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SAT Prep Black Book: The Most Effective SAT Strategies Ever Published
The SAT Prep Black Book teaches the unique SAT strategies of Mike Barrett, a world-renowned SAT tutor who has partnered with some of the most prestigious schools and guidance consultants.
Barrett's approach avoids the rote memorization of advanced concepts that is common to most types of SAT preparation. The Black Book doesn't include any vocabulary lists, and doesn't advise its readers to rely on math formulas.
Instead, The SAT Prep Black Book teaches readers to approach the test the same way that Barrett trains his students. Barrett sees the SAT as a standardized instrument with a specific objective, and reasons that the test must observe certain design guidelines that follow from that unique objective. So this book explains to students how different types of SAT questions are actually written, from the perspective of the College Board: for each question type, Barrett explains the "big secret" of that question type, the rules and patterns that all questions of that type will follow, and, most importantly for readers, exactly how to attack the question type based on the inherent weaknesses of its particular rules and patterns.
The book includes over 250 example solutions that demonstrate Barrett's approach against real SAT questions written by the College Board. In order to follow along, students will want a copy of the College Board's book "The Official SAT Study Guide," the source of the questions whose solutions appear in the Black Book.
The overall lesson of the SAT Prep Black Book is that the SAT tests very basic concepts in very strange ways, so students should learn the unique habits of the test rather than cramming definitions and formulas. At 330 pages, the book is thorough and detailed in its analysis of the SAT.
Barrett's approach avoids the rote memorization of advanced concepts that is common to most types of SAT preparation. The Black Book doesn't include any vocabulary lists, and doesn't advise its readers to rely on math formulas.
Instead, The SAT Prep Black Book teaches readers to approach the test the same way that Barrett trains his students. Barrett sees the SAT as a standardized instrument with a specific objective, and reasons that the test must observe certain design guidelines that follow from that unique objective. So this book explains to students how different types of SAT questions are actually written, from the perspective of the College Board: for each question type, Barrett explains the "big secret" of that question type, the rules and patterns that all questions of that type will follow, and, most importantly for readers, exactly how to attack the question type based on the inherent weaknesses of its particular rules and patterns.
The book includes over 250 example solutions that demonstrate Barrett's approach against real SAT questions written by the College Board. In order to follow along, students will want a copy of the College Board's book "The Official SAT Study Guide," the source of the questions whose solutions appear in the Black Book.
The overall lesson of the SAT Prep Black Book is that the SAT tests very basic concepts in very strange ways, so students should learn the unique habits of the test rather than cramming definitions and formulas. At 330 pages, the book is thorough and detailed in its analysis of the SAT.
- GenresNonfictionSchoolCollege
330 pages, Paperback
First published March 14, 2013
215 people are currently reading
721 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
September 14, 2013
Upon seeing the glowing reviews for this book I decided to buy it, as I teach SAT/ACT to students. What a disappointment! I started reading the book and it seems more like an infomercial than an actual SAT book. The "Black book" makes it seems like it's exclusive material not found elsewhere, kind of like someone getting a Black Card from American Express.
But upon reading the book, it's not exclusive material. I have seen other gimmick companies and people try to advertise "teaching the test" where the test taker supposedly does as little as possible to prepare and miraculously does well on the actual test. Not studying vocabulary...sure that sounds great. Kind of like telling students they can get straight A's while doing no homework. But it's not practical. Even Mike Barrett himself says you can omit 4 or 5 questions and still get a 750 on a reading section, which is untrue. Check out the scoring guide on just about any SAT and if you miss even two questions you're down to a 750. Nonetheless it is a gimmick. My students do study vocabulary and there is a huge difference between my students who actually study vocabulary and the ones who do not--on test day.
Mike says not to guess even when you've eliminated choices. This is simply not true: it has been mathematically proven that guessing even when you can safely eliminate just one answer, that you know is wrong, does pay off. And if you can safely knockout more than one choice you've tilted the odds even more in your favor. It isn't even open for debate: it has been done in experiments and proven to be correct.
I read the section on reading comprehension where Mike literally says use the skimming technique, read the whole passage or use any method you want. Seriously? How is that direction? It seems that this "strategy" along with most of the strategies in the book are completely vague. In fact, it seems the author majored in vague. Then, he goes on to say eliminate the four wrong choices in a reading comp. question and if you only have three to eliminate you did something wrong. But how do I specifically eliminate the four wrong choices...that is not given. Just generic, vague info on what type answer questions are normally wrong.
Then, I wondered, after teaching in the field for a long time, why I have never heard of Mike Barrett. Notice in the book there is not one testimonial, and not one review from a book, magazine or TV station. Those are the kinds of things I normally see in SAT/ACT books that are written by real pros. Upon looking further, I noticed Mike doesn't even list an address for where his "company" is located. Yet, he wants to charge people $350/hr. to Skype with him and it is in the thousands to have him travel to you and work one-on-one. What person in right mind would pay someone they hardly know, who has never been on TV or done any major interviews, that kind of money--especially when the person has no physical address.
Mike talks about college in his blurb listed here on Amazon but why does he hide the college he went to? Would any good SAT tutor have to do that? It looks like he went to University of Florida, which is an good school but not great, and certainly not the kind of school you would expect a self-proclaimed testing genius to go to. You would expect he would've gone to any Ivy League or similar college on full-scholarship.
Also, I saw Mike had a previous book called Grammatix, found on the Internet. Upon looking over that it seems this book is just a recycling of that book, and in many parts it is simply a cut-and-paste job from Grammatix.
In short, the whole thing is a huge scam. There are no great tricks or techniques here, the few clear suggestions he makes (not studying vocab, not guessing) have been proven to be wrong, and the author himself is a nobody in the industry--despite claiming to be a renowned expert! I remember the old infomercial where, I believe it was Don Lapre, mentioned how he made more money in one week working out of a 1BR apartment than most people made in a year. Yet Don was carted off to "Club Fed," eventually and exposed for the fraud he was. It kind of reminds me of the strategies in this book. However instead of selling Ginzu knives, or fast-buck real estate tips, Mike Barrett is selling bogus SAT tips and generic, vague and worthless information.
But upon reading the book, it's not exclusive material. I have seen other gimmick companies and people try to advertise "teaching the test" where the test taker supposedly does as little as possible to prepare and miraculously does well on the actual test. Not studying vocabulary...sure that sounds great. Kind of like telling students they can get straight A's while doing no homework. But it's not practical. Even Mike Barrett himself says you can omit 4 or 5 questions and still get a 750 on a reading section, which is untrue. Check out the scoring guide on just about any SAT and if you miss even two questions you're down to a 750. Nonetheless it is a gimmick. My students do study vocabulary and there is a huge difference between my students who actually study vocabulary and the ones who do not--on test day.
Mike says not to guess even when you've eliminated choices. This is simply not true: it has been mathematically proven that guessing even when you can safely eliminate just one answer, that you know is wrong, does pay off. And if you can safely knockout more than one choice you've tilted the odds even more in your favor. It isn't even open for debate: it has been done in experiments and proven to be correct.
I read the section on reading comprehension where Mike literally says use the skimming technique, read the whole passage or use any method you want. Seriously? How is that direction? It seems that this "strategy" along with most of the strategies in the book are completely vague. In fact, it seems the author majored in vague. Then, he goes on to say eliminate the four wrong choices in a reading comp. question and if you only have three to eliminate you did something wrong. But how do I specifically eliminate the four wrong choices...that is not given. Just generic, vague info on what type answer questions are normally wrong.
Then, I wondered, after teaching in the field for a long time, why I have never heard of Mike Barrett. Notice in the book there is not one testimonial, and not one review from a book, magazine or TV station. Those are the kinds of things I normally see in SAT/ACT books that are written by real pros. Upon looking further, I noticed Mike doesn't even list an address for where his "company" is located. Yet, he wants to charge people $350/hr. to Skype with him and it is in the thousands to have him travel to you and work one-on-one. What person in right mind would pay someone they hardly know, who has never been on TV or done any major interviews, that kind of money--especially when the person has no physical address.
Mike talks about college in his blurb listed here on Amazon but why does he hide the college he went to? Would any good SAT tutor have to do that? It looks like he went to University of Florida, which is an good school but not great, and certainly not the kind of school you would expect a self-proclaimed testing genius to go to. You would expect he would've gone to any Ivy League or similar college on full-scholarship.
Also, I saw Mike had a previous book called Grammatix, found on the Internet. Upon looking over that it seems this book is just a recycling of that book, and in many parts it is simply a cut-and-paste job from Grammatix.
In short, the whole thing is a huge scam. There are no great tricks or techniques here, the few clear suggestions he makes (not studying vocab, not guessing) have been proven to be wrong, and the author himself is a nobody in the industry--despite claiming to be a renowned expert! I remember the old infomercial where, I believe it was Don Lapre, mentioned how he made more money in one week working out of a 1BR apartment than most people made in a year. Yet Don was carted off to "Club Fed," eventually and exposed for the fraud he was. It kind of reminds me of the strategies in this book. However instead of selling Ginzu knives, or fast-buck real estate tips, Mike Barrett is selling bogus SAT tips and generic, vague and worthless information.
Read
October 2, 2022Just failed my sat 😍😍
March 25, 2025
Found this to be very practical and straightforward. I’d definitely recommend.
March 12, 2022
Wish I’d found this sooner. Unique yet efficient read, unlike a typical SAT prep book. Highly recommend!
April 6, 2013
I received this book from Goodreads first reads giveaway, and I am so pleased that I did. With my son starting high school this year, this book will be insurmountable in helping him prepare for his SATs. I read through it last night and am so impressed! My son was even excited about this book. Thank you Mike Barrett for writing such a helpful book!
October 4, 2015
An extremely helpful resource! Anyone studying for the SAT should definitely give this book a look.
August 9, 2021
great book, such beautiful and detailed writing. also really enjoyed this novel from an educational standpoint, surprisingly eye-opening. definitely would recommend 10/10 wonderful wonderful book
May 13, 2020
This book single-handily got me from a 1370 to a 1570. I cannot recommend more.
The reason why I'm taking time out of my day to write this review is because I was thinking about the choice I've made that led me to getting accepted to my top choice of Columbia. Then I remembered this book. Obviously you need to put work into it. But I can say for a fact if you follow the thought-process of this book, it will help A LOT. I think without this book I wouldn't have been able to increase my score as much as I did, and then all the work I put into other areas of my application would have been for nothing. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that this book got me into Columbia. It might not even be an exaggeration to say that it completely changed my life. We will see about that though. It depends on what kind of impact college will have on my life. Maybe I'll report back in 10 years and let y'all know.
The reason why I'm taking time out of my day to write this review is because I was thinking about the choice I've made that led me to getting accepted to my top choice of Columbia. Then I remembered this book. Obviously you need to put work into it. But I can say for a fact if you follow the thought-process of this book, it will help A LOT. I think without this book I wouldn't have been able to increase my score as much as I did, and then all the work I put into other areas of my application would have been for nothing. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that this book got me into Columbia. It might not even be an exaggeration to say that it completely changed my life. We will see about that though. It depends on what kind of impact college will have on my life. Maybe I'll report back in 10 years and let y'all know.
March 26, 2022
A greatly established work of literature. A perfect light read to kill time at work, relax at home, or for bed time stories to your little ones.
April 16, 2023
ofc adding to my reading goal
October 4, 2019
Can i count this for my reading challenge? SURE THANG
December 4, 2023
i’m bad at sat but whatever this book helped a lot ig
August 25, 2019
This book took a while to read but I'm glad that I read it. It is full of great test strategies that I have used in practice tests and that I believe will help me succeed on test day. I will likely re-read parts of the book just to refresh my memory closer to the test because it is so long but I have been reading it all summer so it is very easy to space out. One thing I loved about this book was that it was written informally, like you were in a classroom and the author was talking directly to you. There weren't any specific quotes that stood out to me except for the fact that the author often reminds the reader that it is okay if you don't get it at first glance because there is always a way to practice. I highly recommend this for studying for the SAT.
November 25, 2019
A great book for those who are struggling with the reading section in the SAT. From past tests, I can say that my weakness was in the reading portion. I was never really good at reading and analyzing the passages. However, this book brought me through great and very effective strategies in order to obtain a 800 on the SAT. Although my test is in a few weeks, I can say that I am now very confident in the reading section of the SAT!
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November 17, 2020This book is the best SAT prep book I have ever seen.
This thing beats Kaplan and Princeton Review books by a landslide. It has actual walkthroughs that are in detail, unlike Kaplan and Princeton.
I found this book 5 days before my PSAT 8. Before I found this book, I struggled in the reading part and grammar a lot, while getting perfects in the math section, usually only getting 600s. I was, at that time, an untrained test taker, who didn't know what materials to use, and just eyeballed the questions and sometimes guessed the choice that sounded right to me, instead of actually reading the contest. Then I found this book, which had all the secrets (even why college board makes the PSAT/SAT like this) to the test.
And then today I took the PSAT 8, and guess what? I am actually confident that I scored a perfect on the EBRW (Evidence Based Reading and Writing (aka. sections 1 and 2)) sections!
My favorite part is the 25-page grammar toolbox. The last time I brushed up on my grammar was around 3rd grade, so this was a really good review. I bet even a person learning English as their second language would understand this. It started from the basic definitions.
Overall, if you want to score a perfect, you need to get this book. The Kaplan or other prep books won't make the cut. They don't have the actual techniques or even this detailed walkthroughs. (Sure they have this thing called the "Kaplan method for Reading questions", but that thing basically just tells you to take notes, which isn't a good idea as stated in the black book). I am amazed by the quality of this book, and will also plan to get the ACT Black Book when I plan to take the test.
Thanks authors for spending your time on this masterpiece!
This thing beats Kaplan and Princeton Review books by a landslide. It has actual walkthroughs that are in detail, unlike Kaplan and Princeton.
I found this book 5 days before my PSAT 8. Before I found this book, I struggled in the reading part and grammar a lot, while getting perfects in the math section, usually only getting 600s. I was, at that time, an untrained test taker, who didn't know what materials to use, and just eyeballed the questions and sometimes guessed the choice that sounded right to me, instead of actually reading the contest. Then I found this book, which had all the secrets (even why college board makes the PSAT/SAT like this) to the test.
And then today I took the PSAT 8, and guess what? I am actually confident that I scored a perfect on the EBRW (Evidence Based Reading and Writing (aka. sections 1 and 2)) sections!
My favorite part is the 25-page grammar toolbox. The last time I brushed up on my grammar was around 3rd grade, so this was a really good review. I bet even a person learning English as their second language would understand this. It started from the basic definitions.
Overall, if you want to score a perfect, you need to get this book. The Kaplan or other prep books won't make the cut. They don't have the actual techniques or even this detailed walkthroughs. (Sure they have this thing called the "Kaplan method for Reading questions", but that thing basically just tells you to take notes, which isn't a good idea as stated in the black book). I am amazed by the quality of this book, and will also plan to get the ACT Black Book when I plan to take the test.
Thanks authors for spending your time on this masterpiece!
February 25, 2023
I originally read this as a recommendation online for good prep books. I was a little alarmed with the print of the book since the margins (on the outside edge of the book) are incredibly small which I don't personally enjoy, and the font was a Serif font (which I enjoy, but due to the small size of the text, it was hard to read).
Aesthetics aside, I enjoyed this book a lot. It was straightforward and blunt (almost tough-love-y) but explained concepts well. If you know a lot about the SAT already, it's fairly easy to skip around the book, though I wasn't a fan of how the information was organized.
This book, pretty obviously, is for the SAT. If you're looking for a good practice book, I do recommend this one (I've only read the Princeton Review book, which wasn't nearly as good as this one in my opinion). However, if you've studied for the SAT with 5 other practice books, this book may not do much for you since it tends to state the obvious.
Aesthetics aside, I enjoyed this book a lot. It was straightforward and blunt (almost tough-love-y) but explained concepts well. If you know a lot about the SAT already, it's fairly easy to skip around the book, though I wasn't a fan of how the information was organized.
This book, pretty obviously, is for the SAT. If you're looking for a good practice book, I do recommend this one (I've only read the Princeton Review book, which wasn't nearly as good as this one in my opinion). However, if you've studied for the SAT with 5 other practice books, this book may not do much for you since it tends to state the obvious.
August 7, 2021
If you've just been introduced to the SAT this will definitely guide you, but if you already have some background and want to improve, this will help you slightly. The reading section was really insightful, but the math and reading just seemed like something that you'd need to practice to get better instead of using the tips given.
August 11, 2021
worst book i've ever read
December 19, 2022
This book hurt worse than Collen Hoover
Want to read
April 10, 2013This book, along with a surprise extra book (the College Board Blue Book), arrived today (4/9/13). I've glanced through it and am encouraged by what I've seen so far. My son and I will go through these books over the next few weeks, after which I will post a full review of how well I think this book helped my son prepare for the SAT.
January 2, 2026
Brought me from a 1240 to a 1350. Still working on the score with the strategies. Fingers crossed 🤞🤞
Y'all the update no one was expecting: currently in my last year of college with a great job lined up lfg. I got a 1530 in the end this book was a life saver. Also recommend the panda book for math.
Y'all the update no one was expecting: currently in my last year of college with a great job lined up lfg. I got a 1530 in the end this book was a life saver. Also recommend the panda book for math.
Want to read
March 30, 2013I was really excited that I won this book.
I was bummed however, when the postman brought it, there was nearly $20.00 due in postage on it. I didn't accept the package so out of fairness, I won't rate a book based on anything other than the content, which I have not read.
I was bummed however, when the postman brought it, there was nearly $20.00 due in postage on it. I didn't accept the package so out of fairness, I won't rate a book based on anything other than the content, which I have not read.
February 18, 2017
I won this in a Goodreads Giveaway.
I was disappointed at the $12 I was required to pay for this book upon arrival, however the information within these pages will surely help students I will be tutoring.
I was disappointed at the $12 I was required to pay for this book upon arrival, however the information within these pages will surely help students I will be tutoring.
May 18, 2021
Very nice book for preparing for SAT. Contains many tricks for saving time. Having it under your belt can be a huge benefit. Most importantly, the book tries to explain you the whole purpose and concept of SAT. The language is also very simple to understand.
December 21, 2025
Used this book and I was able to score a 1550. It works well if you're willing to put the effort in to follow it! It's also easy to read and to understand - it saves your reading comprehension for the SAT passages :)
October 10, 2013
Won this as a first read and was thrilled to see that they sent it will the College Blue Book! This will be very beneficial to help with taking the SAT!
January 1, 2015
I rate it 4 stars not because I loved it, but because it was pretty helpful prep for my SATs.
October 4, 2015
Mike Barrett is my new best friend! This book helped me so much in studying for the SAT. Now I just have to wait for my scores! So now go and read.
February 11, 2019
I found the chapter on wrong answer types the most useful
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews