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HomeShop at BookSurgeMathematicsStudy & TeachingDr. John Chung's SAT Math |
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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 49 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
38 of 39 found the following review helpful:
 Poor Editing, Great Content Mar 31, 2011
By mrpepper
The only reason I gave this book four stars instead of five is because of the apparent lack of editing prior to its publication. Typos and misspelled words dot the back cover, and somebody clearly doesn't know how to keep the height to width ratio on pictures while resizing them - Dr. Chung's head cannot possibly be as long as it is in the picture on the back cover. If you're not a stickler for aesthetics, you probably won't care about any of this...
The good part of the book comes once you flip past the cover. I didn't care enough to go through all fifty "perfect tips" before the tests. If you feel as if you know how to attack SAT math problems but just need more practice, I recommend you do likewise. The problems in this practice book differ from actual SAT math problems in that they are more difficult and more conceptual. You will not stumble across any "read the pictograph" problems. Although some problems are relatively complex, the vast majority of the explanations do them justice.
The transition from this book to practice SATs from the CollegeBoard Blue Book should be relatively easy. After taking 7 practice from this book, I noticed that SAT math problems were much easier and I could do them much faster. When I took the SAT for the first time, I scored a 650 on math and I had actually run out of time on the math sections. After finishing seven practice tests from this book I scored a 760 on the math section of the SAT the second time I took it. Also, I had approximately five minutes to spare on every math section of the real SAT.
If you can devote half an hour each day to doing one practice section out of this book, your SAT scores will improve. But make sure that you understand why you got a certain question wrong so that you won't make the same mistake twice.
Want a higher SAT math score? Willing to work? Buy this book!
40 of 45 found the following review helpful:
 If you want an 800 all you need is this book Sep 10, 2010
By A. Chai
"Chai squared/ tea test"
I have read through many, many SAT math review books. Most of them have long, wordy explanations about math concepts. Those types of books are useless for students who are already good at math. You don't need to know "how to do a math problem." What you need to know is "how to get an 800 on the SAT." Those are two entirely different concepts. Dr. Chung's book will get you the 800 if you are a student who is already good at math but cannot afford to screw up on any questions. If you don't know how to do the math yet, you should get Barron's.
Here is a testimonial: I gave my son Dr. Chung's book a month ago. He went over it during his spare time. Then, I timed him on a college board SAT practice exam. I was concerned because he was done in about half of the time. I thought maybe he wasn't checking his work. But then I graded it...and there were ZERO wrong answers. That, my friends, is what we are going for. My son said that the book made it just that easy.
22 of 26 found the following review helpful:
Mastering those stubborn hard to reach math problems May 12, 2011
By Stephen Shay
"Architect"
I have a 3.3 GPA and fit in the invisible first quartile of my high school class. My SAT ambition was to offset my marginal GPA with a shockingly high SAT score - perhaps giving my application a couple extra seconds before rejection.
I got this book after previously purchasing the Kaplan guide, Barrons and the College Board On-line test prep. I had started with a modest 550 math and verbal and gradually climbed up to the 650 range. (I was still having problems with the high difficulty math problems, and finishing the math section within the slim time limit.
The books starts with fifty tips. These tips could fit on 3x5 note cards and they elegantly capture the most common brain benders. Each tip is followed by three to four practice problems that were typical SAT nightmare problems - a three minute problem with two minutes to finish. Following these fifty tips are twenty practice math tests. The math tests have 3 math sections and resemble the SAT test format; however, these are head bangers. I didn't even bother to follow the time requirements because these test questions start out hard and stay hard.
I took each test with the goal of being able to answer each of the questions and applying the related tip. After five or six tests, the questions became less intimidating. I was able to finish 11 tests and the 50 tips in a three week period. Two days before the test I relaxed and got caught up on some TV and chores. I took the test with time to spare. It felt like an entirely different test - a breeze.
The early tips are very helpful, but there are quite a few typos. You can still get the idea with the typos, and I hope that Dr. Chung can touch them up with a future edition of the book. There's very little writing of encouragement and counseling: the book goes straight to business. Just get to work and the anxiety will take care of itself.
14 of 17 found the following review helpful:
It's a Miracle! Mar 30, 2012
By djones
True story. Our daughter took her first SAT test (with the help practicing using former tests). She scored a 640. Hoping to increase her score, she did an online course with lots of videos. Her second time around, she scored a 540. She thought she would just stick with her 640 score--but we convinced her to try one more time. She had one month to study for her final SAT test in December. She studied the 50 tips in Dr. Chung's SAT Match book, and did 5 practice tests (out of 20). That's all she had time for. (It took her about 6 hours, not all in one sitting, to thoroughly go through the 50 tips). Her final score was a 700 (which was great for our daughter). Don't do what we did in waiting to get this book for the final test. Get this during the summer of Sophomore year to use as as prep for the PSAT.
8 of 9 found the following review helpful:
 Tips are not clearly written, Tests are helpful Aug 13, 2012
By Arthur Bradley
"Arthur Bradley"
First, don't let my review deter you from buying this book. The tests are very useful because they give the student an opportunity to be exposed to many different types of problems. With that said, I was quite disappointed with the quality (or lack thereof) of the 50 tips. The tips are not clearly presented, and the problems that Chung provides do not allow the student to adequately practice and develop his/her knowledge of the tip. One issue is that the examples and problems in the tip area do not provide enough discussion. I say this as someone who has a strong background in advanced mathematics (Ph.D.) and many years experience teaching algebra and calculus. I end up having to look at the tip, and then close the book to explain it more clearly to my daughter. Overall, I was hoping for something with a bit more effort put into the teaching portion of the book.
See all 49 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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