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Hi,
i'm a french student hoping to go to college in the US. I am planning on taking SAT II math, but the french math program, although more complex and advanced, does not cover the same program as the american math.
For example, even though most students in my class have the right level for an AP math test, we do not study logarithms.
Therefore, i would appreciate advice on :
- Which test should I take, Ic or IIc (i'm good in math)?
- Which prep book would help me the most with the actual math that I never learned?
Thank you very much,
DavidCT

By Chamonix (Chamonix) on Sunday, June 13, 2004 - 08:28 am: Edit

My recommendation is for you to go get the 22 real SAT practice test book and take both tests (this is what I did). If you do well on IIC then do that one. I'm sure you'll be fine for IC, but who knows about IIC.

By Prdmite (Prdmite) on Sunday, June 13, 2004 - 12:37 pm: Edit

Thanks very much. Second of all, do you know which prep book will have good short lessons to teach me the concepts I haven't learned? I'm currently thinking of Barron's Math IIc.

By Chamonix (Chamonix) on Sunday, June 13, 2004 - 05:17 pm: Edit

The Barron's book prepared me very well for the IIC that I took in June. There were a few topics that I didn't know that I had to learn, and I think Barron's did a bad job teaching. If you need to learn new concepts, I'd look elsewhere. But for taking practice tests, it did wonders for me. And don't be fooled by how hard the tests are. I usually got a little over half the questions right, and I'm pretty sure I got an 800 on the real thing.

Good luck! Sorry I don't have a recommendation for another book that will teach you unfamiliar concepts.

By Escaria (Escaria) on Sunday, June 13, 2004 - 11:34 pm: Edit

beware of barron's .. they've made quite a few mistakes with answers/questions on their practice tests..

however - aside from that, their tests worked really well for me (800 in Jan '04 IIC)

By Prdmite (Prdmite) on Monday, June 14, 2004 - 08:50 am: Edit

Hmm... Thanks for the advice. So does anybody know which book can teach me the the basic concepts ? Obviously I would get anything lower than 600 if I took the test now since most of the program is the same as the french one, but I'm not really aiming for 600 if you know what I mean...

By Welshie (Welshie) on Monday, June 14, 2004 - 12:54 pm: Edit

Princeton Review seemed to me (judging only from their practice tests), to teache you the basic concepts. REA, although it doesn't really "teach" you the concepts, covers and informs you of all the concepts you need to know. I used the REA book, took some PR practice questions and read over the CC messageboard a week before the test and I was able to come away with an 800.

-Jesse