Best SAT Preparation Books to Ace Your Score in 2023-24

Are you aspiring to pursue your undergraduate degree at the best colleges abroad? Then, you must get set to ace SAT 2023. The first step towards cracking the SAT exam with high scores is to understand the nature of the exam and begin your preparation with the right set of resources.

Understand the exam

The Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT, is a standardized test that makes one eligible to apply for undergraduate courses in colleges in the USA and other countries abroad. The SAT exam syllabus focuses on three areas: Reading, Writing and Math. According to the latest guidelines, a new section called ‘optional essay’ has been added to the syllabus. Each section evaluates the test-taker’s skills in arithmetic, grammar, vocabulary, sentence construction, data analysis, and other problem-solving skills.

Getting the right resources to prepare well

The SAT exam is taken by students across the world to gain admission to some of the best undergraduate courses globally. Due to this, the level of competition is also high. Therefore, it is important to begin intensive preparation well in advance. For that, a student needs to find the relevant resources and good books. 

Best SAT Preparation Books to Ace the Exam in 2023-24

Here is a list of SAT books recommendations to equip you with all the necessary knowledge and skills to ace the exam: 

The College Board's Official SAT Study Guide

This Official Study Guide, issued and published by the College Board itself, is a good starting point to gain a proper understanding of the exam. While some may find it useless to buy as its practice tests are also available online, the book is still worth keeping as it gives a detailed walk-through of the test structure, basic strategies, and answering explanations. This book is highly recommended to give yourself a pretest, gain a sense of your starting level, and analyze what areas of the test you need to focus more on in your preparation. 

SAT Study Guide Premium

Barron’s SAT Study Guide Premium is the best SAT prep book to begin your actual preparations and practice for the test. Completely adhering to the latest exam update, the book covers every section of the exam along with a comprehensive review and 4 Practice Tests series from experienced educators. The book gives in-depth insights into each section of the exam over 78 chapters. 

Princeton Review SAT Prep, 2023

Similar to Barron's, the Princeton Review's SAT Prep book’s latest edition provides a comprehensive review of the SAT, covering concepts you need to know, such as grammar rules and algebraic functions, along with winning strategies to approach the test questions and optimize your time. It has four full-length practice tests and two additional practice tests you can access online. The book offers thorough answer explanations for practice questions, which help you think about how to approach similar questions in the future and on test day.

Redesigned SAT Pattern Strategy

Kallis’ “Redesigned SAT Pattern Strategy” 3rd Edition is another good SAT study book. It provides six full-length practice tests in addition to over 1000 practice questions. Its questions are closely similar to the official test questions. Its in-depth explanations and descriptions help you analyze your mistakes and fix them for next time to improve your scores. Overall, this SAT practice test book offers a clear, focused presentation of fundamental concepts in grammar, literature, and math, enabling you to answer the questions quickly, and approach the test with confidence. 

McGraw-Hill Education SAT Elite 2023

This book provides an informative overview of the structure and content of SAT. From the number of questions to the time limits on each section, you can know exactly what to expect on test day. It includes eight full-length SAT practice tests, including one diagnostic test. The book's practice questions are realistic and resemble official questions with thorough answer explanations for each question. The book is extremely good in its presentation of SAT Math concepts, offering useful strategies for improving speed and accuracy in the Math section.

Section-wise Book Suggestions

SAT Reading & Writing Practice Books

The SAT reading section covers different subjects, like Earth Science, Economics, Physics and Sociology, etc. The writing and language section tests your ability to identify errors and fix sentences to make them logically and grammatically correct. 

The following books are recommended to help you score better in these sections:

The Critical Reader: The Complete Guide to SAT Reading 

Erica L. Meltzer’s “The Complete Guide to SAT Reading” 4th edition gives a clear and systematic guide to what many consider the most challenging section of the SAT. It consists of a chapter-wise breakdown of each question type, with in-depth explanations, examples and strategies on how to work through each type.

SAT Writing: Advanced Guide and Workbook

One of the best SAT preparation books for the writing and language section, this SAT Guide and Workbook by Nielson Phu is a straightforward book to guide you with clear explanations of all the grammar rules and plenty of examples to build your expertise for each question type. 

SAT Math Books

The SAT math section has 58 questions covering topics like arithmetic, geometry, statistics, data interpretation,probability etc. Books that can be referred to prepare for this section are:

PWN the SAT: Math Guide

This book by Mike Mcclenathan consists of five sections covering different parts of the SAT Math Syllabus. It is updated with the latest official practice tests and 200+ additional practice questions. The questions are aimed at improving your speed and accuracy in approaching different types of problems. By the time of completing these practice tests, you will get the confidence to tackle any type of question in the actual test.

SAT Math Workbook

Barron’s SAT Math Workbook is a set of relevant SAT-based math questions. The latest seventh edition of the book features revised and updated math questions with answer explanations and strategies to help test-takers approach different question types correctly.

Dr. Jang's SAT 800 Math Workbook New Edition, 2022

This is a great book for math prep with more than 1,500 math practice problems very close to the actual test. The book emphasizes algebra, includes basic trigonometry, and divides questions into non-calculator and calculator sections (just like the current SAT format). Question types are arranged by difficulty level.

Are you ready to start?

If you're self-motivated and use the right books for your SAT prep, then you are sure to score well in your SAT exam. The above-listed books can be a great way to learn and practice strategies, to qualify the test with a high score. Buy the latest editions to keep note of the changes, though old and used books can be bought at a cheaper price for practical purposes.

There's a lot of room here to customize your study plan according to your own particular strengths and weaknesses, which you will be the best judge of. 

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