, purchase the college panda SAT math book ( The College Panda's SAT Math: Advanced Guide and Workbook for the New SAT https://www.amazon.com/dp/0989496422/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Ze.kDb1QDZA61 ). it’s truly a godsend. work through this entire book over the course of around two weeks, highlighting, taking notes in the margins, and doing EVERY PRACTICE PROBLEM. you’ll see significant results right away. use khan academy to practice individual problem types if you still have trouble after using this book (i swear this book & uworld — which is sadly no longer free but if you can afford it it’s a great resource — got me -0M)
Writing: you really need to get a strong foundation in “standard” american english grammar. i put standard in quotes cuz college board keeps its own grammar rules and likes them a distinct way. all of the rules you need to know (as well as helpful tips for the other section) i learned from the SAT black book ( SAT Prep Black Book: The Most Effective SAT Strategies Ever Published https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692916164/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_.i.kDbWGRK8W2 ). again, highlight and take notes in the margins and read through a couple of the walkthroughs this book provides
Reading: this is the toughest to improve in, but not impossible. really work on math and writing before attempting to tackle this section. if you don’t know this already, the best advice any person on this sub can give you for this section is that THE ANSWER IS ALWAYS IN THE PASSAGE, AND IS 100% SUPPORTED BY THE PASSAGE AND CAN BE BACKED UP WITH EVIDENCE FROM THE PASSAGE. that being said, CB is a nasty bitch that excels at making tricky answers that readers with poor comprehension skills tend to choose. this is best remedied by reading a lot in your free time, specifically high level texts
For Reading: https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Reader-3rd-Complete-Reading/dp/0997517875
For Writing: https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Writing-Advanced/dp/098949649X/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=college+panda+sat+writing&qid=1563901164&s=gateway&sprefix=college+panda&sr=8-3 or https://www.amazon.com/4th-Ultimate-Guide-SAT-Grammar/dp/0997517867/ref=pd_aw_fbt_14_img_2/133-6279214-8476330?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0997517867&pd_rd_r=b1b3ba1b-4d03-4aef-8534-fb724df88793&pd_rd_w=tVeGd&pd_rd_wg=AG0DL&pf_rd_p=3ecc74bd-d08f-44bd-96f3-d0c2b89f563a&pf_rd_r=S0E4J8G00TRD6F0ZY1ZK&psc=1&refRID=S0E4J8G00TRD6F0ZY1ZK
For Math: https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Math-Advanced/dp/0989496422/ref=pd_aw_fbt_14_img_2/133-6279214-8476330?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0989496422&pd_rd_r=6bc275dd-8dee-497b-aa49-17576266463e&pd_rd_w=YjIig&pd_rd_wg=Pc71l&pf_rd_p=3ecc74bd-d08f-44bd-96f3-d0c2b89f563a&pf_rd_r=P3X7H8SAQZT59M5F6FNV&psc=1&refRID=P3X7H8SAQZT59M5F6FNV or https://www.amazon.com/PWN-SAT-Guide-Mike-McClenathan/dp/1523963573/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?keywords=pwn+sat+math&qid=1563901232&s=gateway&sprefix=pwn+sa&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1
For Essay (if you’re taking it): https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Essay-Battle-tested/dp/0989496465/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=college+panda+essay&qid=1563901277&s=gateway&sr=8-3
For General Strategy: https://www.amazon.com/SAT-Prep-Black-Book-Strategies/dp/0692916164/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?keywords=sat+black+book&qid=1563901330&s=gateway&sprefix=sat+bla&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1
For Practice Tests: https://www.amazon.com/Official-SAT-Study-Guide-2020/dp/1457312190/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=college+board+sat+2020&qid=1563901505&s=gateway&sprefix=college+board+&sr=8-3 (NOTE: These practice tests are available online but I prefer having them on paper, which is why I bought this book.) and https://amp.reddit.com/r/Sat/comments/9544rw/all_qas_tests_and_scoring_in_pdf_form/
Good online resources include Khan Academy, UWorld, and 1600.io. Also, I recommend taking a timed practice test often to follow along with your progress and see what you need to work on. Make sure to do the practice test all at once (don’t break it up into section) and try to do it in the morning like you would in the real SAT. Then, go over your mistakes very carefully (this is VERY IMPORTANT) until you truly understand the mistake so that you won’t make it again in the future. This is the most important step. If you skip this, it’s unlikely that you see any meaningful score improvement. Also, It’s up to you which resources you buy/use based on what sections you need help with. Good luck!
Kaplan tests aren't that great. I, in fact, own one of them and they contained several errors and questions you would never see on the SAT. For example, a reading question was, "what's the best title for this passage?" You won't see that on the SAT.
If you want practice tests pretty similar to the SAT, check out Ivy Global's. Well made and accurate.
For just math only, College Panda's 10 Practice Tests are very accurate to the real test. Good explanations in there and of course you get plenty of problems to work with.
See you later!
I think that the content of this post, especially for someone looking at Physics PhD programs, is spot-on. Focusing on grades now and getting into research ASAP are basically the two things you should do in the short term.
/u/luxuryy__yachtt is completely right, chronologically speaking, to leave the Physics GRE (or pGRE, as it is unaffectionately known) to the end. However, I want to emphasize just how important that test can be to your graduate hopes. It alone will not open any doors to you, but a poor performance on the pGRE can definitely close doors in a hurry. More leeway here is given to students from top undergraduate programs (think Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, MIT), while students from lesser-known programs have more to prove with their pGRE score, but do not take it lightly either way. I have friends from [insert elite, private university] who didn't take the test seriously, ended up doing poorly, and ended up being effectively locked out of the top 10 or top 20 for PhD programs.
Some (very top) programs seem to use pGRE scores as a hard cutoff and – at the very least – will look very critically at the rest of your application if your score is subpar, which is really unfortunate. The test is pretty dumb and effectively tests your ability to answer a bunch of questions about freshman-level physics really, really quickly, but scoring well (e.g. above 80th percentile, which is an 860) can be the difference in your application. For that reason, it is worth taking the time to ensure that you do well on it.
Now that I have hopefully scared you into caring about this exam, let me give you a quick DO's and DON'Ts in bullet format:
TL;DR Follow /u/luxuryy__yachtt's advice. Just remember that the Physics GRE is a test that exists, will be very important to your grad school admissions, and will be something that you need to prepare for if you want to get into a top tier program. The details of the exam can get ironed out later; for now, just do your best to master the material in your classes and get involved in research.
5lb Manhattan book helped me immensely for the quantitative section. The ETS quantitative reasoning book is also a great resource.
Lastly, use Magoosh if you enjoy studying on the computer. The software Magoosh provides is well worth the money. The ETS website also has a bunch of mock-tests you can take too, so make sure you take those as well.
Good luck!
I hear this is pretty good, but I haven't personally used it: https://www.amazon.com/LSAT-Logical-Reasoning-Encyclopedia-Disrespecting/dp/1479391271/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Just going to play devil's advocate here. I've never bought any tutoring from Brian. The only experience I have with Brian is reading his comments/posts on the GRE subreddit, reading his GRE tutorial, and his GRE Vocab Book. Although his vocabulary book is hot garbage, his GRE comments are generally insightful and his free GRE tutorial is actually spot on. I've been following this community for about a year and his recommendations are usually pretty good. Not as good as gregmat but no one can really live up to the enigma that is GregMat.
Looking through your purported "evidence" I don't see any foul play here. It is at minimum true that Brian has tutored for 15 years, I don't think that anyone was under the preconceived notion that Brian has been tutoring the LSAT specifically for that amount of time.
Further, I've done practice material from the LSAT, the GRE, and the GMAT and I've got to say that there is a lot of transfer between tests. I'm reasonably certain with minimal effort that I could score decently high on the GMAT or LSAT as I have on the GRE. Even if Brian has less experience with the LSAT, his knowledge is still very valuable for the LSAT because many of these strategies/techniques are transferable between tests.
If you wanted to bash the way Brian incessantly avers his Harvard degree and his absurd tutoring prices, then I think the whole community would get behind that (Why most GRE prep material suck). But I cannot stand by and see a man's clear talent for standardized tests be the object of reproach in this way.
When I took the GRE, I had the same study philosophy, and it hurt me a bit. There's a bunch of very simple math that I blanked on because I hadn't even seen it since Freshman year. The complex math is actually going to be a bit easier for you since you've been using it more recently as an Engineering student. Geometry and Trigonometry were the bits that got me.
For studying, just get a test prep book. They're about $20, and have everything centralized. The official guide is what I used, but just about every other guide covers the same material.
Oh man. Every time this question comes up my answer is the same: buy the official ETS book. Forget every other material, because they're much too easy. You can take two electronic practice tests on the GRE website that are also included with a CD in it (the CD has two additional electronic tests), but the paper practice tests are still useful for identifying where you mess up. You'll notice a pattern of which types of questions you miss, and they include the solution work in the back of the book.
Go to B&N, Borders, or whatever bookstore and buy this: http://www.amazon.com/Official-Guide-Revised-General-Edition/dp/007179123X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1374844912&sr=8-2&keywords=GRE
https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Math-Advanced/dp/0989496422/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511585847&sr=8-1&keywords=college+panda
a must have
Hey you can use any or all of the below mentioned resources:
WEBSITES:
BOOKS:
Hope this helps. If liked, please don't forget to up-vote. And all the best for your preparation and test.
I would recommend this book for ACT science: https://www.amazon.com/Love-ACT-Science-innovative-standardized/dp/0996832203/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=Michael+Cerro&qid=1564932066&s=books&sr=1-1
It helped me out a lot and it only took me a few hours to complete...
There isn’t really a good quick fix to math. Study and do practice problems. You shouldn’t focus on memorizing a hundred different math formulas.
For science check out this book: For the Love of ACT Science: An... https://www.amazon.com/dp/0996832203?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
You don’t really need to know anything specific about science. It’s about picking up context clues from the questions, analyzing trends/axis titles, and comparing theories (in the conflicting viewpoints section). If you have any questions, you can find us at https://learnDSM.com. I’m publishing a few articles about the test on my site. Prep Scholar is a pretty good resource too.
Get yourself this book
And go over it. Then use the strategies it teaches you on a couple practice tests...
ACT Science is a 35 minute sprint at the end of a 4 hour marathon.
I'm a professional in-person and online GRE (among other things) tutor. It's best to use a recent book, especially since they are typically close in price to older editions. Depending on where you're starting your prep at (take a practice test first), and what score you're aiming for, usually 2-3 months is a great amount of time to prep.
I recommend and use this book with my students - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1259862410
And these flashcards -
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1618656198
Erica Meltzer's Reading is an absolute godsend and her grammar book is also amazing.
The LR sections are standardized by exam, not by section. You should be getting roughly the same (or hopefully decreasing as you get better) TOTAL LR questions wrong from one diagnostic to another.
If you want to get to 163+ in six weeks, you're going to have to commit a LOT of time. You basically want to drill every section.
I personally like Nathan Fox's book (http://www.amazon.com/LSAT-Logical-Reasoning-Encyclopedia-Disrespecting/dp/1479391271#) for LR. Go through the entire book and read the explanations/redo the questions until you understand them. Print up a bunch of copies of logic games and redo them using whatever solving method you like (there are a ton out there) or buy powerscore or something. Same with reading comp.
Reevaluate where you are after a few weeks - some people can rise quickly, but if you need to wait until December don't feel bad about it.
I was in the same situation a few weeks ago. I worked through Erica Meltzer's book and got my first 800 in English last week :)
As I stated before I didn't really. There's not much you can do to prepare aside from just learning how the test is built and such. I used [this] (The Official DLAB Training Manual: Study Guide and Practice Test: The Best Tips and Tricks to Raising Your DLAB Score https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HUC6RT4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_0ElDyb1VGMMM4) one but I honestly can't say how much it helped or not. As for would I choose my job, 100% have the best job in the Air Force. You leave Monterey with an Associates practically, extremely marketable in the civilian sector and show me another way that you'll be paid to learn a foreign language.
Yes, I took it on July 5th. I used this book for practice tests mostly the week before the GRE. Every day I used this 5 lb. book of practice problems to go over math concepts I needed extra work on and these flashcards for vocab. It seems a little overkill in retrospect, but I was damn determined not to take it twice. All of these helped me enormously, probably about equally. By combining them I was able to raise my scores about 25 percentile points each between my diagnostic test to actual test day.
Best of luck! Just study hard and keep your cool and you'll do just fine.
https://www.amazon.com/Official-DLAB-Training-Manual-Practice-ebook/dp/B00HUC6RT4
If you are worried grab this. I had some nerves going into it and figured I could take a chance on this book and if it was useless it would only be a waste of 10 bucks.
Turns out, 4 of the 5 sections in this are the exact same on the dlab, practice test included. The first section it gives you wasn't included when I took it several weeks ago so you can skip it if you like.
It will let you know the rules you need to use ahead time so you can already have them memorized, and if not, you at least have an understanding of one of the strangest tests ever created.
I used this book off of Amazon, and it helped me out a lot. Ended up making a 140.
These are the GRE books I'm using:
[Prep book from ETS, the test writers] (http://www.amazon.com/Official-Guide-Revised-General-Test/dp/007179123X?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00)
[Kaplan Prep book] (http://www.amazon.com/GRE-Premier-2016-Practice-Tests/dp/1625231326/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1464258601&sr=1-1&keywords=kaplan+gre)
[Big book of practice problems] (http://www.amazon.com/Practice-Problems-Manhattan-Strategy-Guides/dp/1941234518?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER)
ETS PowerPrep II, which is software that includes 2 practice tests with standard testing conditions.
If anyone has other suggestions, please share.
I'm gonna forego all the other threads about good books and best books because, on reddit, the list always seems to be the same. Not knocking it, as I've contributed to it, and because I agree with most of the choices I find each time. But I'm going to list a few books I read in the past ten years of so that don't fit the reddit norm, and because they struck a chord with me.
A great drunk writer.
I've been working to cook from scratch, and this book has helped me understand the beauty and satisfaction to be had in working all day to create one meal.
As a teacher, this has been instrumental to my work. Learning how we learn and learning how to teach others to learn is succinctly broken down into necessary parts.
By far the best book I've read in ten years.
Just plain, good storytelling, and with a narrator who'll question your capacity to understand other narrators.
My advice would be the sidebar + the blue book. Try taking one of the practice tests in the sidebar. If you score above a 1300 , you should be fine studying with whatever you can find on the internet. Otherwise, I'd recommend taking extra practice tests.
Also as someone from Turkey, I know that not all colleges require a 1200. I believe Kocaeli University only requires a 1000 with a 550 in math. Ankara only asks for a 1100 with 650 in math. The best state university in Turkey (boğaziçi) requires a 1250 with 680 in math. If you need help finding the requirements of specific colleges, feel free to PM me.
Much of the logic required for the test is shared among sections, so studying for one helps the others. Also, each section tends to require a slow progression because you are basically changing how you think, so a lot of people recommend intertwining the three to some extent.
Logic games are usually the quickest to improve on, so a lot of people start with more of a focus there. This allows you to shape your mind to LSAT faster and can help with the other sections. It also gives you a sense of progress and accomplishment.
Reading comprehension and logical reasoning are basically how well you pay attention to what you read and how you logically connect the provided information, so how fast and to what extent you pick those sections up depends on how well you build those skills. Sometimes that takes days to see drastic improvement (I had a student go from the mid-teens to the mid-twenties on RC in a day because he changed to a more effective approach), but often it takes months (usually because one is just practicing instead of changing what he or she is doing wrong).
First, I recommend that you take a practice test. You can access June 2007 for free. This will help you to determine what needs the most work. You will eventually want to buy at least some of the official preptests (all are good, but newer is more relevant and therefore more important):
Then, I suggest working with a set of prep books or online lessons. A lot of people like 7Sage, the LSAT Trainer, and PowerScore, but there are other options as well.
Three pieces of advice:
1.) Don't blow through all of your practice tests - even though there are 77 of them - a lot of people who start early tend to run out. That leads to:
2.) Don't take a lot of practice tests early. Your job is not to practice your current (bad) habits; instead, it is to identify what aspects of your approach you are doing wrong and make a conscious effort to fix them. You will get much more out of slow, untimed, exhaustive, reflective study than out of plowing through lots of practice tests expecting something to change. If you are not improving yourself, do not just continue to take practice tests - instead:
3.) Don't be afraid to look into a tutor. An experienced one can usually diagnose issues and sometimes that is more efficient and effective than working through it on your own, especially when you are stuck and struggling to improve. That can be expensive sometimes, but it can also be the reason why you get into your target school and/or the reason why you get a scholarship (my prep, many years ago, paid for itself many times over).
Good luck!
Yeah, I'm SO happy with the result! No lie I cried a little at the end when it spat out my score and I'm sure it was embarrassing for the lady who helped me check out afterward.
I can't recommend Official Guide to the GRE enough. It's really good at teaching you all the math you need, but I think this ETS math review pdf is the same as in the book? Anyways the good thing about the book is it has two full length, official practice tests that are a similar difficulty as the real test and loads of practice questions. I did every question in here and read the math review like three times.
ETS has two more free official practice tests, same thing as the ones that come with the CD in the book. I did both of these too and half of the Manhattan Prep free practice test to practice quant.
For more practice questions I used the Manhattan GRE and Ready4GRE phone apps. They give you some free and you can pay if you want more. The Ready4 questions felt like good practice to me and the Manhattan ones were a little harder than the ones in the ETS book.
All my friends recommended signing up for Magoosh. I didn't because it is pricey, but sometimes people sell their accounts if they still have time on their subscriptions so check GRE facebook groups or /r/GRE. They have some free things: some video lessons and practice problems, and explanations of problems from the ETS practice tests/practice books. I heard the Princeton Review and Kaplan practice tests and questions are too easy compared to the real thing, but the Manhattan Prep 5lb Book of Practice Problems, official ETS extra quant book and extra verbal book, and Manhattan Prep study guide set are all supposed to be good.
This is my second time taking it. I def did not prep enough for the first one! This time I did a full practice test first for a baseline, wrote down topics I was bad at, read the math review, did the exercises from the book, and did all the practice problems from the book. Then I took another practice test, started doing questions from 3rd parties, and spaced out the rest of the practice tests.
For the writing I read a lot of sample essays that scored a 6 or 5 and made outlines for different essay prompts. I was too lazy to write even one full practice essay though so I might have bombed that part, ahaha. I spent about a month studying and $20 on the ETS official guide.
TBH I might be taking the GMAT now so maybe I'll join you guys. Good luck studying! :)
I highly suggest The Official Guide to the GRE and using this thread for anymore information you need. However, if you're tight for money look at older editions (the one I hyperlinked is the second edition) or PM me if you're really desperate.
Take some considerations when using/buying the book because MOST OF the information in the ETS book is available on their website. However, your situation says you aren't able to get online often so I can understand the advantage, however I'd like you to be aware of this. I also forgot to mention I've used the Manhattan and Princeton and liked those as well.
Found this comment:
Just took the test on Saturday and got 170V/168Q. Let me tell you a few things about prep:
1)DO NOT waste your time or money with Kaplan/Princeton/Barron's etc.. they are inadequate and full of distracting typos.
2)Do use Magoosh.com and/or the Manhattan course. They both come with top-notch instruction and lots of practice tests/questions. I actually used both. For even more practice questions (which you probably won't have time for at this point) check out the 5 lb book of questions.
3) Definitely memorize every word on the free Magoosh vocab flashcards. Knowing these words saved my verbal score.
4) For the love of all that is holy please use the official GRE book that is put out by ETS.
5) Do not ignore the essay. It requires a very specific type of writing. Even if you are a "good" writer you will be disappointed in your score unless you write the way they want you to. What you may not know is that every essay is graded by one computer reader and one human reader. For $13 you can actually have 2 essays graded by the exact algorithm the computer reader uses and you'll get an idea of where you stand.
I recommend buying a couple used textbooks online and using them for photocopies. Read them yourself and build some lessons out. No need to photocopy the whole book of course.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0618904123/ref=tmm_hrd_used_olp_sr/183-1854472-9366726?ie=UTF8&condition=used
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0131950843/ref=sr_1_1_up_1_main_olp?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347046184&sr=1-1&condition=used
This is the #1 seller on Amazon with predominantly 5 star reviews
There's also an SAT prep section on Khan Academy if you want video lectures
Pick up the SAT study book from your local book store or amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Official-SAT-Study-Guide-Second/dp/0874478529/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413328052&sr=1-1&keywords=sat+study+guide
This lays out the exact format of the SAT test, and it lets you really get a good feeling for it. It helps you plan out time in the test, and everything like that. This book helped me so much, you have no idea. It is entirely possible to do really well on the SAT even with mediocre grades!
Remember, the answer is always on the page with the SAT!
Great advice with everything besides the part concerning the SAT. I wouldn't take a prep course. If you are not motivated, it will not help. If you are motivated, then you wouldn't need it and it would be a wasted expense. Instead, most commonly recommended are this book for introductory material as well as practice tests and this one for vocabulary. They are very cheap! (You could probably even borrow them for free from the library)
I'm not a good example since I was somewhat obsessed, but through many (many!) practice and vocabulary books like those I improved my score by over 600 points relative to my PSAT results without spending more than $50 out of pocket.
I'm not good at life-advice, but one thing I am good at is school-advice.
I recommend you look at Cal Newport's blog, and buy one of his books. They're well worth it.
Pertinent links:
http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/11/14/how-to-ace-calculus-the-art-of-doing-well-in-technical-courses/
http://calnewport.com/blog/2009/11/17/how-to-study-for-non-technical-science-courses/
http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/02/11/monday-master-class-the-5-most-useful-study-hacks-articles-that-you-never-read/
I recommend you make a list of all the classes you are taking, and then come up with an explicit strategy for each class as far as what you're going to do in each one to do well. Don't get carried away; going from a 2.5 to a 4.0 in one semester is difficult. Pick a realistic, reasonable goal, and work hard at it.
http://www.amazon.com/Official-SAT-Study-Guide-2nd/dp/0874478529/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342579097&sr=1-3&keywords=princeton+review+SAT
http://www.amazon.com/Practice-Tests-PSAT-College-Preparation/dp/0375429344/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342579164&sr=1-3&keywords=princeton+review+SAT+practice+tests
Buy these two books, as well as an SAT prep book of your choice (the two books here are just full of tests), the prep book actually has stuff you can learn.
The princeton review book I linked is a book of tests, but it has explanations for all the answers. The official SAT book does not. So my advice would be to go take a full Princeton Review SAT and grade it. See what you got wrong and identify your weak spots. Then I would cross-check your weak spots with relevant sections from the prep book, think about what went wrong, how you can avoid that mistake in the future, what general rule you were missing/got wrong, etc.
REPEAT AD NAUSEAM
Once you feel like you are lord of princeton review, start taking your practice tests out of the official SAT book. Check your answers after every section, and THINK HARD ABOUT WHAT YOU GOT WRONG AND WHY YOU GOT IT WRONG.
peace.
Furthermore, recognize that this is not "gaming the test" or anything dumb like that, you really are IMPROVING YOUR KNOWLEDGE. So approach it from that viewpoint, not from the viewpoint of trying to game the SAT or something. That would be stupid.
I would try The LSAT Trainer--it's surprisingly inexpensive as it thoroughly covers every section, and covers them well. I used it as a resource after I'd been through all the Powerscore Bibles and it helped me evaluate the habits I'd picked up and form new, more efficient habits. The book is very practical for someone who already has an understanding of the test. Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/The-LSAT-Trainer-remarkable-self-driven/dp/0989081508
When I said "51 onward" I was referring to PrepTest 51 and onward. PrepTest, commonly abbreviated as PT are previously administered LSATs. Every LSAT is released as such, except for those pertaining to the February administration. The most recent PrepTest is number 77, which corresponds to the LSAT that was administered in December of 2015. Each PrepTest contains the four officially scored sections of the LSAT plus the writing sample question, it however does not include the experimental section as this would compromise future LSATs. When you purchase the LSAT PrepTest volumes, you do not receive explanations, only an answer key and percentile conversion chart to each exam. However, the LSAC has released a book called SuperPrep II which includes 3 PrepTests, of which is there not only an answer key, but official explanations to each and every question, explaining why the right answer to each is the, well right answer. Although the LSAC does not have an explanation for all of their PrepTests published, there are many forums, websites and even published books which will do so for you. For example, The Princeton Review will be shortly releasing "LSAT Decoded" which will explain all of the answers in corresponding LSATs(PrepTests) I listed the following books that I purchased and recommend. Go to your local bookstore and read a couple pages of the Prep Company's book and see if their method of teaching works for you, if not, find another. Lastly, I would like to say that it is of absolutely no trouble for myself, I am more than happy to help, and thus I wish you the best of luck in your endeavour! :D
I posted the links to the books I bought and have been enjoying, please take caution before purchasing it from these links, as I posted the Amazon Canadian links as I live in Canada. Anyway, I believe either the Kaplan Premier 2016-2017 or LSAT trainer are an absolute must, although you could get away with not getting a prep company strategy set, I strongly encourage getting at the very least a comprehensive all in one. Any more questions or concerns about anything related to the LSAT please feel free to send me a message/reply.
http://www.amazon.ca/10-Actual-Official-LSAT-PrepTests/dp/0986045519/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1457253768&sr=8-2&keywords=LSAT
http://www.amazon.ca/Official-LSAT-SuperPrep-II-Champion/dp/0990718689/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1457253768&sr=8-10&keywords=LSAT
http://www.amazon.ca/Actual-Official-PrepTests-Comparative-Reading/dp/0984636005/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1457253768&sr=8-9&keywords=LSAT
http://www.amazon.ca/LSAT-Trainer-remarkable-self-study-self-driven/dp/0989081508/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1457253799&sr=8-3&keywords=LSAT
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1937707784?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1937707776?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0990718697?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0986045543?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0986086231?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00
You're at a 152, and you want to jump 13 points. You have a little over five months, and two breaks (Thanksgiving and winter/holiday break).
I know literally nothing about you except for what is included in that post, but I'd say you can improve 13 points (from a 152; would be a different story if you were at a 165 trying to improve 13 points to a 178) in five months.
I've gone through most of the legitimate books. From your post, I'm assuming you've only read/are reading the Powerscore books.
I'd recommend:
The LSAT Trainer,
Manhattan LSAT Logical Reasoning, and
The Blueprint for LSAT Logic Games
You said you're looking for vast LR improvement; if you can do that with the Logical Reasoning bible, great! That means you're smarter than I am, because I couldn't do it. MLSAT LR and The LSAT Trainer are significantly better at helping with LR. It's really not even comparable. As regards LG, PS LG is still very solid, relative ordering notwithstanding (I think PS calls it sequencing? the whole tree, with A > G/D etc.). I personally like Blueprint LG a little better, but with hard work, PS LG can definitely get you there.
There is a noticeable difference between MLSAT LR/LSAT Trainer and Powerscore LR.
After reading the books, you need to practice, and get familiar with individual question types/game types. How you want to do that is up to you, but I used the Cambridge LSAT bundle. It divides PTs 1-38 into question types for LR, game types for LG, and passage types for RC, so that you can focus on problem areas and work on proper habits/seeing patterns. It also has PTs 39-68 untouched, so you can just use them as regular tests. If you don't want to buy the whole shebang, I'd recommend you at least get the LR and LG bundles.
tl;dr: 152 to 165 in five months is definitely doable. Get The LSAT Trainer, Manhattan LSAT Logical Reasoning, the Blueprint for Logic Games (optional), and the Cambridge sets.
Here are the links to what I referenced in this post:
http://www.amazon.com/The-LSAT-Trainer-remarkable-self-driven/dp/0989081508/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377229180&sr=8-1&keywords=THE+LSAT+trainer
http://www.amazon.com/The-Blueprint-LSAT-Logic-Games/dp/0984219900/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377229201&sr=8-1&keywords=Blueprint+for+LSAT
http://www.amazon.com/Manhattan-Logical-Reasoning-Strategy-Edition/dp/193570785X/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1377229214&sr=8-2&keywords=Manhattan+LR
http://www.cambridgelsat.com/bundles/ultimate-prep-package/
HTH
Here the LSAT Trainer, by Mike Kim, author of this post.ost.
I bought this Panda math book, read all of it, and worked 75% of it.
For the English, I just did a little online Khan Academy practice because my English score was already pretty high. I definitely concentrated a lot more on math.
I also used the normal SAT book, which is pretty helpful too.
If your practice or PSAT scores are really low (like below 1200), I'd suggest you get tutoring instead.
But I don't think the SAT is very difficult. It's very repetitive, so the more practice tests you take and questions you study, the more you'll be prepared for the actual test because it's just regurgitating concepts.
Reading: https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Reader-3rd-Complete-Reading/dp/0997517875/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1523859178&sr=8-3&keywords=sat+reading
Math: https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Math-Advanced/dp/0989496422/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523859257&sr=8-1&keywords=math+college+panda
Those are both great.
By one sitting do you mean one test or one practice test? because my goal is to get a 1300 overall on the actual SAT when I take it, not on my next practice test.
Thanks for the resources! This is what I gathered from your response.
-College Panda Math Books for a higher math score. Complete parts I'm weak on for 650+ and whole book for 700+
-Uworld for more Math prep.
-QAS' for more practice and study mainly tests 5-8 in the Blue Book.
-1600.io for Reading.
Would you recommend any reading strategies? I've used RUNNERS in the past when attempting to dissect passages but I'm starting to feel like it takes too long.
I've also heard that the practice tests are easier than the actual tests. Is this true or is it just a myth used to ease test anxiety?
EDIT: By The College Panda do you mean books like this?, If so is there a certain website where I can find the latest editions?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0989496422/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_4Vw-BbXM6XWWV
Unfortunately right now it’s $28 but this is a really good review book that covers every math topic that could be on the test. If you are going to buy review books this is a good one to get but it’s also possible to improve at math for free using khan academy so don’t feel like you have to spend that money
https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Math-Advanced/dp/0989496422
Should I buy both?
https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-Practice-Tests-Math/dp/0989496449/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1500679237&sr=8-4&keywords=college+panda
https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Math-Advanced/dp/0989496422/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500679237&sr=8-1&keywords=college+panda
English - Erica Meltzer
Math - College Panda
Reading - Erica Meltzer
Science - For The Love of ACT Science (FTLOAS) By Michael Cerro
Essay - College Panda
I also recommend buying the ACT red book for practice tests
Another option is the ACT black book, has very good strategies
​
I bought all these and I started with math, going well so far! These have really good reviews and is recommended by this subreddit!
lol its ok u will improve. here are some of my resources:
​
if u haven't already, i suggest this book for practice tests: https://www.amazon.com/Official-Guide-2018-19-Online-Content/dp/1119508061?ref=ast_p_ep
once i was done with that, i looked up tests online (there are plenty of them!)
if u struggle with science, i suggest this book: https://www.amazon.com/Love-ACT-Science-innovative-standardized/dp/0996832203/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1537486319&sr=1-2&keywords=act+science
it's a bit pricey, so i suggest getting a used one
if u wanna learn some great tips on how to improve ur score in every section, this book has some amazing info: https://www.amazon.com/ACT-Prep-Black-Book-Strategies-ebook/dp/B07BGDM282/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1537486409&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=act+black+book&psc=1
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i found these books to be sufficient, but also look for tutors in your area for help
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good luck, i hope to see ur thicc 36 post soon! send me a message when it happens :D
They're the company that makes the GRE and a bunch of other tests. If you go to barnes and noble at the GRE section you can find this book https://www.amazon.com/Official-Guide-General-Test-Third/dp/1259862410/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495162326&sr=8-1&keywords=ets+gre which was the one I was referencing!
Whoa. Certainly, many students perform worse on the real thing than on their practices. That's to be expected. But your quant scores were higher than your verbal, then all of a sudden your verbal was better? What happened? It's impressive that your verbal was so good, but that quant score is far below your practices.
Luckily, quant is fairly straightforward to improve. Clearly, there are concepts you don't know, and you have to learn them. Go back to that ETS material. The official guide and the quant book have plenty of practice problems. Which ones did you get wrong? Are there any concepts that are a little fuzzy?
Anything that's a little fuzzy will likely not be very helpful under the stressful conditions of test day. So you have to be really solid on all the fundamentals. Go back to the official material and see which problems give you a bit of trouble. Then re-learn those concepts.
I definitely think you can hit those scores though. Take your studying seriously and be intentional about what you are learning and practicing. Keep an error log and review the material in it every day. Bit by bit you'll build your knowledge base and should definitely get to where you need to be.
Let me know if you have any more specific questions or concerns. You got this!
-Magoosh Student Help
Just got this book
Official GRE Super Power Pack, Second Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/1260026396/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_7T82Cb79HS6B0
Do you recommend it?
There are plenty of books out there to help you prepare for the general GRE as well as the different subject tests. Here is a good example of one for physics. Most of the "tricks" involve recognizing certain classes of problems and utilizing dimensional analysis and proportionality arguments to identify the correct answer. The exam is multiple choice, which lends itself to a variety of techniques that don't involve a lot of deep physics.
Another piece of advice, if you are planning on applying to grad schools over the next year, then you'd better get moving. The Physics GRE is offered twice a year, in November and in April. You need to have your grad school applications submitted by early March at the latest, which means you need to take the test in November, April will be too late (a couple friends of mine got screwed by this, they didn't sign up to take the test until April, which was too late and the schools they applied to wouldn't consider their application without the GRE score). So make sure you do your research on what you need and when to apply for the various programs you're considering. It would be a shame if you didn't get in to the program you wanted because of administrative issues.
Get this book-
Conquering the Physics GRE https://www.amazon.com/dp/1479274631/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_PyADDbZYF289R
Practice all the exercises and skim through the text. I started with my Physics GRE prep two weeks before the test and scored full. This book helped a lot I think. All the best!
I agree with many other replies that you would need a B.S. in something more closely related to physics (math, chemistry, engineering, etc) if that's really what you want to do.
Note that it would be very difficult to find any program that would consider accepting you with a business degree. If you really think you want to give it a try, it's never too late to go back to school, but know that if you take physics seriously (as one of the other posters stated) it'll be at least 10 years of school. Source: I just defended my Ph.D. and have been in college for 12 years...I am not unique.
If you really want to give grad applications a try, note that you'll need the general GRE ($205), then the physics subject GRE ($150). Take a gander at this book for some physics subject test preparation. Note that to apply, there will also be application fees (generally ~$25-75), transcript fees (generally free-$25), and you'll have to find people that can write very strong letters of recommendation for you.
TL;DR: If you really want to pursue graduate physics, get a B.S. in physics first (and plan to dedicate at least the next decade exclusively to your studies).
For the DLAB use this study guide:
https://www.amazon.com/Official-DLAB-Training-Manual-Practice-ebook/dp/B00HUC6RT4
Believe it or not... you can study for this weird ass test.
Looking for unis myself. As for GRE, I picked up the Barrons for Maths basics first despite what my friends said because I liked it. Then did some math from Kaplan. After that spent most of my practice time on questions from the Manhattan 5 pound book. As for words I used quizlet to mug words on pc. Felt it was much more effective than any other app. Especially the test generation and space race feature. Finally for the writing section I used tips from Kaplan and Barrons on the general grammar to be used while making points. I wrote about 5-10 essays for practice I guess. Asked a friend good with English to help review my essays and suggest where improvement could be done.
Anyway, ended up getting 327(V:160,Q:167) and 4 on the AWA.
Edit : Forgot to add one test series which I had used. The Kaplan book came with a free online account which I used extensively. While the maths seemed to be easier than the actual questions I encountered at GRE, I'd still call it a good source for practicing. There are several Kaplan books available so rem. to get one with an online account if you do. http://www.amazon.in/Kaplan-Premier-2014-Practice-Tests/dp/1609789369/ref=pd_cp_b_3 < This one.
For 160+ targets, 1000 is a bit low. I recommend https://quizlet.com/SherpaPrep and https://smile.amazon.com/GRE-Vocab-Capacity-Powerful-Mnemonics/dp/1477650555/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1510028747&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=gre+mnemonic.
If you're serious about studying, a month or two is enough. I got a 321 after prepping for a similar timeframe.
My recommended regime:
Start with the Official GRE Super Power Pack. This will give you the general book, verbal specific book and quant specific book. Work through each of them and do the 4 provided official tests when you see fit (2 are physical and 2 are online).
If you want to improve quant, then try out Magoosh. They're the gold standard for math prep and it's helpful to see the problem difficulty and average times, as well as getting experience working with the on-screen GRE calculator (this is a factor that not many people address).
Don't bother with Manhattan prep materials (too different from official material in difficulty and format). Just the two resources above should be enough.
I am going to get more physically fit while also getting back in touch with nature and myself. [I currently don't do anything physical and I'm way too stressed out for my liking].
I'm going to use my new bike (!!!!!!!!!!!) that the incredible Jason purchased for me recently to ride to work every day it is warm outside. This will also force me to get up earlier and really take time to myself. I will time myself and journal how I feel at the beginning and end of the month and a half of biking. It's going to rock.
/u/ChiefMcClane /u/mewfasa /u/chronos42 - you're already my real life cheerleaders but I know you will kick my ass to keep going!
This is not going to get my body fit, but it will help me shape my mind and in turn my future.
I don't use Amazon music.
Can't wait!!
If you're taking the California Water Treatment Grade 2 operator test, you might want to try the following study guide. Helpful. Practice Exams
You should try taking the Military Defense Language Aptitude Test (it involves learning parts of a made-up language and answering questions):
https://www.thebalance.com/defense-language-aptitude-battery-3332702
You can get a copy of the test here:
https://www.amazon.com/Defense-Language-Aptitude-Battery-Passbooks/dp/083734090X
And practice/tips here:
https://www.amazon.com/Official-DLAB-Training-Manual-Practice-ebook/dp/B00HUC6RT4
https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Reader-2nd-Erica-Meltzer/dp/1515182061/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Just in case there's anyone still interested in this thread, I asked this question on Quora and got these answers.
Of those answers, the one from Zoë Martin ended up helping me the most, and I did end up buying the Ivy Global New SAT Guide, alongside PWNtheSAT's Math Guide (the latter of which really is the answer to my prayers).
Thanks, everyone, and good luck!
Used this before I took the DLAB last year. Believe they raised the minimum score to 110 but don't quote me on the exact number. If you're fluent in that many languages already though you'll be fine
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00HUC6RT4/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1450047442&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;pi=SY200_QL40&amp;amp;keywords=dlab&amp;amp;dpPl=1&amp;amp;dpID=51f0jgftVaL&amp;amp;ref=plSrch
YOU ARE CRAZY GENEROUS. Hi, and thanks for the contest!
I've got a crazy weekend. Tomorrow I have class 10-12, then my first flight leaves at 2. I get into my hometown at 6:45 and will rush to my dad's 50th birthday celebration which begins promptly at 7! I'm really excited to see my family. Monday morning I fly home in time for my 1:00 class!
I would really appreciate this. First off, it's $25, so you could maybe still gift someone else! Second, it's something I really need to study for the GRE. Practice tests REALLY help me.
What are YOU doing this weekend? Watching BTTF? 1.21 Gigawatts!
here's the link: https://www.amazon.com/PWN-SAT-Guide-Mike-McClenathan/dp/1523963573/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530828503&sr=8-1&keywords=pwn+the+sat+math+guide&dpID=51sdSzGIuSL&preST=_SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch
For the GRE I got this exact set from Kaplan as well as the Princeton Review test prep book.
I didn't think the GRE was nearly as hard as everyone made it out to be. I did pretty well, but I'm an abnormally exceptional tester.
But I agree with pony_hawk, do a practice test before you study so you know your weakness.
Alright I'm definitely gonna pick that up! Do you by chance know which of these two books is best for the math section? -
28 new sat lessons
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1519617372/ref=pd_aw_sbs_14_2?ie=UTF8&amp;dpID=51OZj4HZNIL&amp;dpSrc=sims&amp;preST=_AC_UL130_SR130%2C130_&amp;refRID=1J3CK98RW3DFBHBHP4YQ
PWN the SAT math guide
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1523963573/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1&amp;smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
If not its cool but thanks!
If you're pursuing a career in water treatment, then start studying for the certification exam as soon as possible. If you don't have an educational background in water treatment, then it might take some time to get acclimated with the material. One of the more useful books for me was reviewing the test questions in this book: https://www.amazon.com/Practice-Exams-Treatment-Operator-Certification/dp/1533506396/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1469085063&amp;sr=8-3&amp;keywords=water+treatment+exam
If you're studying for the T2 exam, use the following practice exams. Link for Practice Exams
This is awesome! Thanks for serving our country!
I could really use this GRE practice bookEdit: scratch that. I forgot that I will most likely be taking the GREs around the same time this contest is over. So maybe something less practical like this light for gel manicures that I've been dying to try!
https://www.amazon.com/Practice-Exams-Treatment-Operator-Certification/dp/1533506396
I used this when studying for the T2 I just passed in June. I would make flash cards out of the problems I got wrong on the practice exams.
https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/occupations/documents/opcert/2016/treat_range_of_know.pdf
That’ll tel you what you should study for. Best of luck to you!
If you're studying for the water treatment operator exam, use this practice exam: Link for water treatment practice exam.
>ETS material
Thank you for this. Is this an example of the ETS book(s) you are referring to?
I was admitted to the program a few years ago. My major was in Econ/Finance never took a CS course in college.
I had a 166 Quant score on the GRE, and I believe a 158 Verbal. I think they really only care about the Quant score. I think you need to get your Quant score up.
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I suggest you buy the official GRE prep book from the makers of the exam (ETS).
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https://www.amazon.com/Official-Super-Power-Pack-Second/dp/1260026396/ref=zg_bs_11688_1/139-4028090-4420843?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=JY1CYMP0ZX7VQEQ2KWJB
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magoosh.com also had a lot of helpful material.
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I also took some intro level CS courses through Coursera. And I wrote about this in my SOP. I think taking an intro course on Coursera/Edx could help.
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The most recently released previous GREs are pretty similar in terms of question subject matter and form to what you'll see this year, so don't take all of those right at the beginning of your studies or you'll be left working through antiquated exams close to your test date.
Other than that piece of advice, I would second the recommendation of "Conquering the Physics GRE". It has both a good amount of very tailored subject matter review and lots of practice problems that are very similar to those found on the most recent GREs.
I just realized Meltzer also has a book dedicated to the reading section. I personally haven't read it yet but I will do so after finishing the book dedicated to writing section. https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Reader-2nd-Erica-Meltzer/dp/1515182061
I'm using the powerscore LSAT series, however, I'm trying to hone in on a particular subset of LR questions that were covered by the powerscore book, but had too brief of a problem set. There were about 8 practice questions on 'infer the best answer based on the above info' type questions, which I performed pretty poorly on, so I need to focus on those types of problems.
A user in another thread suggested Nathan Fox's book on LR which offers a more detailed overview of certain problems, which I think would be the most useful to me at this point.
These were my two most useful resources for LR:
Fox LSAT LR Encyclopedia
http://www.amazon.com/LSAT-Logical-Reasoning-Encyclopedia-Disrespecting/dp/1479391271
Also go to the Manhattan LSAT forums for explanations.
http://www.amazon.com/LSAT-Logical-Reasoning-Encyclopedia-Disrespecting/dp/1479391271/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1465083245&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=fox+lsat
I found it really useful. I decided law isn't the path for me, but the questions where you have a big text and have to infer what the author is implying or arguing is really useful, and there is a question type on GRE Verbal that is pretty analogous, even if the question stimuli is a little more brief.
The book is a little expensive for what it is, it might be worth looking for at a uni library or public library.
I used this book: https://www.amazon.com/Math-Lessons-Improve-Score-Month/dp/1519617372/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
These Erika Metzler books: https://www.amazon.com/3rd-Ultimate-Guide-SAT-Grammar/dp/1511944137/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1500323642&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=erika+meltzer+sat
https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Reader-2nd-Erica-Meltzer/dp/1515182061/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1500323642&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=erika+meltzer+sat
I used this book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1477650555
I heard from someone who used the Manhattan deck that the content is pretty much the same, so just pick one and stick with it. But this is hearsay, since I don't actually know their differences myself.
there's something they're not telling us! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1477650555/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i03?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1
here's a picture of the book on Amazon.. might be easier to see. She seems to have the same eyebrows, nose, and eyes to me.
Don't waste your time with that crap, unless that is effective for you. For me, whenever I read I gloss over words I don't know or can't pronounce. If you do this at all then reading won't increase your vocabulary.
For me, what worked was creating a mental picture of the definition based on the pronunciation of the word. The more personalized and outrageous the better. That last part on being personalized and crazy is key.
For example, truculent means "eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant." To me it sounds like "truck-you-lent" so I picture a guy driving a semi truck which costs like 400K who owns the truck, but works for a shipping company. He lends his truck out, but the guy doesn't give it back and so the big burly truck driver is pissed and eager to fight and argue.
I practice recalling the key phrase "truck-you-lent" and associated picture incorporating the definition. After three times I just know the definition without really being able to articulate it well. Its just in there, but it takes struggling and recalling it ~3 times over a 2 week period.
I have a database of GRE words with descriptions of pictures that I have been working on in hopes of writing a book based on the above idea someday. PM if you want me to send it to you.
Also, check out these books for ideas and even words. They tend to be simple SAT words but you need to know them as well for the GRE.
GRE Vocab Capacity: Over 900 Powerful Memory Tricks and Mnemonics to Widen your Lexicon
Vocabulary Cartoons II, SAT Word Power
Vocabulary Cartoons: Sat Word Power
Vocabulary Cartoons II: SAT Word Power
Picture These SAT Words!
Picture These SAT Words in a Flash
Vocabulary Cartoons: Word Power Made Easy
Vocabulary Cartoons: SAT Word Power
How to Build a Better Vocabulary
Verbal Advantage: 10 Steps to a Powerful Vocabulary
I have not used Varsity Tutors, so I am not certain of the difficulty of their questions versus actual GRE questions. However, unless you have already exhausted them, I suggest practicing official GRE questions from the GRE Official Guide. Your accuracy on those questions will give you a better idea of how prepared you are for GRE quant. If you find that you are struggling with official GRE questions, perhaps you may want to seek out a robust study resource to better help learn GRE quant. If you are unsure of which resources to use, you should check out sites such as Crush The GRE or GRE Prep Club.
https://www.amazon.com/Official-Guide-Revised-General-Test/dp/007179123X
I used this book when I was studying and felt it was really helpful. I’d supplement with Khan Academy or YouTube videos to fill any gaps you might have.
Sounds like you've exhausted the official electronic resources. :(
https://smile.amazon.com/Official-Guide-Revised-General-Test/dp/007179123X?sa-no-redirect=1
https://www.amazon.com/Official-Guide-Revised-General-Test/dp/007179123X
Here is a Magoosh blog post about average scores at top institutions.
Magoosh is a great resource, even just for information on the test if you are not interested in their packages. I cannot recommend them enough. I just started with 7Sage for LSAT, one of the highest rated LSAT prep programs available online, and so far my impression is that Magoosh was better overall. Interface, lessons, questions, everything.
Definitely pick up the official ETS prep book found here, and immediately. Burn through the review chapters in a couple sessions, then take both a written and computer based practice test (two of each are available with the ETS book). Now you will know where you currently stand, where you need to be, and how much more prep you will need.
Have you used any of the official ETS material? I'd recommend reading through their math review, hitting the paper-based practice test and the 2nd or 3rd edition guide, followed by the ETS quant practice book. You can't beat several hundred questions straight from the test-makers.
Manhattan 5lb would be a good source of practice once you've completed the other stuff. The 2nd edition guide + quant/verbal practice books all come in a pack on Amazon called "Super Power Pack." If you don't have any of them, I'd overnight it if possible.
Good luck.
Where can I find the (up-to-date) tests? Or is there a book that I can buy that has a bunch of different ones? I'm planning on buying this so I'll have the 4 tests included with that but would like to take more as well.
They changed the GRE a few years ago didn't they? So, I'm sure this is a given but just in case, I'm looking for practice tests that are up-to-date with the new test. Thanks!
A common mistake and misperception about teaching is the focus that new teachers (and sometimes whole districts) place on daily planning. What I mean to say is that rather than focusing your energy on what's on for the next sixty minutes, your plan should have a larger goal and direction. When I taught in NYC, district rules required that I was able to produce a plan for what I was doing at that very moment, but never that I had a detailed idea of where the class was heading. The most effective teachers have a unit plan, and often design those plans backwards from the goals they wish the class to achieve.
Check out Understanding by Design, a really powerful system of resources and thinking about curriculum design that's also something that keeps coming up in the ed community.
Lots of this material will be discussed during your education coursework, but if you try examining some of this now, you'll be miles ahead of others in your classes.
edit: another resource I find amazingly useful is Bridging English, a textbook I bought for a methods class during my masters degree. I'm still constantly turning back to it and its incredible appendices. I now work in New Zealand, and nobody on this side of the world seems to have heard of it, but my colleagues have all had a look and love it.
Get this book.
> This particular departmental person likes to micromanage (or appear to be doing so)
This is basically the exact opposite of how good teaching happens. You can't micro-manage it because everyone teaches differently. You have to let people be themselves in the classroom or they won't be at all - except for being insincere and unmotivating. Students (at all levels) learn more from teachers who are passionate about what and how they're doing things. Taking that away is a great way to ensure that your students hate the class and become disinterested.
>It seems (we've only had one meeting thus far) to be a "share experiences" type of meeting
This is actually useful. Many of my best learning experiences in terms of growing as a teacher have come from sharing what I'm doing with colleagues and reflecting on it. If managed correctly, it can be a hugely beneficial process. If managed incorrectly (as it sounds like here) it can become a great process for saying "No, you didn't do it the way I told you. You're wrong. Do it again my way."
>I mean, the only thing that really qualifies me to teach these kids is that I know some shit, I've read some shit, and I was enthusiastic enough to get her support for it.
I mean, that's basically what qualifies most of us to teach most of the time. Even the "traditional" teachers are in this boat - it's all theory until you step inside a classroom and try to make the pieces fit together in a way that works for you. No worries. You'll get it down eventually. Good teaching is really hard to do. Anyone who tells you otherwise isn't a good teacher.
>mostly because our numbers are a bit sad. I think the department had more Greek 101s this semester than Latin 101s.
This sounds like the department needs to look at who is in charge of teaching the Latin sections (both prof. and TAs) and how that's happening. This is an absurd statistic that I've never heard of anywhere before and must in some way reflect how the course is being managed on an admin. level.
>It's a bit patronizing, really. Especially at the university level. These are full grown adults. But we still need to use stickers and read "The Night Before Christmas" to them in Latin in order for them to stay with it? I think not.
The sad thing is that these attempts to "make it relevant" ARE patronizing and DO drive students away. No one wants to be treated like a child (as an adult). I bet that's part of the enrollment issue.
>every TA gets a 2 day training session before they're considered "ready" to teach. Two days.
This is absurd. Anyone who think that's enough time to train someone to teach is out of their skull. I spend more time training my volunteers to teach in a leadership program I help manage. There's no way that should be an acceptable program for a University.
>TA quality can be really abysmal. If you have a person droning on, reading off a PowerPoint for 50 minutes four days a week, you will have complaints regardless of the topic. And hence, shit TAs lead to massive over-corrected oversight. That's just what I surmise through deduction, however.
This is so true. And the sad thing is that many of those TAs go on to be professors that teach that way. As a policy I used to skip classes like that in Uni. because I could accomplish twice as much in half the time at home and still get the "A". That anyone could "teach" that way and call it anything close to "effective" is a farce.
A friendly suggestion to you: here are the four most useful texts I've encountered in terms of teaching. I know that not all of them are written for the university level, but they all provide unique insight into parts of the process. If you can get your hands on them, I really suggest you spend some time reading them. Not because I think you're one of those shit TAs, but because it really seems like you don't want to be one and I doubt that your Uni. is going to offer much support in the way of helping you not do that.
Bonus Teach the Latin, I Pray You by Paul Distler. Distler offers an alternative to the current Latin L2 pedagogy we use. I'm not 100% on board with D.'s methods, but in terms of how we go about things currently vs. what you'll find in Shrum & Glisan, he's WAY closer.
Like a lot of people are saying SAT is low.
But the good news is that you can raise it easily (relative to raising GPA) and cheaply.
This guy has some pretty good tutorials. Especially, pay attention to the writing and reading videos.
Buy an SAT Blue Book and do EVERY SINGLE practice test and problem. The book isn't too expensive, I even got mine from Goodwill for 3 or 4 dollars. You can print off sheets to bubble (set it to just print page 5-8 in the print menu) so that you can reuse the book and/or resell it.
If you have done all the problems in the Blue Book, You can do problems online, but I would stick to official SAT tests given after the last reform (anything in or after the 2nd Edition Blue Book I think is fine, the newer the better).
If you really are so passionate about math and could do it all day, do the SAT math all day, or at least for a few hours every day. There is a finite amount of types of questions they can ask since the test is standardized. If you master the questions they ask, you will have mastered everything they will throw at you, even the problems that seem weird. They cannot make surprise questions because of the nature of the test.
My first SAT score was 1850, and my 2nd was 2070 with only doing 2 of the practice tests in the blue book and watching a lot of the videos. It helps A LOT. In fact, I would say that the reading and writing are almost entirely just based on basic ability to read and knowing what kind of mode to get in.
Get your SAT score up high enough, and the GPA won't be as much of a problem (although you should still try to raise it, and certainly don't let it fall any more).
I agree that authentic materials are essential. The blue book is the way to go for that.
In the interest of using everything available...there are some really good "guides" on collegeconfidential. It's obvious that a lot of the kids (adults? whatevers?) on that site have put a LOT of time and thought into their preparation and are altruistically choosing to share it with others. No reason others shouldn't benefit from it.
Students who are scoring below 700 can greatly benefit from these sorts of courses. After suffering a lot of anxiety about how to organize such a course myself a few years ago, I ended up finding, using, and really liking this book: The New Math SAT Game Plan
I'd love to hear what sort of thoughts you have on running the prep course. Do you have a good location? Administration is the main thing that has prevented me from getting something like this up and running on a consistent basis...
The blue book, the blue book, the blue book. You could see your scores seriously jump just by completing all the SAT tests in it.
http://www.amazon.com/Official-Study-Guide-Second-Edition/dp/0874478529/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1414986572&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=sat+collegeboard+book
The description of the book you listed is the same description as the pre-changed sat book, so I don't know if this is real or just a bug.
https://www.amazon.com/Official-SAT-Study-Guide-Second/dp/0874478529/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1486781183&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=sat+official+guide
All very awesome advice. I'm an SAT tutor in VA and all the tips are on point. I have one suggestion to add on, however. You're using the Princeton Review book, which may be decent proprietary material. BUT, you are taking a collegeboard test written by collegeboard people. Therefore, you might want to look into trashing the Princeton and getting a hold of the Official SAT Study Guide.
Don't waste your time with stuff other people were paid to write. The format, structure, and feel of the Princeton tests are completely different from what the actual SAT is like.
Is your class for the SAT subject tests? You can use the CollegeBoard book (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0874477727), but there are only two practice tests in it and not very many extra questions. If you have a lot of your own notes and/or practice problems, this could be a great book because it's actually written by the CollegeBoard and uses previous tests.
If it's for the general SAT math sections, I'd definitely recommend the CollegeBoard book (http://www.amazon.com/Official-SAT-Study-Guide-2nd/dp/0874478529/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1376237363&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=official+sat+study+guide). I'm an SAT tutor and love using this - I can teach my own strategies and assign practice problems from previous SAT tests. There's 10 full-length previously administered practice tests, so there's plenty of material. I have a syllabus with 8 general lessons and homework, and there are still enough sections to have up to a month's worth of practice before the test.
I've been tutoring for six years now (and I used to teach classes for a large test prep company) so if you need any help I'd be glad to give you some pointers. Good luck on your class!
I never tried the SAT course from collegeboard, but I was talking about this book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Official-SAT-Study-Guide/dp/0874478529/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y/179-8509326-4155331
The first few hundred pages are just tips and in the end there are 10 practice tests (3 of which were actual SAT tests from previous years). If you don't understand a concept or question, or just need advice, use that forum I linked you. Brilliant ivy leage 2400ers on that forum.
For the SAT you'll want the classic Blue Book and for the ACT you'll want the Real ACT. These books both contain real tests previously administered by the College Board and ACT. They're the best source for practice material. Just take a shit ton of practice tests and make sure you go over every answer to understand why you got it wrong or right. That should prepare you.
What score are you aiming for?
The SAT blue book helped me the most. To improve your critical reading score study the vocab terms and read books more often than you usually do. The only way I found to improve my math score was to continuously practice the math in the SAT blue book.
You seem to understand the grammar portion fairly well and I'm going to assume that most of the questions you missed were the "no error" questions. Once I got towards the 700's in the grammar portion I had a hard time getting it any higher simply because I would look for an error that wasn't there.
Anyways you have plenty of time to study and I would also recommend that you take the PSAT your Junior year. National Merit Semi finalists can get a lot of Scholarships for the PSAT.
No problem. Oh, one more thing, if you don't have an official SAT study guide, you should get one. It's basically just practice tests (it doesn't offer any tips or tricks) but it's still a helpful resource and becomes 10x more useful when you have those books I recommended- the math guide contains breakdowns of all the questions in it, and I think the grammar guide has something similar.
Thanks for constructive response, is this the book you referenced?
Hey,
Glad to hear you took your first two PTs under timed conditions. As for Prep Books, you might find that something other than Manhattan works well for you. Manhattan was my personal favorite, but don't hesitate to pick up The LSAT Trainer which is one book for all 3 sections or the Powerscore Bibles. The keys to LSAT Guides are their use of authentic LSAT Questions and reliable methods used in approaching these questions. You want to avoid companies like Kaplan, Barron's and Princeton Review because they don't meet this criteria.
Deciding when to take the LSAT is tough. When I said at least 3-months in my original post, I meant that 3 months has to be the absolute minimum amount of time. You might find that it takes you longer and that's okay. When I was prepping for the LSAT I read a lot of first hand accounts from 180 scorers. There was a lot of variation in their prep time. If I recall correctly some 180 scorers put in about ~3-4 months while others put in more than 12. What you don't want to do though is put yourself in an unrealistic timetable. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't know if you should push back your test or not. If you have already registered for the September LSAT see when the last day you can change it to December is. If you haven't registered, see when the final registration deadline is (though if you live in an area where a large number of people are taking the LSAT, waiting this long could present other problems). Your own prep will determine how long it takes and which test date is best for you. I will recommend that, if you get either the Powerscore Series or Manhattan Series, start with the Logic Games book. I have given other people some advice about prep material as well in the first and third posts here
The LSAT Trainer. Great Instructional book for those motivated to study on their own. Website : http://www.thelsattrainer.com/
Book: http://www.amazon.com/The-LSAT-Trainer-remarkable-self-driven/dp/0989081508
Good Luck!
I used the LSAT Trainer my first go-round, and while I liked its style (and it gets great reviews here and at TLS), I felt like it was just a little too light in terms of instruction. Granted, I wasn't nearly rigorous enough with actually doing the (outside the book) drills prescribed, but I would have preferred to have more questions, exercises etc within the book, and have outside exercises supplement that. My second take I used the Manhattan series which I greatly preferred - a lot more material within the book, and I found its instruction style very helpful especially for LG. I also studied a lot harder for my second take so I'm sure that played into my opinions about the books, but even if my score hadn't increased I still think I'd prefer the Manhattan books.
Edit: I went from 160 to 168 with a year between sittings, but only about two months of consistent studying before the second exam
I used 7Sage and this book: http://www.amazon.com/LSAT-Trainer-remarkable-self-study-self-driven/dp/0989081508/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1426031750&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=the+lsat+trainer
That book is amazing and really breaks down the deconstruction of arguments in a way that just clicked for me. Not particularly helpful in the LG department, but thats where 7Sage came in.
So I would say that book is great for boosting LR and 7Sage is great for boosting AR (LG). The book also had some decent methods of breaking down RC.
Good luck. Glad I'm done with all that.
> LSAT Trainer
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0989081508/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0989081508&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=7l-20
This one?
And why do you recommend it over the powerscore's?
https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Math-Advanced/dp/0989496422 and http://thecriticalreader.com/books/ what books from Meltzer?
https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Math-Advanced/dp/0989496422
Here is the updated one (I think). Also, I highly recommend using uWorld for the math. Brought me from ~670 to ~780/800 on practice tests. Best of luck!
Get this book: https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Math-Advanced/dp/0989496422/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1503845896&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=college+panda
Study that book extensively for a month.
Then use the SAT Blue Book and do all the 8 practice exams for the math section.
Using the strategy can get you an 800 if you study well.
The College Panda's 10 Practice Tests for the SAT Math https://www.amazon.com/dp/0989496449/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_kRsTDbSM8XCQW
From 1230 to 1480 in 9 days (18 hours per day with no breaks at all and literally running to fill my stomach) hope that's enough motivation for you. Go crush it! You're applying from the UK you have 20x high chances than I do because of that. MIT wants you.
Here are links with past official SAT papers and Erica Meltzer books(need to login with Facebook) :
https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/REALs_ALL.pdf?token=AWyF2tRqwiblBSso1v3KRuxxaJdEt5PeiwJ9B_zupRV8s60mEz9Rv1_Wp0Y52ua-TDKhM1yd-SlSTLY-OsATkiQGZnnqKRFJ4WAro2PEEB-4A361yf_eNwI2RvwngToJcM6fhSK-NxW3umgiL1h_EQEUHCygYHiQfLVMjb3GrbVtfA
https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/Redesigned%20SAT%20Essay_FINAL%20-%20Numbered.pdf?token=AWx1zycjvLu517ko80HYao_LkFmBPQoz8jfnPkTChrMbI6YJdRZbpBrwNwI_z7MlcUJRB-uCvBc1JG-nO6YR-QNNRoAJtQKG6iamL1qFBCF-v9n24Q--y3EfN-Mz7tE2ZetwjieSuHYeIiM8jzF18hJ0ROHgLG7xxLeyJWugDlchMA
https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/FINAL%20REVISION_March%202018_Part_001.pdf?token=AWz3ZjfEyJAAhEWxqQYPX-UOoDITjvoNJ-5-fZyY6Cm0-v1LUPGBt4k47Mbyf2UacZ0UiJnTv9tFWgVTXdYywlImUUbSt2900K31iNc_bh5njiuzW7GlLUXZ_VHaSLN8gj3jqmKsEiYIRiHNIT9LjTgKodC8LVpcpBT5Lgo5BnF7RQ
https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/The%20Ultimate%20Guide%20to%20SAT%20Grammar%20-%20Erica%20L.%20Meltzer%20%281%29.pdf?token=AWwe7-PYp7b8jswLN51UHFiel_3yU5naCQlPPNbhnHlh-mLfCyW1SBKoc78nEA1JYKRuZlyjf37UY46q814ulLUuwg4YOnc7kpHM-5ynozG-dDU9j3j1DSulKwSJAV9uBoez6X0CF5Yap1KNvi1YAD7M-MzGaotEyrDV9fVhAFJQvQ
https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/FINAL%20REVISION_March%202018_Part_002%20-%20Modified.pdf?token=AWxFsriLMvPLOM5EIaq0CLJIDB0m6nVHD7Qj__ASVrYLugTgVyrlE76i0l1s0nFoMv1i2eg81D6HG3jQw9pMbZvVNVhAhUjZgQ18SYLVyyAKkmLInj78ElgFiymT_dCmCuAwl3Uhpi4bSuoP89V-UqHxsIeN9NDLZJRbr-3brpZmJw
https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/erica%20metzler%20book%20watermark2_opt.pdf?token=AWxSP4ndyb9Z4psE4CCksFPvHkhXRM6pkuWpFZgE6Eq7Nk9fdqaD37yQUYk39CEQr2639SUvUqENoileI7yDLVj1WwXkgZiu-YYP7ayvGLFxnTq8V9zzM6HZvjoAbz248NJ5CpYo5xowVECrSp9V3kn9RZWoGOe3mZl3YZu_EVknCQ
Again, use www.libgen.io for books
Here are 17 official SAT Subject Tests for Biology:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B7jsHUI7X8pgfmlqQWpYZzBoVW5mVWZVZmpPVml4SzAweXEwX1EzelI1MDFqWnlGcHR3QXM&amp;usp=drive_web
Best SAT book for the Essay (wrote my first essay in the exam itself, simply memrozied the template in that book and applied it as is in the exam even tho it was tricky to apply it but I trusted the template nevertheless seriously no practoce and got 20/24 ) : https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Essay-Battle-tested/dp/0989496465/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1523145761&amp;sr=8-3&amp;keywords=SAT+Essay
God Bless
Also there are 5 more perfect scoring essays in p 61-68 of the CollegePanda Essay book that you can see in the preview here https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Essay-Battle-tested/dp/0989496465#reader_0989496465
To improve your writing score, get either Erica Meltzer's Writing or College Panda's SAT Writing
For science, read this book https://www.amazon.com/Love-ACT-Science-innovative-standardized/dp/0996832203. I scored 20-23 constantly on the science portion before I read this book. Now, after taking the October test, I scored a 31 in science. This book really opens your eyes to how easy the science test is. It's a short book, so you should have enough time to finish it. A chapter a day ;).
For math, I can't really help you since I have a 25 in it, but I would just say take advantage of the easy questions (first 30). Trust me, you would probably finish the first 30 in like 10-20 minutes and have a lot more time to finish the more difficult questions(last 30).
Reading sucks.
I'm also a senior, and I know we only have 1 more shot to take the test, but you just have to work hard and do a lot of practice tests. You're making an investment in your future by studying. Regret is probably the worst feeling you could have.
I moved from a 28 to a 33 on the science section solely I believe from changing the way I approached the section. Don't read the passages before moving to the questions, it's a waste of time and frankly there's a lot of extra info you don't need. Most of the questions are just looking at some charts and finding the answers. For the questions that ask about info from the passage just read the few lines you need. Trust me, it'll help tremendously. Also, I used this book https://www.amazon.com/Love-ACT-Science-innovative-standardized/dp/0996832203 to study for the science section. It's a little pricey (28 ish dollars) but its totally worth it. Anyways, hope this helps. Also for the English and Math sections check out the "College Panda" books they also helped my score immensely. With these books and doing practice tests I ended up at a composite of a 35! You've got this.
For the love of ACT Science
https://www.amazon.com/Love-ACT-Science-innovative-standardized/dp/0996832203
GRE books that don't contain official, actual GRE materials are hit or miss. No matter what resources you use to study, make sure that you are always using real, official GRE materials to study in addition to whatever else you use. For example, this and these.
This is what I finished yesterday:
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https://www.amazon.com/Official-Guide-GRE-General-Test/dp/1259862410/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=TM1WWV0JK4V8ZZKVP4WB
I have the paper version: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1259862410/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=A1JKVWH22E85VP&amp;psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/Love-ACT-Science-innovative-standardized/dp/0996832203 :)
I'd say don't take a class. You'll be paying a lot of money for a generalized approach intended to strengthen a bunch of peoples' GRE scores, instead of focusing on what you need help with. Suck at verbal and good at quant? A class isn't going to spend more time on verbal just because you suck at it.
I'd recommend hiring a good private tutor and/or joining Magoosh. Magoosh is $80 for six months and it's by far the best prep material I've found. It's all online and has videos teaching you different types of material. Those are like a Khan Academy for GRE prep. They also have questions and a quiz mode, so they throw questions at you and also give you an estimated score range based on how many you get right. The questions are much harder than the real GRE so they prep you really, really well.
I'd say also get the Manhattan Prep 5-lb Book of GRE Problems. They're really good, reasonably challenging, and harder than the real test. They don't teach you "tricks" as much as teach you the actual material you need. Avoid Kaplan and Princeton Review like the plague, since their questions often have a lot of typos and aren't good prep. Also for sure get the Official Guide to the GRE, since it's the only place to get official ETS questions. They resemble the ones on the actual test the most. If you're having trouble with a particular topic, Manhattan Prep also sells guides for individual subjects like word problems and geometry that are really good. ETS also sells books of Quantitative and Verbal questions for extra practice.
Good luck!
I'd buy both real practice tests (which are offered in both official guides: http://www.amazon.com/Real-ACT-3rd-Prep-Guide/dp/0768934400/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1425879363&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=act+prep+book, http://www.amazon.com/Official-SAT-Study-Guide-Second/dp/0874478529/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1425879392&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=collegeboard+blue+book), sit down, and take the tests as if they're the real thing. That way, you'll know what you can expect on the SAT and the ACT with your current practice.
It sounds like the ACT is a better option for you, though you should check the standardized test requirements for the colleges you're applying to.
Hi -- your LSAT score is good for five years, and most schools now consider only your highest score. So, if you'd like to take it this Oct to have a score under your belt for whenever you decide to go to law school, you can definitely do so. I suggest you take the exam whenever you have a good chunk of time and motivation to prepare, and that you take it with enough time after so that if you need to take it again to get the score you want, you can do so.
BTW, I am the co-creator of Manhattan LSAT, and I've developed a new book that you may be interested in. Here is the amazon link:http://www.amazon.com/LSAT-Trainer-remarkable-self-study-self-driven/dp/0989081508/ref=sr_1_22?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1373646806&amp;sr=1-22&amp;keywords=lsat
and here is the top-law-schools discussion of my book --
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&amp;t=209573
and here is the website for the book -- http://www.thelsattrainer.com/
on my site, you can download the first chapter of the book for free, and I think that chapter will have a lot of the basic information about the LSAT that you are looking for.
I hope that helps! Best of luck with your prep. -- Mike
the name of the book lol. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1523963573/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1501986032&amp;sr=8-1&amp;pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&amp;keywords=pwn+the+sat&amp;dpPl=1&amp;dpID=51sAQzObZFL&amp;ref=plSrch
I just came here to see why this has downvotes. I'm confused as to why.
I don't have any tips, I hate the critical reading section too, but the new SAT makes it difficult to find anything good for free. The ACT has a whole bunch of free resources, but the SAT doesn't.
The best I can give you is this:
https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Reader-2nd-Erica-Meltzer/dp/1515182061/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
If you've got 30 bucks to spare, then this wouldn't be a bad investment.
> I am actually currently using that for the SAT prep
Thank you so much for sharing that bit of information.
https://www.amazon.com/PWN-SAT-Guide-Mike-McClenathan/dp/1523963573