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Hopefully here people who are taking the June 5th Math 2C SAT can get some tips and some help. How well does Barron's prepare you, and what stuff in it is useless? What topics and stuff do you really NEED to know on the test, and do they give any equations or should they all be memorized? Also, what is approximately the minimum score for an 800? Thanks beforehand for the help - it is greatly appreciated!

By Godis (Godis) on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 02:57 pm: Edit

learn the stuff in kaplan/pr

use barrons for practice tests

don't be intimidated by barrons.

By Needhelp06 (Needhelp06) on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 03:37 pm: Edit

how many questions can you miss on the 2C before you drop to a 790?

By Welshie (Welshie) on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 05:31 pm: Edit

4-5.

Use multiple sources and use this board for help/questions. PR has good questions, REA has good material, CC fills in the gaps.

-Jesse

By Starryqt22 (Starryqt22) on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 08:34 pm: Edit

How good is the material taught IN barrons?

By Shaka (Shaka) on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 09:11 pm: Edit

man, i got a 660 from barron's practice test?!

is this test harder than the real test?

By Touky (Touky) on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 09:29 pm: Edit

barron's is pretty good, but harder than necessary. and you can get more than 4-5 incorrect, welshie is wrong. (some tests had up to 10 wrong = 800)

By Aim78 (Aim78) on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 09:32 pm: Edit

I've heard some bad things about the Sparknotes Math IIC. What's wrong with it? I'm using it as a guide to what to study in my old Precalc textbook. Is the content breakdown okay? Because that's what I'm basing my studying on.

By Godis (Godis) on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 10:29 pm: Edit

sparknotes is too easy.

By Ecnerwalc (Ecnerwalc) on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 10:48 pm: Edit

10 wrong? Maybe 10 omitted. with 10 wrong, you go down about 13 pts in raw score. That's a little too much.

By Wrathofgod64 (Wrathofgod64) on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 11:16 pm: Edit

i found sparknotes IIc to be very representative of the problems. i was scoring 760-790 on the sparknotes IIc book of 5 tests, and on the actual i got 780

By Commonsense (Commonsense) on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 11:22 pm: Edit

even 10 wrong or 10 omitted is too much. The lowest 800 can go is a raw score of 42 out of possible 50.

By Hsun (Hsun) on Monday, May 24, 2004 - 03:00 pm: Edit

yeah, sparknotes practices are representitive of the real test.

By Nycneedhelp (Nycneedhelp) on Monday, May 24, 2004 - 03:52 pm: Edit

www.ticalc.org

theres a program u can put into ur calc to "help" you

By Benzinspeicher (Benzinspeicher) on Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - 06:28 pm: Edit

personally, i got a 700-probably not a good person to help

By Aim78 (Aim78) on Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - 06:50 pm: Edit

Which program is it? I can't find that damn cable that connects to the computer, so I'm stuck with doing problems the old fashioned way.

By Paulhomework (Paulhomework) on Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - 08:36 pm: Edit

Barron's are NOT representative of the real test at all. I took them and consistenly scored in high 600s low 700s but on the actual test i got 800. BTW, I used Peterson's, and just my notes from the precalculus class.

By Zantedeschia (Zantedeschia) on Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - 08:48 pm: Edit

How do you guys know what you scored in Barrons if there's no conversion scale? Or is there one that I don't know about...? Barron's just says "Good" "Average" etc.

By Starryqt22 (Starryqt22) on Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - 10:21 pm: Edit

Yah...I noticed there's no conversion scale. Do you use one given in another book? Also, should I review all material in the beginning of Barron's?

By Gameguy56 (Gameguy56) on Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - 11:59 pm: Edit

I actually thought sparknotes was a bit harder than the actual test, but I am just wierd like that. (720-740 on the sparknotes tests, 800 on the real thing) Maybe I was just lucky, but anyway, that program on www.ticalc.org (search for IIC in the box) did help, a bit with remembering formulas, but it won't do the problems for you.

Anyway, good luck

By Shaka (Shaka) on Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 05:48 pm: Edit

wow, this thread's helpful! please put more stuff in here!! is PR good?

By Chamonix (Chamonix) on Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 09:23 pm: Edit

My friend, who got an 800, told me the PR book was the way to go. That was after I told him I was using Barrons.

I have been just using the conversion in 22 real SAT II's for my scale. I got twenty wrong on the first couple in barrons. Now I'm down to fifteen. I'm hoping to cut that to ten.

By Starryqt22 (Starryqt22) on Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 10:32 pm: Edit

I'm usng both Barron's and Sparknotes...I noticed Sparknotes explanations were a lot more clearer than Barron's!

By Sticksandstones (Sticksandstones) on Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 11:14 pm: Edit

wait, i have the link cable that connects to other calculators ( i have TI83Plus). What else do i need to buy so i can connect to the computer to download the programs? how much is it ?

By Shaka (Shaka) on Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 11:28 pm: Edit

...hmm, maybe a line to connect to computer? lol

By Varambally (Varambally) on Thursday, May 27, 2004 - 02:44 am: Edit

i dont have a graphic cal.. will it be ok doing math 2c without this and using just a normal cal?

By Shaka (Shaka) on Thursday, May 27, 2004 - 07:01 am: Edit

borrow one from your school math dept

By Varambally (Varambally) on Thursday, May 27, 2004 - 12:08 pm: Edit

cant do that.. im in boarding skool faar away and now im back home taking my test here.. soo BIG prob.. but, do i have to use graphing cal?

By Mrbesch (Mrbesch) on Thursday, May 27, 2004 - 03:40 pm: Edit

You don't need a graphing calc. It has it's advantages, but it's not necessary. You can do fine without one.

I haven't taken it yet, but that is what I hear a lot on CC.

By Shaka (Shaka) on Thursday, May 27, 2004 - 03:49 pm: Edit

how do you get by your classes without one if you are in a SAT2 math 2c level?

By Welshie (Welshie) on Thursday, May 27, 2004 - 06:33 pm: Edit

Graphing calculators are from from necessary in Pre-calc (Math IIC).

-Jesse

By Bmwlegacy1 (Bmwlegacy1) on Thursday, May 27, 2004 - 07:40 pm: Edit

I strongly recommend a TI 89 because you can do problems very quickly with pushes of button...even if you buy it just for the IIC, its totally worth it...pending your financial capabilities that is.

By Jrpar (Jrpar) on Thursday, May 27, 2004 - 09:34 pm: Edit

So on a Barron's practice test, what's 33 completed, 7 wrong, equate to on an SAT II scale?

By Forsakn4 (Forsakn4) on Thursday, May 27, 2004 - 09:39 pm: Edit

where you u find the programs for a ti83plus for math2c?

By Aim78 (Aim78) on Thursday, May 27, 2004 - 10:16 pm: Edit

How is Sparknotes review? Is it comprehensive enough to guarantee an 800 if you know it all? I'm suffering from those REA problems, and need some good review.

By Shaka (Shaka) on Thursday, May 27, 2004 - 10:17 pm: Edit

good question, Aim78...i am intersted too..

what if you REDO the tset you did before?? does that work?

By Starryqt22 (Starryqt22) on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 03:09 pm: Edit

If I get 750-800 on sparknotes, should i expect that on the actual test? What toopics are covered most heavily also?

By Mr_Sanguine (Mr_Sanguine) on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 03:27 pm: Edit

what do you guys think of the Spark Notes curve?

By Joshjmgs (Joshjmgs) on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 06:32 pm: Edit

According to the Real SAT II, the minimum is a raw of 43, but this changes by a point or two every year.

So a 45 raw on barron's tests would mean 0:-)

By Joshjmgs (Joshjmgs) on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 06:40 pm: Edit

jrpar, thats about a 680

And its extraordinarily helpful to have a graphing calculator and KNOW how to use it. Seriously, in the Barrons book I use the graphing function for about 1 in every 3 questions if not more..

BTW, I dont like the way the Barrons book is set up, but i love the tests. Im taking the test in June, so I dont know how much credibility I have, but I would definitely get a supplement book (if you have a good pre-calc book, it would be the best) to explain the stuff you dont understand.

By Altsuperhero (Altsuperhero) on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 07:12 pm: Edit

Sparknotes tests aren't bad, but they are definitely too easy. Like PR, they're geared towards people who want to improve their score but not necessarily get an 800. Granted, there are plenty of instances where people who used those books received 800s, but the books don't provide enough tricky, challenging questions. Don't get me wrong though, if low raw scores from barrons have been plaguing you, take a Sparknotes or a PR test for a confidence booster.

Barron's tests are good. Are they realistic? Yes and no. Will you find that many difficult questions on the real SAT II Math iic? No. Will those types of difficult questions be on the real SAT II Math iic? Yes (well, most of them ...)
Yes, there's the typical typos that are ubiquitous in all Barrons books ... deal with it.

Comments on Kaplan, Peterson, and PR:
Notice that these test prep books cover both IC and IIC -not good

They don't want to overprepare the ICers and underprepare to IICers, but they end up doing just that. Not enough practice problems and not hard enough practice problems -results of the urge to cut costs and fuse two tests prep books into one.