SAT Prep Black Book: The Most Effective SAT Strategies Ever Published

Our three kids went through Barrett's SAT Prep Black Book and raised their scores significantly.Since we are in the Southeast, there's more focus in our area on the ACT. I wrote a detailed review of the ACT Black Book, as that's the one my kids spent most of their time and energies on, but the SAT Prep Black Book was every bit as good.Some students may do better on the SAT, some on the ACT, and some on both, so it's probably worth trying both if you have the ability. Most colleges will look at scores from the ACT and the SAT, and there's a conversion chart online which will convert the scores from one to the other. I think most college admission offices will use your higher score when considering admissions and scholarship funding.One of my 3 kids did better on the SAT, the other 2 on the ACT, but they all 3 took both. Barrett's books improved all 3 of their scores on both tests.One of the things I loved about Barrett's Black Books is that he takes one through the exact standardized questions, step by step, and digs into what the test makers are really asking. He goes through the test makers' material and walks one through the thinking behind the actual questions, not made-up problems.The section on essay writing that Barrett teaches improved my kids' overall writing skills. They learned to write organized essays quickly (even though the SAT no longer requires students to take the essay portion of the tests). This is a particularly helpful skill to have in college, especially if one is in a class where a professor assigns essays weekly (or...gasp...daily). Essay writing is also a valuable skill to have when applying to colleges and filling out scholarship forms ad nauseam.Having improved their scores through using Barrett's techniques, my kids received tens of thousands of dollars in academic scholarship money, per student. They received multiple admission offers. All 3 ended up at their first-choice universities.If you are looking into an Ivy League or another elite university like Stanford or MIT, just a slightly higher score can potentially make the difference between an acceptance letter or rejection letter. No guarantees, of course, but Barrett's techniques can give students a definite edge. His teaching methods cannot be found elsewhere that I have seen.A college degree is worth pursuing, especially now. There are so many lifelong benefits that college offers, beyond classroom learning.However, college costs are unbelievably high. So, my thinking was, "Why spend any more for college than necessary?" A higher test score potentially translates into more acceptance letters and more scholarship funding.Dollar for dollar, Barrett's Black Book was the single BEST return on investment of any Amazon book I have ever purchased (SAT, ACT, or both, if you need both like we did, since each one is test specific).Buy the SAT Prep Black Book (and/or the ACT one, as the case may be) today and start learning what Barrett has to teach.

This book was by far the best SAT study guide on the market as it claimed to be. The guide was extremely user friendly.

The book had great tips and some practice problems. Make sure to buy this with plenty time beforehand since the book is so long I didn't get to finish it before before taking the sat

I was a skeptic at first. Could a book really contain the formula to guarantee a perfect score?After going through the process of studying and taking tests I think I can confidently say: Mike's right—the SAT is really a flawed test and the only way to prove your actual intelligence is by learning the intricacies of its design. Each person's learning style is unique, so I think the best way I can communicate the book's effectiveness is through my observations of how well The Black Book prepared me for the SAT.*Reading Section*This was the most valuable part of the whole Black Book, for me. There were so many ways I was mistaught the reading section, like to guess when there seem to be two similarly valid answers. Remember: *there is only one right answer*. Also, his method for systematically going through each question is brilliant.I scored 38/40 on this section for my second sitting of the test. I spent less than two months of serious studying. With more practice, it could have become perfect. If you're decently smart, you can score perfect on this section (or any other for that matter), you just might need to put in enough preparation.*Writing and Language Section*The book’s advice for this section is also crucial. You have to know the very specific rules of the College Board in order to answer the questions correctly. The book’s question answering methodology is also excellent here.With only a little bit of practice dedicated to this section, I scored 38/40 on my second sitting.*Math Section*I am a special case and I hadn't taken a normal math class for over a year when I was studying. I was probably rustier than I could have been, but I still managed to do okay.I scored a 710 on my first sitting. I did not use my time most effectively, but again, with enough practice, I could have improved on that skill and eventually achieved a perfect score.*Essay Section*The SAT’s essay is BS, and to be honest, I did not do well on this section while following Mike’s formula. Both sittings I scored a 6-4-6, receiving the lowest possible score on the analysis section. Could this mean that the essay graders saw through the formula? Or does it mean I executed the formula too formulaically? I don’t know, but I cannot wholeheartedly endorse the advice and methods in this section.*One of the Few Faults in this Book*It took me a long time to get the system of multiple passes down and I still had a ways to go. That was probably my main obstacle to a higher score. I wish there was advice given in the book for how to train to do this outside of taking a timed practice test.All in all, with about a month and a half of hard studying, I put together a super score of 1470, which, with a few (non-athletic) hooks in my application, turned out to be good enough for several top schools, including Stanford. Considering the short amount of time I dedicated to taking the SAT, I owe a lot of credit to this book for helping me figure out the test and achieve an acceptable score (I guess Stanford believes any student with an SAT above 1450 is qualified academically for the university).*Random tips*-I combined this book’s advice with some articles I found on the Prep Scholar blog and that seemed to work.-I kept a Word document of all the questions I got wrong on practice tests and why, and reviewed it as part of my studying. This was tedious but it is necessary when you only have a few official practice tests available to learn from.-If you have plenty of time before the test, just flip through the book in the beginning and get comfortable with it, because it is a beast (albeit a very readable one).