McGraw-Hill's PSAT/NMSQT

by Mark Anestis and Christopher Black

Ace the test with help from this expert guide to the PSAT andNMSQT If you are a high school sophomore or junior, you will probably be taking the PSAT (pre-SAT) this year. Morethan a measurement tool... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071454128
• ISBN13: 9780071454124
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
• Length: 561 Pages
• Weight: 7.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 8.5" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN GOLD!

Although my daughter did well on her sophomore PSAT in 2007, when she was a sophomore, she made 4 errors in the Writing Skill section and wanted to improve her score in her junior year PSAT. I used McGraw Hill's PSAT book to coach her for the 2008 PSAT. It really is worth its weight in gold!!! It contains a fantastic writing skill review categorized in 15 concepts, each of which comes with a 1-page mini concept review followed by additional practice. The 15 concepts are so well explained, so succinctly written, and so user-friendly that make writing skill improvement a piece of cake! After relentless practice with this book (and also with Barron's PSAT workbook) last summer, my daughter not only writes much better at school in her junior year, she did great on PSAT (upper 99 percentile)and a perfect score (80) in the Writing Section! Thank you, McGraw Hill!

EXCELLENT

I wanted to do well on the PSAT test, and I bought a review book from literally all the main companies. I have the princeton review, REA, barrons, kaplan, you name it. I would least recommend the princeton review, because it is way too general and brief as always. (it is bad for AP review also) Anyways, I ended up running out of time, so I only used the McGraw Hill prep book. I know this book is good because I compared it to all the other prep books. It has all the concept reviews plus SIX very good practice tests. This book is a MUST HAVE!!

I'm Buying Another Copy

I am a rising senior who used this book last year, and now I'm buying a copy for my little brother. I like the new blog: it's really helpful to students like me who have a tough time staying "in the loop" about the SAT. In my case, this is because I am home-schooled. Thanks to this book I achieved a score of 72 critical reading, 76 math and 80 writing. I also wanted to echo the sentiments of the previous reviewer and say that Mr. Black, the author, was very generous with his time and has personally given me excellent advice that helped me enormously in my preparation for the SAT and in taking the SAT Subject Tests and GED. I contacted him through his website, and did not expect a personal reply but was very pleased to get one. Even if Mr. Black were not so generous with his time and encouragement, I would still recommend this book of all the available PSAT guides. I have spent a great deal in the library looking through the different books, and I have found this one to be far more thorough than the others. Also, I disagree completely with the reviewer who said that this book was "pro-Bush." I think that claim is just bizarre and I would be interested to know why he/she thinks that. I think it's very odd to read that kind of thing into a book that does not discuss politics at all. I guess he'she means that some of the reading excerpts are political in nature, and some have a conservative bias while others have a very liberal bent. I think that is a very good thing, not a bad thing. I also think it is silly to suggest that this reveals a bias on the part of the author. In short: many thanks for a very helpful book.

From a Tutor's Perspective: A Great Choice

As someone who has tutored students for the PSAT and SAT for over 15 years, I must commend the authors of "McGraw-Hill's PSAT" for a truly excellent book. It is extremely well-written and is far more useful to my students than the alternatives by Barron's, Princeton Review and Kaplan. In contrast to the previous reviewer, I have found the critical reading portion of this book to be exceptionally well written. The previous reviewer seems to believe that the author has a conservative bias, but this shows rather weak critical thinking skills on the part of the reviewer (his claim of an 80 critical reading notwithstanding). I have read this book thoroughly, since I must have a solid recall of the book in its entirety in order to use it effectively with my students, and I can assure any reader that there is no political bias on the part of the author. In fact, the previous reviewer would do well to read the passages on pages 13 and 23 again, and to claim, with a straight face, that they reveal a conservative bias on the part of the authors. The previous reviewer seems instead to have focused on the excerpt from an essay by James Schlesinger on page 24, which is presented as a counterbalance to the more "liberal" argument about global warming with which it is juxtaposed. The previous reviewer seems to be unable to differentiate the excerpted opinions of a national pundit with the views of the authors. In fact, I commend the authors highly for including such politically intriguing viewpoints. That is what a good book SHOULD do, not simply parrot the point of view any particular reader may favor. I should point out that, in the authors' larger book, "McGraw-Hill's SAT I," they expand on the idea of playing "devil's advocate" as an essential critical reading and writing skill, and I have used this approach with great success with my own students. The previous reviewer would do well to understand this approach, instead of cursing every argument that disputes his bias. I actually found one of the authors (Christopher Black) to be very accessible, and had a very pleasant exchange with him contacting him through his website, and have found him to have a very level-headed and thoughtful approach to preparing students for college-level critical thinking and for standardized tests like the SAT and SAT Subject Tests. I STRONGLY recommend this book to any tutor or student who wishes to take a serious approach to a tough test like the PSAT, particularly those who are tired of the "test-taking tricks" approach so popular in the SAT-prep franchises.

Very effective and very clear

I am astonished that this book costs less than the Princeton Review PSAT book, but is twice as big and twice as useful!!! I am a 20-year high school teacher in the Chicago suburbs who also tutors students for the SAT, ACT and PSAT, and this is hands down the most effective tool for tutors and students who are willing to do some serious work preparing for the PSAT. Don't be fooled-the PSAT is important, even though it's a practice SAT, because it is used to determine who qualifies for National Merit Scholarships. The authors of this book, Christopher Black and Mark Anestis, clearly understand how students learn, what mistakes they commonly make, and how to explain difficult concepts in a way that kids can understand. (Princeton Review and the others don't even pretend that they can improve students' reading or math skills, and so they don't.) Even better, "McGraw-Hill's PSAT" provides tone of practice for students who want to work on improving their reasoning skills, and plenty of diagnostic tests with substantial answer explanations. Whather you are a parent, a student or a tutor, you will want to use this book. Black and Anestis get it exactly right in this book: the PSAT and SAT are not simply tests of "how well you know how do take multiple choice tests" (as the Princeton Review claims ad nauseum). It's a test of reasoning skills, and only students who improve those reasoning skills can hope to see great PSAT or SAT score improvements. I've been using this book for a full year, and my students have improved their scores by an average of close to 100 points per section (or 10 points per section on the PSAT). Of course, I'm willing to take a certain amount of that credit, but I don't think it would be nearly as easy without this book.