The College Panda's SAT Math: Advanced Guide and Workbook

I had to wait two weeks to receive the book in my country, but the wait was worth it. It's a good book with beautiful, visually pleasing problems. I congratulate the author on such fine work.

Amazing book! I would recommend studying at least 2-3 months beforehand that way this book doesn’t feel too long for you, and that way you wouldn’t be exhausted. Anyways I ended up getting a 740 on the math section! I wasn’t happy with my overall score but I was happy with my math score!

Having already had 2 students enter college, I have looked at a lot of PSAT/SAT prep materials over the years. It's hard to find any that are geared toward the more competitive students who already are performing decently but want to have confidence that they've fully cataloged ALL the types of questions, and want insight into the real 'gotchas' of the test. This book does exactly that, is straightforward to read, and doesn't waste your time with any nonessentials.While Nielson's book is indeed geared toward those aiming for seriously competitive scores, I'm sure it would also be helpful to those who just wanted to understand the "what" and "how" of SAT. Don't bother with the super-thick, fluff-filled guides churned out by the 'bigger' publishers -- too much bloatware in this books! They seem to think the page count justifies their cost, I guess. This book lays out the scope of the problem types in a no-nonsense manner. If you need a general introduction to 'what is the SAT', how long does it take, etc. then perhaps skim through the beginning chapters of one of those 'fluff' books. But then come use Nielson's for actual study/prep.One small criticism (not even worth a point/star off on review) is that, like ANY and EVERY prep book not directly published under CollegeBoard (i.e., CollegeBoard or Khan Academy) the problems are unofficial. Why is that important? Because the test authors have a *very particular* manner of authoring the problems (and answers) so they fit their standardized mold. (Which, by the way, is why all those practice tests in the 'big fluff' books are nearly worthless and even misleading. It's just more heft to justify the price.) So just be sure that if you use the CollegePanda then (as Nielson also tells you) do the REAL PRACTICE on OFFICIAL (new) SAT tests & practice questions.

Most SAT prep books out there have a common pattern in their structure: Give the readers a ton of general information, and then proceed to have them practice the knowledge they learned in that chapter. The advantage of this teaching method is that the readers can gain plenty of background knowledge to help them fundamentally understand concepts and applications. However, the main problem with it is the amount of "noise," or unnecessary information that a typical test-taker will end up studying. Although it's useful to know, it is also technically not required to do well on SAT Math. Nielson Phu seems to have known this, which is why he decided to write a prep book that merely shows the readers how to handle each of the specific problems they'll generally encounter on the SAT. He says that SAT questions should be "a simple reflex, something you know how to handle instinctively because you've seen it so many times before."Instead of stuffing the pages with fluff, Phu gets right to the point of how to solve problems, and spends a minimal amount of time on basics. He usually teaches everything by starting with an example right on the first page of the chapter. Some chapters are even made up entirely of problems and how to solve them. This no-nonsense, straightforward way of studying can not only be a time saver, but can also provide a simpler, less intimidating way of viewing math problems.You may argue that it is more beneficial for a student to know why they're doing what they're doing when they solve problems, but, strictly in terms of their performance on the SAT, it does not necessarily help. Some students (like myself) prefer a more specific and concrete way to look at math. And, frankly, even the most drone-like uninteresting knowledgebase like that is all that is really needed to get a good score. It's like learning to bake a cake. As long as two different people follow the same procedure for baking the cake, their knowledge of why certain ingredients are needed to bake it is irrelevant. The result is still the same.That being said, students who are attempting to get into MIT or Cal Tech are obviously much better off fully understanding the intricacies of mathematics if they wish to get ahead, which is why I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending this book to everyone. Its blunt and superficial way of teaching is not suitable for those looking for a deep comprehension of math. But if you want a concise crash course to the test, this is the book for you. Just be prepared to do some self teaching because some of the answer explanations in this book are a little too short, and can make it difficult to understand why you should do certain things to solve them. Of course, by contrast, more mainstream books have a bad habit of using overly complicated ways of saying "it's right because it's right," rendering their explanations equally unhelpful.

There is an easier version of the college panda math prep if Math isn't your strong suit. This book is really good though if you already find math fairly easy/doable. Otherwise I would recommend starting with the easier math book and working your way up to this book.

This book helped me a lot as a math teacher and my kids said it is very useful to prepare for their SAT exam.Thank you!

When it comes to standardized testing the mindset of solving is very important as opposed to a rigor alone approach. College Panda's quality of problems and challenges are HOT skills oriented ( Higher ORder Thinking ). I own a tutoring company and we are adapting this as our standard.