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Showing posts sorted by relevance for query best prep books. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query best prep books. Sort by date Show all posts

April 29, 2020

GRE: The Best Prep Books

Update: I've updated a few of the links to GRE practice materials.

If you're taking the GRE to get into grad school, take heart: the test is very similar to the pre-2016 "old" SAT. My list of recommend prep books, below, even includes manuals for the old SAT.

You survived the old SAT and did well enough in college to apply to grad school. With some practice, you'll do fine on the GRE, too.




The GRE is a computer-adaptive test, and PowerPrep software is the only place you can find computer-based official practice tests.

Pros
GRE questions are tricky and constantly force you to double-check your assumptions. Only official test questions allow you to safely make the assumption, "The problem is with me and not with the way the question is written or with the answer key."

Since there are only two practice tests, I recommend taking the first one before you start studying and the second one once you think you might be ready to take the GRE.

Cons
The pre-July 2017 version of the software has a user interface that's laughably 1990's. I had to look multiple times to find the button that allowed me to review my answers. If you're still a fan of Windows ME and Mac System 7, you might be okay with this.

The post-July 2017 version is Web-based. I made an ETS account just so I could access the Web-based version of Practice Test #1, but as of June 14, 2017, my attempts to log in to my ETS account have failed. (There's no error message; I just get returned to the login page, where I have to type in my user name and password over and over again.)



This is the only place you can get paper-based official practice questions. The old 2015 edition is nearly identical to the 2017 edition I've linked to above, so check the prices on both before making your purchase.

Pros
This resource has hundreds of practice questions, far more than the practice tests in the PowerPrep software do.

Cons
The practice material is great, but you may find the strategies and answer explanations unhelpful.



Manhattan Prep is the gold standard when it comes to GRE prep. This is their very long, very heavy book of practice questions and complete answer explanations.

Pros
If you've taken a practice test and just want hundreds of questions to practice with, this is the book for you. They're not official GRE questions, but they're close.

Cons
This book is so thick that you might have trouble keeping it open when you practice. The actual GRE only gives you scratch paper to write on instead of a printed test booklet, so you have to manage your practice scratch paper, calculator, and Manhattan Prep book at the same time.

Errata (2nd edition)
Ch. 11, #18 (p. 453): The answer is (B). The book has the correct answer explanation but says the answer is (C) instead of (B).


Manhattan Prep GRE Strategy Guides

You can buy all eight of Manhattan Prep's strategy guides as a package, but you only need to choose one of the eight to get the most important benefit: one-year access to Manhattan Prep's six computer-adaptive practice tests.

Pros
It's a lot cheaper to buy a $15 book than to pay $39 for the practice tests on Manhattan Prep's Web site. You can also try one of their practice tests for free if you create an account on their Web site.

Cons
Don't buy all eight of their strategy guides unless you have a lot of time to kill. Spend the majority of your time studying for the areas in which you need the greatest score gains.



This bank of GRE Quantitative practice questions contains accurate material and detailed answer explanations.

Pros
This book has the same format as Dr. Warner's SAT and ACT Math books. You can jump right in and start working without having to wade through preliminary reading.

The problems in this book are arranged by topic and difficulty level, so students who don't need any content review can jump straight to the chapters that contain what they want to work on.

Cons
Most of the content review is in the answer explanations, so you can't treat this book like a textbook. You really have to engage with the material to receive the maximum benefit.

Errata
On page 77, problem 79 has a graph drawn in such a way that it's unclear whether you should include (G) as a possible answer. The book's answer, AEFG, is still correct, however.



Nova's GRE Math Prep Course

This is the closest thing I've seen to a GRE Quantitative textbook. It's very heavy on practice problems, though, and the problems for each topic are sorted into categories (Easy, Medium, Hard, and Very Hard).

Pros
You can get content review here without feeling like you're skipping the hardest questions on the GRE. In fact, the questions labeled "Very Hard" are more difficult than the questions you're likely to see on the GRE itself.

Cons
This book, like any math textbook, is pretty dense. Expect hard work without any entertainment!


Cracking the GRE Premium

This is a decent all-around study guide. It focuses on strategy, not content review, which is advantageous if you have less than two weeks to study.

Its strategies for Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence are excellent. Unless your vocabulary is already post-graduate level, you're going need those strategies to help you guess on sentence completion questions.

Pros
The book's strategies are well-written and clearly explained.

Cons
The practice tests may not feel 100% like GRE questions to you. Some of them are worded in confusing ways, and the answer explanations are cryptic enough to leave you wondering whether the bewilderment is truly your fault.

The paper practice tests aren't computer-adaptive, so the book itself won't give you a diagnostic GRE score. You have to take an online test or use PowerPrep software for that.


The Official SAT Study Guide (2009 edition)

SAT Prep Black Book (2015 edition, Mike Barrett)

When the old SAT died in 2016, ETS didn't throw all of those SAT words away. It's using them on the GRE!

The old SAT's Critical Reading section is an excellent source of semi-official GRE Verbal questions. The old SAT's question types don't match up precisely with the GRE's, but since both tests were written by ETS, you can still use the former to practice for the latter.

Mike Barrett's SAT Prep Black Book provides excellent strategies and answer explanations for official old SAT Critical Reading questions. I recommend going through pages 39-118 in conjunction with the 2009 edition of the Official SAT Study Guide.


Flocabulary: The Hip-Hop Approach to SAT-Level Vocabulary Building

If you want to ace Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence questions, you need to build your vocabulary.

I've said before that reading is the best way to build your vocabulary. That's definitely true for most standardized tests, including the post-2016 SAT, which test your knowledge of vocabulary in the context of longer passages.

The GRE, however, tests vocabulary using only one sentence at a time. You can get away with memorizing definitions and even with using flash cards.

That's why I'm recommending Flocabulary, which embeds the definitions for advanced vocabulary words into rap songs. Rhythm and rhyme have always made large amounts of text easier to memorize, and vocabulary definitions are no exception.

You can rip Flocabulary songs from the included CD onto your phone and then play them in your car. The Flocabulary book contains the lyrics to all the songs, definitions for the songs' vocabulary words, and multiple-choice practice questions.

Pros
This is the easiest way I've seen to memorize the definitions of words like myopic and recapitulate.

Cons
The stories in some of the songs don't feel quite finished. Phobia, for example, is a song about a guy who's scared to go outside because of a dilapidated house in his neighborhood. We get to the end of the song and never find out what happens to the house or whether the protagonist eventually rallies the courage to face his fear.

You're only going to get the superficial dictionary definitions of words, which may or may not help you in real life. You're doing this to get a vocabulary fix for the GRE, but you'll learn the words properly later by reading them in normal contexts, right?


The Yo Momma Vocabulary Builder

Instead of using music like Flocabulary does, this book relies on humor and silly imagery to help you learn word definitions.

Pros
Any learning tool that connects with preexisting knowledge in your mind is going to work better than flash cards. If funny works for you, go for it!

Cons
Like Flocabulary, the Yo Momma method divorces meanings of words from the ways those words are used in real contexts. You'll get a distorted, oversimplified understanding of vocabulary, but it might be enough to get you through the GRE.

If you're going to pick up a book, though, why not read something you're actually interested in and look up the vocabulary words in the process?

Essay Topics

ETS publishes lists of all the possible Issue and Argument topics.

Going for a Perfect Score

In theory, you can get a perfect score on the GRE if you study hard enough. A perfect 170 in Quant is only 97 percentile, and a 169/170 in Verbal is 99 percentile.

In practice, it's not just about studying and strategy. You have to have a strong enough vocabulary to successfully guess on all of the Verbal questions, no matter what words the test throws at you. Crutches like Flocabulary can help, but there's no way you can memorize all of the words you need in a couple of months.

Improving your vocabulary is a lifelong process, so the GRE may be less vulnerable to tips and tricks than we'd like.

June 2, 2017

SAT Biology Subject Test: The Best Prep Books

SAT Biology E/M is the most difficult Subject Test in the math and science category. This article reviews specialized resources that will help you get a perfect score.

Biology is a complicated and rapidly changing field, and your school textbook is probably out of date compared to both the AP test and the state of science today. As just one example, this article on earwax suggests that the Mendelian genetics taught in high school is oversimplified and out of sync with scientists' actual observations.

While the AP test has recently been updated to emphasize critical thinking and modern research topics, the Subject Test has been stable over the past twenty years. It asks you to have a basic understanding of a very broad set of information. If you need to prep for both, it's best to pick up a high school or college textbook and read it from cover to cover.

The complexity of biology makes it hard to write good prep guides. Unfortunately, most focus on memorization rather than understanding. In the list below, I include non-traditional study aids that can give you the same depth of knowledge as a biology class would.



If you can only afford one book, get this one. It has two official practice tests and answer explanations.

Neither of these tests is a copy of the one in The Official Study Guide for ALL SAT Subject Tests, so you should get both books if you can.

Pros
Official material is a true confidence builder. Every question you get wrong contains skills you need to practice.

Most prep books have poorly written questions, answer key errors, and questions that are unrealistically easy, difficult, or off-topic. If you get questions wrong or run out of time on unofficial tests, you'll have trouble figuring out whether the fault lies with you or with the book you're using.

Based on the raw-to-scaled score conversion tables in the book, an a average raw score of 77/80 will get you perfect 800.

Cons
There's no Kindle edition, so you'll have to plan ahead and order a physical copy from Amazon.



This book has an official biology practice test that isn't the same as the two in the dedicated biology guide (above).

Pros
If you're going to take several Subject Tests, you need this book anyway.

Based on the raw-to-scaled score conversion chart, the practice test in this book is about as hard as the ones in the dedicated biology guide: to get a perfect 800, you need a raw score of 77/80.




This is a good all-around study guide. It contains content review, useful strategies, and decent practice tests.

Because it focuses on memorization, this book is useful if you have less than two weeks to study. If you have more time, supplement this book with more in-depth resources that will help you understand and retain what you learn.

Pros
The practice tests are harder than real College Board tests, but the questions aren't badly written. The publisher may have made the tests harder to encourage students to memorize everything they need to know.

The book's helpful content review chapters can keep you from feeling lost. The Biology Subject Test covers a broader range of topics than you're likely to learn in your high school class, so content review is a must.

Cons
The Princeton Review is all about giving you what you need and not one iota more. Their book asks you to memorize information because that's faster than truly understanding it. It also means that you won't retain everything you learn.

Since this book is meant for the Subject Test, you'll need to get an additional study guide if you're planning on taking the AP test, which goes into greater depth.



This book is the gold standard for AP and college-level introductory biology. U.C. Berkeley assigned it in first- and second-semester biology when I was in college.

College textbooks are normally more than a hundred dollars, but you can get older editions used for a couple of dollars. The link above will take you to the 7th (2005) edition.

As you work through each chapter, do the Concept Check questions and the ten-question self-quiz.

Pros
This book will get you an 800 on the Subject Test and a 5 on the AP test if you understand even a quarter of what's in it. It's that comprehensive.

Its explanations are detailed and accompanied by helpful diagrams that are mostly consistent with current research. If you understand what's going on, you don't have to memorize it!

The authors are up-front about the limitations of current science. For example, we observe centrioles during mitosis, but scientists still don't know what they do. A high school biology textbook probably won't mention these limitations, as they would put your teacher in the awkward position of having to say, "I don't know how to answer your questions."

Cons
You need a lot of time to get through this book. It's 1231 pages of college-level writing.



To avoid simple memorization, you may need to experience your Biology class a second time. Fortunately, Khan Academy has made its lectures available online as a podcast. You can also watch the lectures on Khan Academy's Biology site.

You can download podcasts and listen to them in your car using the Podcast Republic app and a bluetooth FM transmitter.

Pros
Sal Khan breaks down complicated topics into small, digestible chunks. He has a soothing voice that won't distract you too much when you're driving.

Cons
You may find it hard to get the podcast episodes to play in order on your phone. You can avoid that problem by watching them directly on Khan Academy's Web site.

Khan does not rely on cutting-edge research. He tends to oversimplify topics like a non-AP biology textbook would.

The modern focus on molecular and cell biology is great for the AP test, which was revised a few years ago, but skips over some topics on organism classification that you need to know for the Biology Subject Test.



This is MIT's introductory Biology course recorded in real time. It's a college-level version of the Khan Academy podcast described earlier.

If you need eye candy, you won't get it here. Most of the slides the professors used in class have been "removed due to copyright concerns." Use another book or podcast as your primary study source and listen to the MIT lectures in the car to deepen your understanding.

Pros
These scientists are relatively aware of the complexities of their field. For example, one of the professors mentions that Gregor Mendel's original research on genetic crosses worked on pea plants and only on pea plants. His attempts to duplicate his results on hawkweeds and bees failed. As a result, Mendel toiled in obscurity, and his work was only recognized as significant after his death.

Cons
As with Khan Academy, the modern focus on molecular and cell biology is great for the AP test, which was revised a few years ago, but skips over some topics on organism classification that you need to know for the Biology Subject Test.

Going for a Perfect Score

A raw score of 77/80 will usually get you a perfect scaled 800 on SAT Biology. After the test deducts a quarter of a point for every question you get wrong, you can afford to miss only two of eighty problems. That's like getting a 98% on a comprehensive high school biology final.

The books above contain everything you need to get an awesome score, but if you'd like personalized help, you can sign up for in-home or online tutoring.

July 17, 2020

SAT Math Level 2 Subject Test: The Best Prep Books

Update: I've updated the errata section for my review of 320 SAT Math Subject Test Problems - Level 2 (Steve Warner).

The Official SAT Subject Study Guide: Math Level 2

This book has four official College Board Math Level 2 practice tests.

Tests 3 and 4 are the same as the tests in the old edition of the College Board's Math Level 1 & 2 book. Test 3 is also the same as the test included in the Official Guide for All SAT Subject Tests.

The great news is that Tests 1 and 2 are completely new. They haven't been published before in any form, and they're even not the same as the two official but unpublished College Board Math Level 2 tests that are floating around.

Pros
Official material is a true confidence builder. Every question you get wrong contains skills you need to practice.

Most prep books have poorly written questions, answer key errors, and questions that are unrealistically easy, difficult, or off-topic. If you get questions wrong or run out of time on unofficial tests, you'll have trouble figuring out whether the fault lies with you or with the book you're using.

Most students who take practice tests for Math Level 1 and Math Level 2 find that they do better on Level 2 because of its generous curve. Based on the raw-to-scaled score conversion tables in the book, a raw score of 43/50, 40/50, 44/50 and 43/50 will get you perfect 800's on the first, second, third, and fourth Math Level 2 practice tests, respectively. To get a perfect score on Math Level 1, you usually need a raw score of 49/50 or 50/50.

Cons
The book only offers practice tests, warm-up questions, and answer explanations for the practice tests. It doesn't address strategy in any kind of detail.


SAT Math 2 Prep Black Book (Mike Barrett)

Barrett's method focuses on shortcuts and calculator tricks to get you through problems you're not sure how to do. He includes very detailed answer explanations for the problems in two College Board practice tests.

Since Barrett de-emphasizes content review, you may have trouble breaking above 750. It's great, however, if you use it in conjunction with another book that teaches you how to solve problems more traditionally.

Pros
This book's greatest strength is its focus on strategic guessing. It's faster to cross off three or four answer choices and choose from what's left than it is to solve problems traditionally. Unless you're very good, you'll need to use strategic guessing for the first forty questions in order to garner enough time for questions 41-50, which tend to be much harder.

Most of Barrett's answer explanations are one to two pages per question, so his book can really help if you don't have time to find a tutor.


Cons
Barrett's book doesn't contain any practice problems. You have to get the College Board's Math Level 2 study guide: all of his answer explanations are for the problems from that book.

Keep in mind that Barrett's answer explanations are tied to the old edition of the aforementioned study guide. That means you'll either have to use that edition or match his explanations up with tests 3 and 4 of the new edition yourself.


Cracking the SAT Math 2 Subject Test

This is a good all-around study guide. It contains content review, useful strategies, and decent practice tests.

Pros
The practice tests have no answer key errors. They're not quite the same as official practice tests (some of the problems lack elegant solutions and will take you longer than 30-60 seconds to solve), but the differences aren't large enough to keep you from getting an 800 on the real thing.

The book's helpful content review chapters can keep you from feeling lost when you're trying to re-learn your entire high school math curriculum.

Cons
The Princeton Review is all about giving you what you need and not one iota more. It's a good idea to supplement this book with the extra practice material in Steve Warner's book.


320 SAT Math Subject Test Problems - Level 2 (Steve Warner)

I use this as a textbook in my own tutoring for students who score 700 or higher on practice tests. It's a huge set of practice problems with detailed answer explanations.

Pros
The practice material is very similar to real Math Level 2 tests.

The problems in this book are arranged by topic and difficulty level, so students who don't need any content review can jump straight to the chapters that contain what they want to work on.

The answer explanations provide more than one way to do each problem, and the fastest method is marked with a star.

Cons
The book doesn't provide any content review. Dr. Warner does define terms like range and domain in his answer explanations, but his book doesn't have an index. You'll need to label important pages with Post-It notes.

In order to finish on time, you should first eliminate as many answer choices as you can and then decide whether to solve each problem in thirty seconds, guess from the remaining answer choices, or skip the problem and come back later. Dr. Warner's answer explanations don't talk about eliminating answer choices, so you may find that you run out of time if you solve problems the way he does.

If you're scoring below 700 on practice tests, start with the Princeton Review's book and come back to Dr. Warner's book later.

Errata
#108 on page 101 has two correct answers: (D) and (E).

The answer to #65 on page 164 is 55, which is not one of the answer choices.

The answer to #98 on page 173 is (A), not (B). Since the first term is k0, k4 is actually the fifth term in the sequence.

The answer to  #99 on page 173 is 13/4, which doesn't match any of the answer choices.

The answer to #156 on page 140 is 9.54, not 8.43. Dr. Warner arrived at the wrong answer because he plugged in 115° for ∠SOT instead of 145°.

#16 on page 149 doesn't give you enough information to solve the problem. Assume that the heights of the two cones are equal, and you'll get the correct answer.

The answer to #112 on page 176 is (E), not (A). The complex number z + 2 can be in either Quadrant I or Quadrant II, depending on how big its real component is, so i(z+2) can be in either Quadrant II or Quadrant III. In fact, if z = -2+i,  the answer ends up lying on y-axis, which isn't in any of the four quadrants.

The answer to #135 on page 184 should be "none of the above." Since a square root can't be negative, f(g(x)) will never be equal to -1, and the quantity a + b is an imaginary number.

#156 on page 192 should read 0 < θ < Ď€/2, not 0 < x < Ď€/2.

#160 on page 193 is written in an unclear way, as it's not evident whether the order of the positive integers matters when you're adding them together.


Barron's SAT Subject Test: Math Level 2

Barron's practice tests are harder than real College Board tests, and I'd only recommend them if you really want to challenge yourself.

That said, I've changed my view on this book over the past couple of years. Most of my students want a perfect 800 on the test and constantly seek out difficult practice questions.

If you really like math and think the hardest questions are the most fun, even when the answer explanations aren't perfect, this could be the right book for you.

If you decide to try the practice tests, add 50 points to your score in order to compensate for difficult (and, occasionally, poorly written) questions.

Pros
Barron's guides tend not to change much from one edition to the next. For example, except for question 18, Model Test 1 is basically the same in the 10th and 11th editions. You can buy a used 10th edition for five dollars if you want.

Because Barron's is a major publisher, you can find its books at the public library. That's not the case for self-published books like Steve Warner's and John Chung's.

Cons
The pro listed above is also a con: errors tend not to get fixed from one edition to the next.

You have to be proactive in order to check your work, as the answer explanations are short, and it may be hard to tell whether a question is badly written or if you've simply answered it incorrectly.



Ivy Global's Online Math Level 2 Practice Test and Answer Explanations
Ivy Global, which has published fairly accurate SAT practice tests, has recently released a Math Level 2 practice test.

Their material is pretty challenging and includes topics that the real Math Level 2 test doesn't cover. That said, the answer key is accurate, so go ahead and take their test if you need the extra practice.



Dr. John Chung's Mathematics Level 2

This book has problems that are much harder than the real thing and covers some obscure topics. The problems are all doable in 30 seconds or less, though, so they're hard in a way that may be helpful if you're already scoring 800 and want some extra practice.

Pros
Only two official practice tests have been released for Math Level 2, so you may need the extra practice in this book if you absolutely must get an 800 on your test.

Though the book tests some obscure concepts that rarely show up on official tests, you could see those concepts in your precalculus class. The difficult problems in this book might be fun if you're obsessed with math.

Cons
The practice tests are very difficult, so don't treat your scores from this book as accurate diagnostics.

Books to Avoid

The Arco and McGraw-Hill books contain inaccurate questions and answer key errors.

Going for a Perfect Score

A raw score of 44/50 will usually get you a perfect Math Level 2 score. Even after the test deducts a quarter of a point for every question you get wrong, you can afford to miss five of the fifty problems. That's like getting an A-minus on an advanced high school math test.

The books above contain everything you need to get an awesome score, but if you'd like personalized help, you can sign up for in-home or online tutoring.

August 13, 2019

SAT Chemistry Subject Test: The Best Prep Books

Update: I've added an Errata section to my review of For the Love of SAT Chemistry.

As a credentialed teacher with an M.S. in chemistry, I've noticed that some SAT Chemistry study guides are great, some are so-so, and some must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence they came.

Let's start with the great ones:

The Official SAT Subject Test in Chemistry Study Guide

If you can only afford one book, get this one. It has two official practice tests and answer explanations.

Neither of these tests is a copy of the one in The Official Study Guide for ALL SAT Subject Tests, so you should get both books if you can.

Pros
Official material is a true confidence builder. Every question you get wrong contains skills you need to practice.

Most prep books have poorly written questions, answer key errors, and questions that are unrealistically easy, difficult, or off-topic. If you get questions wrong or run out of time on unofficial tests, you'll have trouble figuring out whether the fault lies with you or with the book you're using.

Based on the raw-to-scaled score conversion tables in the book, raw scores of 80/85 and 76/85 will get you perfect 800's on the first and second practice tests,

Cons
There's no Kindle edition, so you'll have to plan ahead and order a physical copy from Amazon.


The Official Study Guide for ALL SAT Subject Tests

This book has an official chemistry practice test that isn't the same as the two in the dedicated chemistry guide (above).

Pros
If you're going to take several Subject Tests, you need this book anyway.

Cons
The test questions in this book are easier than the ones in the dedicated chemistry guide, and the curve reflects that difference: to get a perfect 800, you need a relatively high raw score of 82/85.


Strategy for True/False/CE Questions
  1. If either the first part or second part of the question is false, don't bubble in CE. For example, neither "All elephants have four legs BECAUSE elephants use their legs to eat peanuts" nor "All elephants have five legs BECAUSE elephants use their legs to walk" deserves the CE mark.
     
  2. Mark "CE" if the second part of the sentence is a good reason to believe that the first part is true. For example, "The back side of the moon never faces the Earth BECAUSE scientists have never observed the back side from the Earth's surface" should be marked CE. Strictly speaking, this is not the correct way to use the word because, but it will get you the right answer on SAT Chemistry tests.


Cracking the SAT Chemistry Subject Test

This is a good all-around study guide. It contains content review, useful strategies, and decent practice tests.

Pros
The first two practice tests are very similar to real College Board tests, and there are no answer key errors. The third one, however, contains a few poorly written questions (#104, 37, 38, 56, and 62). You may want to use that one for untimed practice.

The book's helpful content review chapters can keep you from feeling lost. The Chemistry Subject Test covers a broader range of topics than you're likely to learn in your high school class, so content review is a must.

Cons
You'll need a calculator to do some of the practice questions in the content review chapters. You're not allowed a calculator on the actual Subject Test, though, and the full practice tests included in the book are very doable using mental math.

The Princeton Review is all about giving you what you need and not one iota more. Since this book is meant for the Subject Test, you'll need to get an additional study guide if you're planning on taking the AP test, which goes into greater depth and has some additional topics you need to know, such as laboratory chemistry and reaction kinetics.


For the Love of SAT Chemistry (Chris Reddick and Michael Cerro)

This book is geared at about the same level as The Princeton Review's, but it focuses less on textbook-type content review and more on practice problems and answer explanations.

It's an excellent place to start if you like inductive learning. If you prefer to review content in an organized way before starting practice questions, go with The Princeton Review's book.

Pros
The material, including the four practice tests at the back of the book, closely mimics the content and feel of real College Board questions. The answer key is mostly accurate.

Cons
After grading each practice test, you'll be left with a raw score (out of 85 total points) without any way to convert that into a scaled score (out of 800). The scoring instructions and conversion table are waaaaaay back on pages 9-10. Follow the directions carefully: you need to remember to deduct 1/4 of a point for each answer that's incorrect!

Errata from Practice Test 2
#107 is written in an unclear way; don't penalize yourself if your answer doesn't match the book's.
#64 doesn't provide enough information for you to solve the problem, so don't worry if you get this one wrong.

Errata from Practice Test 4
#112's answer should be "T, F, no CE."
#39's answer is correct (C), but since a solution of copper(II) nitrate is blue, not colorless, choice (B) is unnecessarily confusing.
#40's answer is not (C): an ion can't take on a visible color by reflecting ultraviolet wavelengths, which are invisible to the human eye. (D) is a better choice because absorbing more light at some wavelengths than others also suggests that some wavelengths are reflected more than others.


SAT Chemistry Subject Test Problems (Christopher Bozza and Dr. Steve Warner)

This bank of practice questions has the best answer explanations I've seen in any chemistry book. The questions target exactly what's on the Subject Test, and the answer explanations are about two pages long per question.

Pros
This book has the same format as Dr. Warner's SAT and ACT Math books. You can jump right in and start working without having to wade through preliminary reading.

The practice material is very similar to real SAT Chemistry Subject Tests.

The problems in this book are arranged by topic and difficulty level, so students who don't need any content review can jump straight to the chapters that contain what they want to work on.

Cons
Most of the content review is in the answer explanations, so you can't treat this book like a textbook. You really have to engage with the material to receive the maximum benefit.

Errata
#56 on page 81 is worded in an unclear way (and therefore not answerable).

The answer to #110 on page 153 is (B), not (A). The book's answer key is mistaken!

#151 on page 205 is unrealistically difficult. Although you'll need to know how to do unit conversions for SAT Chemistry, you won't have to convert between amperes, coulombs, and moles.

#39 on page 225 has two correct answers: (C) and (E).

#68 on page 233 expects students to (1) figure out that lanthanum has a larger radius than potassium, and (2) go against their intuition that potassium should actually be more reactive, since it's an akali metal that reacts violently with water. Those expectations go against students' experience with metals' reactivities and would not show up on a real test. #71 (below) has a similar problem.

The answer to #71 on page 234 is (B), not (E). Potassium is more metallic than barium based on its Mohs hardness and its reactivity with water.

#83 on page 238 is unrealistically difficult: vapor pressure is related to boiling point, since a liquid boils when its vapor pressure becomes equal to atmospheric pressure. Students shouldn't be expected to know which of the liquids in the list has the highest boiling point (and therefore the lowest vapor pressure). The book's answer is wrong anyway: bromine, octane, and nitrogen trichloride all have boiling points that are higher than 100°C and therefore have lower vapor pressures than water does.

#88 on page 240 is also unrealistically hard. The correct answer should be (C), not (D), since Mg(OH)2 is not a strong base due to its poor solubility in water (0.00064 g/100 mL at room temperature).

#94 on page 241 has two correct answers: (A) and (C).

#125 on page 250 is problematic because the nitrogen atoms in the NH2 groups have lone pairs that can be delocalized into the benzene-like rings through resonance. Those nitrogen atoms are likely to be either sp2-hybridized or somwhere between sp2 and sp3. For this reason, (B) is a better answer than (D).

The second sentence of #130 on page 251 should read "saturated hydrocarbon," not "unsaturated hydrocarbon."

The answer to #136 on page 253 is (B), not (D).

#145 on page 255 has two correct answers, (A) and (B). RbCl and RbF are both soluble in water, while PbO and PbS are insoluble. The soluble salts will produce equal numbers of ions, causing the light bulb to glow with equal intensity, while the insoluble salts will produce negligible concentrations of ions, making the light bulb very dim.

#149 on page 256 is slightly questionable: HI is larger molecule but should also be less polar than HCl, so strictly speaking, students would have to look up the boiling points of both compounds to know the answer. HCl does have a lower boiling point, so it has a higher vapor pressure. (Recall that something boils when its vapor pressure becomes equal to atmospheric pressure, so high-vapor-pressure compounds boil first.)

#159 on page 260 should say, "Absorption of a photon CAN [but doesn't have to] cause electrons to become excited to a higher energy level." Photon absorption can also result in a change in electron spin (radio waves), molecular vibrational states (infrared), or molecular rotational states (microwaves), so the problem needs to be clear that photon absorption can lead to consequences other than just electrons becoming excited (visible and ultraviolet radiation).


Sterling Test Prep SAT Chemistry Practice Questions: High Yield SAT Chemistry Questions with Detailed Explanations 

This is a huge bank of practice questions. It's useful if you're already scoring 800 and want to challenge yourself some more.

Pros
Sterling highlights the trickiest topics on SAT Chemistry, including amphoteric compounds, flame test colors, solubility rules, and unusual Lewis structures. If you like hard questions, this is the book to get.

Cons
Despite the claim on the book's cover, most of the questions don't have answer explanations.

Since the questions are organized by topic, you have to work on one chapter at a time. There aren't any timed practice tests.

The book covers some topics that are so hard I doubt they'd ever show up on the Subject Test. For example, it expects you to know the exact role of each of the four quantum numbers. You also have to calculate a dipole moment given the size and distance of two separated charges. (!)

Don't use Sterling until your foundation is very solid. Be willing to Google the explanations for topics you don't understand.

Books to Avoid

I'm not sure how Kaplan's SAT Chemistry (2013-14 edition) got its four-star Amazon reviews. The practice questions in the content review chapters are very calculator-based, and the content review includes some difficult AP-only topics, such as zero, first, and second order reaction kinetics and complicated redox reaction balancing involving H+, OH-, and H2O.

The diagnostic test isn't any better. Out of 85 total questions, two are AP-level rate law questions (#107 and #37), one is an AP-level diffusion rate question (#44), and seven are written in a way that could legitimately make you think there's something wrong with the answer choices (#9, 30, 31, 58-60, and 64). In addition, some of the diagnostic questions are hard to do without a calculator. #69, for example, makes you do a proportion involving the ratio 2/7. (2/7 is about 0.29, in case you're wondering.) Official tests stick to easy fractions like 5/2 or 88/44.

Barron's SAT Chemistry (2009 edition) is even worse: out of 85 questions, the diagnostic test has ten unrealistically tricky questions (#4, 9, 113, 34, 38, 45, 49, 57, 67, and 70) and eight unclearly worded questions (#14, 17, 106, 107, 43, 46, 52, and 56). The 2016 edition fixes questions 4, 17, 113, 45, 52, 56, and 67, but questions 9, 14, 106, 107, 34, 38, 43, 46, 49, 57, and 70 remain problematic.

If you're planning to take the AP test, know that McGraw-Hilll's 5 Steps to a 5 on AP Chemistry (2017 edition) is also really bad. There were so many incorrectly drawn diagrams and poorly written questions on Practice Test #1 alone that I had to quit before I got to the free-response section. I know this book has a four-star Amazon review average, but pay close attention to the negative reviews!


Suggested Study Schedule

Unlike Math Level 2, SAT Chemistry doesn't have many quality prep books. I suggest following the study schedule below.
  1. Take the first Princeton Review practice test and read the answer explanations.
  2. Go through all of the content review in the Princeton Review's Cracking the SAT: Chemistry. Alternatively, you can go through the first thirteen chapters of For the Love of SAT Chemistry.
  3. Read the articles on my Web site about flame test colorssolubility rules, saturation/unsaturation, and avoiding small calculation mistakes.
  4. Take the second Princeton Review practice test and read the answer explanations.
  5. Go through Dr. Warner's SAT Chemistry practice book. Read the answer explanations carefully.
  6. Borrow an AP Chemistry textbook and review your weakest topics. Keep reviewing and re-taking the original two practice tests until your score is 800.
  7. Take the official practice test in the Official Study Guide for ALL SAT Subject Tests. Go over the test with a fine-toothed comb. Make sure you understand every question so well that you could stand up and teach it in a classroom.
  8. Do the same for the two official practice tests in The Official SAT Subject Test in Chemistry Study Guide. At this point, you should be scoring solid 800's.
  9. If you need more practice tests, use the four at the back of For the Love of SAT Chemistry.
  10. The week before the real test, re-take one practice test a day. Your goal at this point is to increase confidence, not to learn new material. You should receive an 800 on each of the five re-takes. If you don't, you have a good idea of what to review.

Going for a Perfect Score

A raw score of 80/85 will usually get you a perfect scaled 800 on SAT Chemistry. Even after the test deducts a quarter of a point for every question you get wrong, you can afford to miss four of the eighty-five problems. That's like getting a 95% on a comprehensive high school chemistry final.

The books above contain everything you need to get an awesome score, but if you'd like personalized help, you can sign up for in-home or online tutoring.

May 12, 2021

How to Raise Your SAT Score by Reading Biographies

Update: I've added Bruchko to the reading list.

The easiest way to raise your SAT Reading score is to read. The skills the SAT tests - knowing vocabulary, literal and careful reading, expressing complex ideas in subtle and clever ways - will naturally become part of you.

Reading is the cheapest and most enjoyable way to expand your knowledge. It's less annoying that paying a professor to force you through a curriculum. It's the way you're expected to train yourself if you go for a graduate degree or run your own business. It's arguably the only way to become the best in your field: you have to read to know what's going on and what projects to pursue.

There's no way for the SAT to test all that directly, so it measures the byproducts: skills like vocabulary, faithfulness to an author's intention, and the ability to restate complex ideas. Ironically, most test prep companies teach you to game the SAT by drilling the byproduct skills while missing the the original point: reading as a life-long learning tool.

You get more of what you measure. 

It's okay to teach to the test and study to the test if you want a 1400. Test prep companies guarantee that you can reach a 1400 because they know that most people can achieve it by learning simple techniques and guessing strategies. The biggest companies train newly recruited tutors to 1400+ and release them into the wild.

If, however, you want to be in the coveted 1520-1600 range, it's better to start early and learn the valuable core skills that the SAT tests only indirectly. It's one thing to fudge a 700 on SAT Math by plugging answer choices back into problems; it's quite another to solve math problems just by looking at them. Similarly, skimming strategies and answer choice elimination can get you a good Critical Reading score (35/40) but probably not a perfect one.

The challenge is to find books that are interesting to you as an individual without simply rehashing what you already know.

To that end, I've begun recommending biographies. These ubiquitous library items combine interesting narrative (resembling fiction), background knowledge (history and social science), and deep knowledge of a subject (natural science, sports, music, or whatever else the biography is about).

Biographies, especially autobiographies, are ideal if you like reading fiction. You can choose ones that focus on your hobbies or challenge yourself by studying subjects that are similar to the ones you struggle with the most on practice tests.

Don't torture yourself with boring books. Books become interesting as you gain background knowledge, so don't force yourself too early. If you struggle with science passages, go to the science shelves at the library, flip through the biographies you find there, and take the most interesting ones home with you. As you learn more science through fun books, the harder ones will become more relevant.

A book is at the right reading level for you if there's about one word per page that you have to look up. If you're still not sure, err on the side of fun rather than hard.

In case you want suggestions, I've compiled a list of biographies I've read, sorted by topic, below. Story-like books that aren't strictly biographies are marked with *stars.

TEST PREP (of course)

The Perfect Score Project by Debbie Stier


NATURAL SCIENCE




SOCIAL SCIENCE

*Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner

*Superfreakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner


*Next: The Future Just Happened by Michael Lewis


HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY

The Great Depression: A Diary by Benjamin Roth

Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank and Ernestine Gilbreth



*Wealth, War, and Wisdom by Barton Biggs


FINANCE



Mr. China: A Memoir by Tim Clissold




*The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis

*Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis

*The Quants by Scott Patterson

*Hedgehogging by Barton Biggs



PERSONAL GROWTH


June 9, 2017

AP Environmental Science: The Best Prep Books

Although AP Environmental Science is said to be one of the easier AP classes, the APES grade distribution shows that only about 8% of students receive the maximum score of 5.

APES requires less depth of knowledge than AP Chemistry, Biology, and Physics, but it asks for greater breadth: the topics tested span ecology, chemistry, politics, history, and economics. If you're well-read, however, you'll can prep without having to memorize lists of seemingly disconnected facts.

I've listed my recommended study resources below:

Cracking the AP Environmental Science Exam

This is a good all-around study guide. Because it focuses on memorization, this book is useful if you have less than two weeks to study. If you have more time, supplement this book with more in-depth resources that will help you understand and retain what you learn.

If you're well-read, you can avoid having to memorize most of this book's content. For example, from chemistry class, you may already know the mechanism by which CFC's destroy ozone, so you won't have to memorize the fact that the chlorine radicals they release catalyze the decomposition of ozone. If you're also aware that they're implicated in both stratospheric ozone destruction (the reason their production has been phased out) and, controversially, in global warming, you'll have historical, political, and scientific contexts to help you remember what you need.

Pros
This book will give you a quick review of the field.

I did the drills without doing the practice tests, then went straight to the College Board's 1998 released exam, receiving a multiple-choice score of 97/100. (A raw score of 75% generally corresponds to a scaled score of 5/5.) I read in a variety of fields for my own enjoyment, though, so my experience may not reflect other students'.

Cons
The Princeton Review is all about giving you what you need and not one iota more. Their book asks you to memorize information because that's faster than truly understanding it. It also means that you won't retain everything you learn.

You might find some of the chapter-end drills to be confusing. I don't think the book goes into enough depth to help you adequately answer all of its own practice questions.

It has a liberal bias that sometimes comes across as, "Well, of course one choice is morally superior to another, and we don't have to provide evidence for that position." That's not surprising in an environmental science book, but the AP test is much more even-handed. It won't punish you for your opinions as long as you provide evidence supporting them.


Christian Shorey's Earth and Environmental Science Podcast

Christian Shorey, a professor at the Colorado School of Mines, created this podcast to supplement his classroom lectures. His lectures are more in-depth and interesting than the bland fare you'll find in AP prep guides.

You can download podcasts and listen to them in your car using the Podcast Republic app and a bluetooth FM transmitter.

Pros
Dr. Shorey knows so much about his field that he tells memorable stories almost like they're afterthoughts. For example, did you know that quantum entanglement can communicate information faster than than the speed of light? What are several ways to die from volcanic eruptions before the lava ever reaches you?

Cons
Dr. Shorey definitely comes across as a scientific realist: observations = facts, facts can't be disputed, and theories are so strongly supported by facts that you'd have to be intellectually dishonest to deny them. If you've taken a class in the history and philosophy of science, you might find his epistemology to lack awareness and balance.

Official College Board Practice Tests

The most valuable official practice resource is the 1998 APES released exam.

You'll find sample multiple-choice questions in the document below starting at page 12 (PDF page 16):
AP Environmental science sample multiple choice questions and answers

The College Board releases the free-response questions every year. The College Board's Web site has commentaries on samples of student responses.

2016 Free-response questions and answers

2015 Free-response questions and answers

2014 Free-response questions and answers

2013 Free-response questions and answers

2012 Free-response questions and answers

2011 Free-response questions and answers

2010 Free-response questions and answers

2009 Free-response questions and answers

2008 Free-response questions and answers

2007 Free-response questions and answers

2006 Free-response questions and answers

2005 Free-response questions and answers

2004 Free-response questions and answers

2003 Free-response questions and answers

2002 Free-response questions and answers

2001 Free-response questions and answers

2000 Free-response questions and answers

1999 Free-response questions and answers


The carbon cycle has some interesting implications.