Cracking the SAT Physics Subject Test

First, I got an 800 on my physics test. Second, this was the only prep book I used. It think it is a good review- not a great review, and I did read it cover-to-cover. I don't think it does the greatest job in giving sufficient practice questions to reinforce certain difficult concepts. It is hard to find a good physics prep book because physics is just one of those subjects were it's either you really get or you just sort of get it enough to get A's in you physics class. This book will be very helpful for those of you who just sort of get it. If you are really good at physics already, skim through this book anyways before taking the test- it will put you in the right mind-set and tell you just what you need to know for the test. But really, paying attention in my AP physics B and C classes my best bet.

I'd never taken a Physics class before reading this book. I got it a week before the test, and read it non stop for four days. I didn't have enough time to read the last two chapters and get enough sleep before the test. My score was 790.

Background: I took ap physics C (both Mech and E & M). This was my primary book for learning the rest of the physics that is on the SAT subject test. It gave me the extra lessons I needed for an 800. Although I was expecting Princeton to be a terrible choice when it comes to math and science (usually Barrons is better there), this book was surprisingly good. It taught me everything I needed for the test that was not either mechanics or e & m. I do not know how good this book is for those 2 topics however (which is 60% of the test). Princeton Review always have the best practice tests by far (only the offical book has better ones, and no duh, they are real). I do not recommend barrons for this test at all. the practice test for kaplan is the closest to the real one in terms of score, but its on the easy side, which is never good. The practice tests in this book was way harder than the real one, but its got the exact format and I still consider it the best for practice. You can probably add at least 50 points to your score on the Princeton. I gave this book a 4 instead of a 5 because the practice tests overly emphasized calculation (just like all other physics prep books) and it gives you a lot of formulas you will never need. The SAT physics test is mostly conceptual. The good news is, there was not a single thing that I have not seen before because of this book. and again, it is the best of its kind even if its not perfect.

I started reviewing with this book for the SAT Physics Subject Test only three days before I had to take it. While I had taken one year of regular physics in school, we never had to memorize the equations for our tests. This book did an excellent job of condensing all the information needed, and its explanations were clear and concise. The review problems were challenging but ensured a thorough understanding of the concepts, and the provided solutions to the practice tests were easy to understand. I rate this book a four instead of a five only because of its practice tests. There are only two of them, and I found them to be harder than the actual test (althougth that's better than being easier). To give a sense of the score distortion, I made a 740 on the first practice test, and I made a 790 on the real thing. So although this book's tests aren't great indicators of how well you will perform on the real SAT Physics Subject Test, its review of the material is very good, and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

This book presents an excellent review, the only issue is that it shoudl have had more practice tests.