Hack the SAT: Strategies and Sneaky Shortcuts That Can Raise Your Score Hundreds of Points

by Eliot Schrefer

A top SAT coach—whose high-scoring strategies earned him $300 an hour from Manhattan’s elite private-school students —now makes his unique, proven secrets available to all.

Money can buy academic success, and the SAT is no exception. Harvard honors graduate Eliot Schrefer discovered this lucrative truth when he took a job at the nation’s most exclusive test-prep firm. He has helped hundreds of his clients raise their scores an average of 300 points and reel in admission to exclusive colleges. Now, in a guide that is as unique as his tricks, Schrefer brings his extraordinary pointers to every anxious applicant.

This user-friendly rescue manual delivers such scoreboosting features Schrefer writes in a snappy, conversational tone, dishing gossipy anecdotes about former clients while presenting advice not found in competing books. With a design that is as vibrant as a gamer’s virtual world, this is the ultimate weapon in the quest for test-score triumph.

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published July 17, 2008

About the author

ELIOT SCHREFER is a New York Times-bestselling author, and has twice been a finalist for the National Book Award. In naming him an Editor’s Choice, the New York Times has called his work “dazzling… big-hearted.” He is also the author of two novels for adults and four other novels for children and young adults. His books have been named to the NPR “best of the year” list, the ALA best fiction list for young adults, and the Chicago Public Library’s “Best of the Best.” His work has also been selected to the Amelia Bloomer List, recognizing best feminist books for young readers, and he has been a finalist for the Walden Award and won the Green Earth Book Award and Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award. He lives in New York City, where he reviews books for USAToday.



Also: I love marshmallows and early twentieth century fiction. And apes.

Reviews

[Halima Khanom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so grateful for this book! Eliot Schrefer really waters down all the sections of the SAT. The “cheap” techniques that he shares really are that easy to remember and cheap! His side comments make the studying so much more enjoyable. I also found the vocabs he inserted at the corner of every page a neat strategy because it pushed me to memorize those words, page by page. I am definitely going to reread this book (something I don’t usually do) to really internalize the information.

[Drew Benbow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excelent choice, resource and helper for anyone planing on taking the SAT now or in the future. The humorous narrative and simplified and easy to read explanations make this book a prime choice for anyone taking the SAT. Personally, I would choose reading this book over nearly any other SAT prep book, especially seeing as how it helped me grab a 1900 on my first shot, and I would guarentee it to help anyone assist in their score. And it's not even really "score booting", it's just a meathod for helping you understand the tricky things that the SAT tries to use to mess with you. All around, very helpful.

[Beatrice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book a year before, then the morning of my SATs.
I took two practice tests before.
Scored 2360. I love this book. I promise I loved it even before it helped me get to this score.
The SAT is a critical thinking test, not one of knowledge. For this reason, practice books, Barron's, Princetons, whatever, will not help, and I think its important for obsessive parents (and students) to recognize the nature of this test. This is why Hack the SAT is percet - it is mental counselor rather than a guide to stuff tips in the reader's head.
Read it. You won't regret it, if not only for Schrefer's sense of humor.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stuff I have to remember:
Parallelism-- similar clauses should be set up identically. "Manhattan has plenty of tall buildings but few tall trees" is correct, while "Manhattan has plenty of tall buildings but not many of its trees are tall" is incorrect.

Only use "where" to describe physical places, and "when" to describe times. Otherwise, use "in which".

Avoid ambiguous pronouns.

Important parts of essay: length, punctuation, originality

If you are zoning out during the critical reading section, try underlining stuff.

[Rivkasilver · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm taking the SATs this Sunday. Go me, go me, go me- I cheer halfheartedly like a cheerleader with soggy pompoms.
My brain is so SATeed out that I'm making bad similes about soggy pompoms.

Will hopefully review the approx 8 books on my to-review list after this nightmare is over.

Pray for me!

[Alissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good math & writing strategies.

[mimi ♕ · Rating 3 out of 5]

some good strats and funny anecdotes, but overall did not help me because i forgot them all when actually taking the sats

[Zekiiyah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was extremely helpful! Helped me review the stuff I'd already learned from my SAT Tutor.