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How to use your old SAT prep books for the new SAT
Vicki Wood on January 28, 2016 at 2:38 PM
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Now that the old SAT is

officially put to rest (sighI am still not
over it just yet), you may be wondering what to do with the pile of SAT books that you (or
more likely your parents) spent hard-earned money on. Turn them into doorstops?
Burning material for your moms fireplace? A booster seat for your kid sister? Dont get rid
of them just yetthey still have life for anyone studying for the new SAT or even the ACT.
THE OFFICIAL SAT STUDY GUIDE, SECOND EDITION (a.k.a. THE OLD BLUE BOOK)
Lets start with the most popularand most importantSAT book. The second edition of
the Official SAT Study Guide, also known as the Old Blue Book, contains ten practice tests
with 1700 questionsand nearly all of the questions can still help you prepare for the new
exam. Yes, the format is different, and it is important that you purchase the newest edition
of the Blue Book or download thefree tests online (note that these free tests are the same
four tests in the New Blue Book) so that you are familiar with the layout of the new test,
but once you burn through those four tests, youll need some other material to help you
prepare. And since there is nothing better than real test questions from the test makers,
we recommend that you practice with old questions from from prior-format tests.
THE READING SECTION
Material to skip: Sentence Completion questions are no longer tested, so you should avoid
the first page of every Reading section in the Old Blue Book (see examples on pages 390,
402, and 425). Also, all passages on the New SAT are at least 500 words, so you can skip
the short single and short paired passages at the start of the first two Reading sections
(see examples on pages 391 and 403).
Material to study: All of the long reading passages, listed by page numbers in the table
below, are still valid study materials. All of the questions types have been retained, and the
passages on the new SAT will be pulled from similar sources. Note that these passages also
provide good practice for the ACT.

392-395

522-524

646-649

764-767

900-902

404-406

539-542

664-666

782-784

911-914

426-428

550-552

673-675

792-794

921-923

460-462

578-580

708-711

826-829

962-964

477-480

589-592

726-728

844-846

973-976

488-490

606-609

735-737

854-856

983-985

Material to brush up on in the New Blue Book: The new test has added a new type of
question called Command of Evidence. These questions ask you where in the text you
found the answer to a previous question or where you would find evidence to support a
conclusion. You can see an example of two Command of Evidence questions on page 336
of the New Blue Book or on page 4 of the first free test (questions 5 and 10). Command of
Evidence questions are now the most prevalent question type on the test, so it is
extremely important you familiarize yourself with them prior to taking the new SAT. If you
want to practice Command of Evidence in the Old Blue Book, simply underline the portion
of text that provides the answer to questions about a specific portion of the test.
The new SAT also contains questions about one or two science-related graphics that
accompany passages. Most of these questions have more to do with science than with
reading, but you should investigate them in the New Blue Book before taking the test (two
examples appear in questions 20 and 21 on page 339 of the New Blue Book or on page 7
of the first free test).
THE MATH SECTION
Material to skip: Nothing! All of the content tested on the old SAT is expected to show up
on the new SAT, although it may appear more or less frequently. I wish I could say that
because Geometry is being relegated from 35% to 10% of test content it means that you
have less Geometry concepts to remember, but its just not true. You still may be asked
about triangles, circles, cylinders, quadrilaterals, and all of the other Geometry content
tested on the old SAT, only just not as often.
Material to study: All of the Math sections are valid study material. Note that these
sections also provide good practice for the ACT.
Material to brush up on in the New Blue Book: You will want to review the Math section in
the New Blue Book to learn about the No Calculator section, item sets, and the new
focus on Algebra. You should also review basic Trigonometry, as its been added to the
test.
THE WRITING SECTION
Material to skip: The Essay on the new SAT is now optional and its much different than
the old Essay, so ignore the ten practice essays in the Old Blue Book. You can see an
example on page 389.

Material to study: Although the format of the Writing section has changed the most
among the three subject areas, all of the grammatical concepts on the old SAT are still
tested on the New SAT. So while all of the multiple-choice Writing questions in the Old
Blue Book provide valuable information about the types of errors on the new SAT,
students must understand that the new test uses passages with errors instead of
individual sentences with errors.
Material to brush up on in the New Blue Book: The Writing section has changed the most,
so you have the most outside work in this subject area compared to the other two. In
addition to completely revamping the format (think ACT English section), the test makers
have added punctuation errors, word choice (i.e. its/its and there/their/theyre), degree of
formality, and style maintenance to the test. They have also thrown some vocabulary
questions and science questions into the mix. As in the Reading section, the science
questions are more about science than about Writing, but you need to be aware of them
before test day.
If you have any questions about how to use your Old Blue Book to prepare for the new
test or for the ACT, let me know! You can find more prior-format tests in our Free Help
Area. Next week Ill cover how to use your old copies of the PowerScore SAT Bibles for the
new SAT.