Top 10 SAT Prep Resources

Preparing to head off to college in the next year or two? If so, are you stressing out about the SAT? Colleges use SAT scores for admissions and merit-based scholarships. The SAT has three parts: reading, writing, and math. Studying for the SAT can help familiarize you with what the test looks like, develop relevant strategies and skills, and prepare you to achieve a high score. Here’s a list of self-guided prep books that can help you prepare for the SATs.

1. The Official SAT Study Guide – The College Board. Pages: 1,145; Price: $19.01-$19.36The Official SAT Study Guide is a publication of The College Board, the organization that creates and administers the SAT. It includes eight practice tests that are similar to the exam. Each of these tests is available as a free, downloadable PDF on The College Board’s website. In addition to the tests, the book has an additional 250 pages of instruction, guidance, and test information. This volume should form the basis of your self-guided SAT studying program.
2. SAT Prep Black Book: The Most Effective SAT Strategies Ever Published – Mike Barrett and Patrick Barrett. Pages: 575; Price: $24.50-$28.49SAT Prep Black Book deserves a place on your bookshelf right next to The Official SAT Study Guide. The book is authored by an SAT tutor who has guided many students in preparation for the test. Readers will learn how to use the ins and outs of the SAT to their advantage. It includes a walkthrough of more than 600 official SAT questions. The publication is written in a conversational style and is full of understandable advice for doing well on the SAT.
3. The Complete Guide to SAT Reading – Erica Meltzer. Pages: 349; Price: $29.19-$33.20The Complete Guide to SAT Reading is a comprehensive review of the reading skills required to achieve high scores on the reading section of the SAT. The author is an experienced SAT tutor who provides breakdowns of SAT Reading types of questions. She gives in-depth explanations and numerous examples of how to effectively work through every kind of problem. This book offers helpful guidance for your SAT prep, no matter your level of reading skills.
4. SAT Vocabulary: A New Approach – Erica Meltzer and Larry Krieger. Pages: 133; Price: $17.99-$18.95SAT Vocabulary covers critical vocabulary for the reading, writing and language, and essay sections of the SAT. Rather than just providing long lists of words and their meanings to memorize, the book teaches you to understand the various contexts in which vocabulary is tested. You can then test yourself by applying what you have learned with practice exercises.
5. The College Panda’s SAT Essay: The Battle-tested Guide for the New 2016 Essay – Nielson Phu. Pages: 64; Price: $18.99-$21.52Nielson Phu is a teacher who achieved a perfect SAT score when he took the new SAT in 2016. A copy of his high-scoring essay is included in The College Panda’s SAT Essay. And, amazingly, Phu states that he’s not a naturally gifted writer. In this book, you’ll find Phu’s tips, strategies, and resources to enable you to score well on the SAT essay, even if you don’t think you’re a “good” writer. This short book is worth reading cover-to-cover.
6. The College Panda’s SAT Writing: Advanced Guide and Workbook for the New SAT – Nielson Phu. Pages: 270; Price: $10.29-$28.49Nielson Phu loves to write books to help students achieve a perfect SAT score. Don’t be intimidated, though – The College Panda’s SAT Writing provides comprehensive coverage of what you need to know to do well in the SAT writing and language section. It gives clear explanations of every grammar rule tested on the SAT, from the most basic to the most obscure. It also includes hundreds of examples, drills, and practice questions. To make the study of grammar less boring, Phu has even added in some fun illustrations.
7. The College Panda’s SAT Math: Advanced Guide and Workbook for the New SAT – Nielson Phu. Pages: 254; Price: $22-$28.49The College Panda’s SAT Math is a comprehensive guide to the SAT Math section. This publication is aimed at the student reaching for a perfect score, and, in pursuit of this goal, it leaves no stone unturned. The book has clear explanations of the math concepts tested on the SAT, ranging from the simplest to the most complex. It also provides hundreds of examples, over 500 practice questions, and lists of the most common mistakes students make. Even if you don’t think you can achieve that perfect score, this book is an excellent way to brush up on your math skills.
8. Bring Home the Score: A Private Tutor’s Guide to Scoring in the Highest Echelons of the SAT, ACT, SHSAT, GRE, GMAT, LSAT, NCLEX, MCAT, or Any Other Standardized Test – Walter Tinsley. Pages: 86; Price: $9.96-$9.97Don’t be put off by the lengthy subtitle of Bring Home the Score even if you have to look up what “echelon” means. This volume is jam-packed with tips, tricks, and strategies to land you among the top scorers on any standardized test – including the SAT. You will learn mental strategies to improve your motivation and avoid burnout from an overly aggressive study regimen. Bring Home the Score can help you create a schedule that’s intense but manageable.
9. Solve. Create: The Insider’s Guide to the ACT and SAT –
   Scott Moser. Pages: 523; Price: $19.68-$29.95People don’t usually think that standardized tests and creativity go together. The author of this book, a private test prep tutor, bases his strategy of success in the SAT on individualization and process rather than focusing on rote memorization. Reason. Solve. Create. aims to help the reader become a better thinker. For example, the same reasoning skills that are used in writing a poem can also be applied to solving a math problem or correcting a mistake in grammar. Information pertaining only to the SAT is clearly marked.
10. The Perfect Score Project: One Mother’s Journey to Uncover the Secrets of the SAT – Debbie Stier. Pages: 288; Price: $6.45-$16.45The Perfect Score Project is not a traditional SAT prep book but provides an interesting and insightful read for both students and parents. Debbie Stier, a single mother and an author, wanted to help her son prepare for the SAT. To this end, she took the test seven times in one year. She also studied every way possible to prep for the test. The result is a book with tried-and-tested answers to every SAT question a student might be asking themselves: When do I begin? Do I really need test prep with a big name? Do I need a tutor, a class, or can I self-study? What’s the one thing I need to know? Stier’s son did well on the SAT, and so can you.

All of these books can be purchased online, and the prices are for new and used books as advertised at the time (June 1, 2019) of this writing. The number of pages is approximate and is based on the table of contents for each book.

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