Click here to go to the NEW College Discussion Forum

I know that many people have said that Barrons is more difficult and more in-depth than the actual test. Barrons goes into a lot of detail with the higher polynomials and all of its special theoreoms. It also says to memorize a bunch of these trigonometric functions. Do we really need to know these?

By Number9 (Number9) on Thursday, October 07, 2004 - 10:19 pm: Edit

Sparknotes didn't mention a lot that Barrons did. Either Sparknotes is right on or too easy...

By Jenskate1 (Jenskate1) on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 01:57 pm: Edit

i despise that barrons book....try the kaplan. I think it prepared me really well.

By Jangel86 (Jangel86) on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 04:50 pm: Edit

Trig functions help, but if you have a Ti-89, or maybe even an 83, it will evaluate the trig functions for you on the test. I took the test Saturday, and there were no higher degree polynomial questions at all. Barrons also has some pre-calc and calc stuff on there, like limits and derivatives, but the most advanced stuff you'll see on the actual test is Algebra II/Trig.

If you want to be overprepared, use Barrons. I dont know about any of the other books.

By Davidrune (Davidrune) on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 04:53 pm: Edit

Well, I just know the trig functions. From taking IB HL math. As long as you know the basic trig identities you'll do fine.

Because the rest are derivatives of these.

By Jenesaispas (Jenesaispas) on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 05:02 pm: Edit

Barron's is evil. It made me stress out SO much on Friday night, when there really wasn't anything to stress about.

By Btbvector (Btbvector) on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 05:10 pm: Edit

If you get 35 (raw score) from Barron's, you are well on your way to 800.

By Tigeruppercut (Tigeruppercut) on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 05:23 pm: Edit

screw sparknotes

By Blee731 (Blee731) on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 08:32 pm: Edit

Barron's all the way! I followed the recommendations of the people on this board and used the Barron's. However, only use it if you have had pre-calculus experience, or else you will be thoroughly confused. It was great for Math IIC-I was overjoyed while taking the real test. The real test was so easy I thought I was taking the Math IC I probably scored around 700-730.

Get the SAT Math IIC dojo program for your graphing calculators. I put it on my TI-83 Plus and it worked great. It has everything-distance formulas, trig identities, trig formulas, sector formulas, geometry formulas, sequence and series formulas, and many many more.

By Zoogies (Zoogies) on Monday, October 11, 2004 - 07:45 pm: Edit

As long as you don't overstress easily, and by overstress I mean scream, panic, cause great physical and emotional pain to yourself due to stress, and deprive yourself of nourishment because of it, being overprepared is definitely better.

I mean, if you've been practicing with Barron's, you're probably freaking out. As long as you don't starve yourself the week before and pass out while driving to the test center, you should be relieved at how easy the actual test is in comparison.

I haven't taken IIC yet. I'm still freaking out with Barron's.