* I don’t advocate violence towards cats (or other animals). “There’s more than one way to skin a cat” is a phrase that I used to hear all the time growing up, but that I now realize (having received some mortified stares at its utterance) that it’s not as common as I thought it was. (more…)
This is straight out of the PWN the SAT Math Guide, except I’ve deleted the page number references and inserted links to certain techniques. View the breakdown of Blue Book Test 1 here. § p # Techniques and concepts Diff. 2 452 1 Patterns 1 2 452 2 Ratios 1 2 453 3 Read the (more…)
I broke down every Blue Book test when I wrote the Math Guide. In the book there are page numbers instead of links, obviously. The idea here is that you can take a test, and use the results from that test to really identify some weaknesses. Then you drill those weaknesses before taking another test. (more…)
I designed the Math Guide to be read (and worked through) cover-to-cover alongside the Blue Book, but it’s never been my philosophy that test prep is a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. You don’t have to work through the book linearly to have a successful experience with it. Jump all over the place, if that suits you. (more…)
UPDATE: The second edition of my Math Guide is now available for purchase at Amazon.com! Read up on the new edition here. The first edition is now out of print, although some residual copies might be available for a while. The rest of this page serves as an archive and will no longer be updated. (more…)
…Say what now? This isn’t tested on the SAT all that often, but it has appeared (you’ll find an example in the Blue Book: Test 3 Section 5 Number 8) and I’ve had a bunch of kids tell me lately that they don’t remember ever learning it in school. When you have two polynomials that (more…)
The SAT isn’t the only nerdy thing I like. I’m absolutely swamped with work at school. Just completely swamped. Which is why I’m sitting here trying to come up with a good weekend challenge, of course. I like procrastination almost as much as I like frozen cheese ravioli. And I like frozen ravioli a lot. (more…)
I’m in Los Angeles this weekend visiting friends. It’s sunny here, and even though it’s actually not that all that warm, the palm trees make it feel that way. I know that many of you, however, are not on vacation, and that actually some of you are taking the December SAT tomorrow. If that’s you, (more…)
Source: Nature’s Graffiti. Do you guys do the Black Friday thing? One time, about 7 years ago, I got up at 3 in the morning and met some friends to wait outside Best Buy. It was complete pandemonium, and I was not fast or ruthless enough to get the TV I wanted. Then, I got (more…)
In the Blue Book, about this common: Screengrab from the PWN the SAT Math Guide I’m not saying you need to plug in numbers for each (or even most) of these. But I am saying you should be aware of how often you have the option.
Image found at this…awesome site. This will be the last Weekend Challenge question that has access to the Math Guide Beta Program as its prize. I’m going to be closing the Beta to new users soon, as the book nears completion. If, by the way, you’re interested in the day-to-day progress I’m making on the (more…)
I already emailed participants in the Beta about this, but I figured I’d make one last post about my book on the main site before it moves into the final development stages. It’s pretty much written, to the point where I can say that, give or take 10 pages, it’ll be about 350 pages long. (more…)
I’ve been having some minor technical issues with the blog. I think it has something to do with the code I wrote to make vocabulary words turn red when the page loads interacting badly with the code for DISQUS, which is the commenting system. But since I’m not a computer programmer, I have no idea (more…)
First of all, if you’re taking the November test, good luck. If you’re prepared well, you have nothing to fear. Get in there and beast it. Of course, many people aren’t taking the November SAT, and they deserve some love, too. If you’re not taking the test tomorrow, here’s one tough question to noodle on while (more…)
EDIT: I’m home now so this is formatted right. Suffice to say I’ll never use the Blogger Android app again. I’m in Chicago without a computer so this will be short and sweet since I’m typing with my thumbs. First correct and non-anonymous comment wins access to the Math Guide. Chris bought a pumpkin last (more…)
