The Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar Workbook: Volume 2

Got an 800 on the multiple choice portion!My daughter used the 2013 edition of this book, which included only the 8 tests and no instruction. Honestly, she thought the book was tedious because some of the questions seemed unorthodox. But, it worked! She finally escaped her 710 to 720 slump where she missed about 2 questions per test. The writing section has less questions, so it is very difficult to get over 720 because each question is worth so many points. In addition, you can lose points if your written essay is not rated at least an 8.My daughter may have had a knack for grammar because she scored a 69(0) on her ninth grade PSAT, missing about 4 questions. Even my son, who struggled in school and required an IEP, scored a 590 on his SAT. So, there may be a tendency to score higher for our family. The 800 was very elusive, though, and required much strategy. In tenth grade, my daughter scored a 72(0), but by 11th grade she went back to a 710.I give credit to 2 of Erica's books for getting her to the 800. My daughter was so frustrated, she hasn't decided to whom she would give the credit. We used Erica's Complete Guide to ACT English and studied it over the summer while taking the five practice tests from Peterson's The REAL ACT. Second, we used Erica's eight practice tests in this book. Although my daughter thought the process was worthless (as she was missing up to four questions in Erica's practice book at one point), I knew Erica was teaching her to avoid all of the possible errors by thinking about the rules she had learned in Erica's Complete Guide to ACT English. The Complete Guide helped her get a 35 out of 36 on her first official sitting for the ACT.Erica's Complete Guide to ACT English is simply the best because it presents grammar at the basic rules level. Knowing grammar this way improves your performance on the SAT, which tests grammar in application and not so much in context. While taking the SAT, often you are going on your gut feel for the correct answer--you don't always know what grammatical error is really being tested. With the ACT, you are being asked to correct the underlined portion within context, which allows you to think about the rules. With the SAT, you may be asked to identify the underlined portion that is in error, but not always to correct the error--leaving you wondering until the test results come back if you were even on the right track with your answer.I use Erica's Complete Guide to ACT English in all of my college prep camps. I just find it to be the most thorough. However, many students still struggle with grasping the rules and applying them on the real test. Erica's tests are designed to direct you to the error and make you recognize it, but it takes time to apply it to your performance on the real test. So, I have to use Peterson's The Real ACT test prep to show specific examples of the grammar errors and train students to improve their performance.But, back to the review of this book..This book is the only resource that I have found that has 8 practice tests, so I highly recommend it. Erica's Complete Guide to ACT English is also the best, so I highly recommend it, too. Going between the ACT and SAT is a winning strategy that will boost your final score on either exam. My daughter got her elusive 800 in the end, and colleges pay top dollar for high grammar and math scores on the ACT. While math and reading matter most on the SAT, a high grammar score on the SAT will stll boost your overall score for scholarships.Update: After reviewing the new SAT for 2016, I highly recommend Erica's Complete Guide to ACT English for the SAT because the SAT has been reformatted to look like the ACT and now tests grammar in the context of a 4-5 paragraph story. The evidenced based work on the grammar section of the SAT will also be combined with your Reading score and contribute to your overall 1600 score scale. The only difference is that the SAT passages will also contain charts, graphs, or data that must be interpreted and written with the correct English. I think it is obvious that the college-readiness tests are now pushing reading comprehension, analytical ability, and writing skill.

This work provides a nice collection of tests to help students learn how to navigate the writing portion of the SAT. Meltzer provides clear and concise instructional pieces to guide students through the "whys" and "hows" for answering the multiple choice writing questions. Many students do not realize how much of their writing score is based on these questions. This area of writing is the easiest to improve, and all major skills covered on the SAT are clearly explained in this book. I believe if a student dedicated adequate time to study this book, he or she could come close to, if not achieve, a perfect score on the writing multiple choice.

but for the typos and the (at least one) wrong answer. I haven't had a chance to go through the entire book, but it just irritates me when a book hasn't been thoroughly proofed. What's funny is that my students have learned SAT grammar from me so well, that TWO of them picked up on the wrong answer in the test that we were working on together. Yay for me for teaching so well; yay for Erica for compiling tests so I don't have to, if there is a second edition, proofread, proofread, proofread.

My first impression of the book was "I got scammed", since I saw no explanations, but soon I figured there are explanations but very limited ones. I really struggle with writing as it has never been my forte, I already did 7/8 tests and I don't really know if I have improved much. By the 5th test I scored 80% right on the 25 min section, and miss one or two on the 10 min section. But after finishing the 7th test I scored only 50%, really worrying me on my performance. Their are a lot of mistakes, ironically for a writing book, yet I do thing it has improved my writing score by 60+ points. Overlooking the mistakes, and sometimes broad explanations, this book could be a tool.

What amazed me when I read Erica's book is how thoroughly she has researched the SAT writing section and how closely her mock exam problems emulate actual problems. If you show these writing exercises to any high school student, he or she will think these are actual ETS's published problems- the questions are that realistic. I believe that anyone who uses this book, along with Erica's other book and CollegeBoard Blue SAT book, will ace the writing section. I give this book my highest recommendation.