| Anthologies (multiple authors) |
|
|  |
| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 7 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 found the following review helpful:
Quite simply, the best SAT prep book available Nov 18, 2008
By Cardinal Academics Tutoring
"Jonathan"
First, a little background on me. I run a boutique tutoring service for families in Los Angeles. I've been tutoring the SAT and ACT personally for 5 years, and have a team of tutors as well. I used to use Princeton Review's materials for my company until I discovered The Ultimate SAT Tutorial.
Now to the book: This is hands-down the best SAT prep book you can buy. It is designed to be used with the College Board's book of real tests. That's the first sign that it's good...any other book that uses their own tests is silly, because you need to use tests from the testmakers themselves to prepare yourself for the real SAT.
While the book is packed with tips and strategies that can quickly boost your score, it also has the most thorough math and grammar review of any book out there. Each topic is geared directly to how it appears on the actual SAT, so you aren't learning superfluous material. The explanations are clearly laid out and easy to follow for students.
I train my tutors using this book, along with the Ultimate SAT Supplement, which provides detailed answers and explanations to every single question from the College Board book.
As a tutor, my reputation is everything, and I am willing to put my reputation on the line and highly recommend this book to any students looking to improve their SAT scores significantly or any tutors looking for a roadmap to consistently raise their students' scores.
In short, this is the best SAT prep book I've ever come across.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Very worthwhile Nov 17, 2008
By Sean Andrew
"Sean"
Be prepared. There's a lot to this book. It's almost 500 pages, but there are no practice tests. That's a lot of material (most of the other books are half practice tests). The book was recommended to me by a friend, so I bought it for my son. He worked through the entire book and it took several months, so leave yourself some time. We were very pleased with his final scores. It's more expensive than some of the competition, but based on what I've heard and read about some of the other books, it's well worth it.
6 of 7 found the following review helpful:
79% to 98% on PSAT Apr 30, 2011
By Fun Life
A low income student achieved the following raw and percentile scores on the PSAT when taken as a 9th grader in 2008:
Reading 48, 68%; Math 65, 96% and Writing Skills 55, 89%; selection index 168, 79%. Sophomore norms.
The student asked to be prepared to take the PSAT in October 2010 when the student would be a junior.
In preparing to tutor the student for the 2010 PSAT the following were purchased in June 2010.
Gruber's Complete PSAT/NMSQT Guide 2011
Gruber's SAT Word Master: The Most Effective Way to Learn the Most Important SAT Vocabulary Word
Increase Your Score in 3 Minutes a Day: SAT Critical Reading
Barron's PSAT/NMSQT with CD-ROM
After working together we were dissatisfied with the progress. My expertise, if I have one, is in tests and measurements and I felt that the above materials simply were not going to adequately prepare the student.
The above were dumped. We purchased the following on September 6th:
For the student:
The Ultimate SAT Tutorial: The Easiest and Most Effective Way to Raise Your Score
The Ultimate Sat Supplement: Klass Tutoring Solutions to Every Test Problem in the Official Sat Study Guide (Probably the most important book most would not purchase.)
The Official SAT Study Guide, 2nd edition
For me:
The Ultimate SAT Tutorial: Tutor Version
While you may want to purchase just the tutor version for yourself I wanted to see exactly what this program was all about and though not required it would be good for tutors who are thinking of being paid to consider:
The Tutor System: Guidebook
or for the complete set which is a good buy,
The Tutor System: How to Tutor the SAT and Start Your Own Tutoring Business
The following are the raw and percentile scores of the PSAT taken October 2010
2010 - 11th grade: Reading 64, 92%; Math 69, 95% and Writing Skills 75, 99%; selection index 208, 98%. Junior norms.
The student gave credit for the improvement not to the "super tutor" but to the Klass materials which were said to be "great"!
The student wanted to prepare to take the SAT in May and, if necessary, October 2011. It was recognized that vocabulary was a problem that showed up in the reading section of the PSAT. "Reading" was not the problem, understanding words in different contexts was!
It was determined that for this student's learning style some changes needed to be made quickly in the study of vocabulary! Thus we purchased the following:
Direct Hits Core Vocabulary of the SAT: Volume 1 2011 Edition (purchased at the end of October)
The Direct Hits approach was found, for this student, to be superior to many other approaches, including flash cards, mnemonics, and everything else I had on the shelf.
The student found Direct Hits interesting enough to move through faster than assigned (remember math was top priority) and we purchased
Direct Hits Toughest Vocabulary of the SAT: Volume 2 2011 Edition on March 22nd 2010.
Klass has a good vocabulary list with definitions which the student liked but Direct Hits vol 1 & 2 gives the student a way to put a "hook" into the word.
I am still not convinced that we will see any improvement in this area as so much depends on understanding the context of the passage.
Now onto the real problem we wanted to work on - math. Along the way we had been using Chalk Dust's SAT DVD which we highly recommend. The student was still making simple math mistakes as well as occasionally running up against a problem the student had never been taught how to solve (we had not gotten all the way through Klass and the DVDs).
We purchased Perfect 800: SAT Math: Advanced Strategies for Top Students the last part of October.
After using Perfect 800 for a bit the student was still missing procedural concepts in some math problems and not getting it at all in other problems. Now remember the student started out at 96% when taking the PSAT as a 9th grader and 95% as an 11th grader so we are really talking about fine tuning the method of attack to math problems. So an additional book was obtained.
4JC Complete Review for SAT* Math, 2011: Learn from examples. Master through practice. Achieve higher score..
This was a significant improvement in meeting the student's learning style over the Perfect 800. The Perfect 800 was kept as a resource but the student felt 4JC to be superior as the method of presenting the material was clearer and faster to master, even to me, than in either the Perfect 800 or Klass. Both Perfect 800 and Klass are very good but have different teaching styles as well as different objectives than 4JC.
The key turns out that 4JC teaches by example - see "this" - then do "this", kind of a, if¬-then process, no real understanding of the concepts behind the problem needed. While this may not be pedagogically sound to math majors it does enable the student to get the right answer with less study time.
I want to emphasize that the student kept saying that the best resources were Klass and taking the SAT tests. It was the tutor that insisted that other resources be used as supplements in an attempt to increase the math score 5 points. As it turned out klass and the resources go together very well.
I expect to use Klass's program, 4JC and Chalk Dust SAT video DVDs (which the student said is the clearest explanation of how to solve math problems possible - available for $130 for a 7 DVD set covering 12 hours of presentations) as my core math prep program for the PSAT and SAT as well as preparing students for the math placement test used by our local community college. Additional practice problems may be needed but those are easy to come by.
If a 7th grade student who has mastered basic math wants me to help prepare them for the PSAT I am seriously considering making the Klass and 4JC books and Chalk Dust math as their texts for their 7th & 8th grade math courses.
Not sure just how to best prepare 7th grade students with different learning styles for the writing and reading portions of the tests. Klass may be all I need but not sure. Unlike math where fairly few concepts are necessary to deal with, in the reading section understanding context is critical and I am not sure just how to master that challenge during the 7th and 8th grade years. I will certainly use Direct Hits vols. 1 & 2.
I got a copy of Perfect 800: SAT Verbal: Advanced Strategies for Top Students but found it not to be useful as it approaches things in a very different manner.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Worth the time and money! Jan 27, 2009
By Amy C. Grant
I am a tutor who works with a mix of abilities and economic backgrounds on the coast of Maine. I was introduced to Klass Tutoring by a summer client from Los Angeles. It was a changing point in the way I prepare my students for the SAT. I use the Klass Tutoring Materials exclusively now.
As a former English teacher, I am especially appreciative of the Grammar Review section of this tutorial. Many of my students have an "a-ha" moment when working through the material - past lessons click into place. I find their writing and general communication skills improve - not just their test scores.
I highly recommend this tutorial for students preparing for the SAT. But as said in a previous recommendation - give yourself time. This is a learning experience - not simply tricks to get you through the test.
4 of 5 found the following review helpful:
The Only Route Nov 27, 2010
By Nick
SAT Prep. When I first started hearing this phrase, several abstract concepts came to mind: straightforward, organized, efficient, self-explanatory, universal, and easy. Consequently, when I entered into the world of SAT Preparation, I was quite perplexed. I spent innumerable hours trying to find out the best way to go about studying for the SAT.
If you were to go on the Internet and type something into Google such as "best way to prepare for the SAT," "best prep book for SAT," "how to get a good score on the SAT," or "how to ace the SAT" then, let me just tell you, the chances of you finding the absolutely best and most efficient method to get a desirable score on the SAT are about one in a million. I have been there and done that and the experience is like nails on a chalkboard. I think it goes without saying that all of the prep companies will tell you they are the best at improving your score, so this just adds to your confusion right?
Checking out the various prep companies will yield no results and will as mentioned above, make you a pretty unhappy camper. To obtain any desirable score on the SAT you need to know where to go and what to do. This is all you need to know to get a good score on the SAT; don't listen to anything else, this is it. The reason for this is that the SAT does not test how smart you are, it doesn't test how well you do in school, and it doesn't test anything besides how well you take the SAT. Thus all it takes to do well on the SAT is to find someone who will teach you how to take the SAT. So you ask: where do I go and what do I do? In all honesty, there are a few ways to get a good score on the SAT. You can take a billion SAT practice tests and then learn from your mistakes; you can read a ton, do tons of challenging math problems, and write a lot; OR you can find someone who will efficiently teach you all the tips, strategies, concepts, and rules you need to know for the SAT. I have been to the end of the world and back and trust me, the Ultimate SAT Tutorial is the MOST EFFICIENT way to maximize your SAT score. I have tried everything from the Princeton review and Barrons to small, unknown test prep companies. This is it. I promise.
Life is short, high school is busy, and therefore time is valuable. Teenagers have many things to do besides study for the SAT. Trust me when I say that Mr. Klass (the author of this book) has produced something remarkable for us.
In conclusion, let me just say that Mr. Klass is an incredibly friendly and generous guy. When I bought his book, I decided that I needed to call him and thank him personally for ending my painful and agonizing search for the right way to study. It was very easy to get in touch with the guy and he was more than willing to answer specific questions I had about the SAT itself and about his construction of his masterpiece that he dubbed quite accurately, "The Ultimate SAT Tutorial."
Good luck
See all 7 customer reviews on Amazon.com
|
| | |
|
|
