SAT II C Maths - Review of Barron's by Rafiul and Borno

Comparative Observations on SAT-II C (Barron’s)

 [Following are the observations made by Rafiul Azam and Borno on SAT-II C Barron’s Book. Some of the recommendations differ from each other.]

Rafi’s Observations

While going through Barron’s SAT-II C Mathematics book after completing Khan Academy and SAT II Mathematics from The Princeton Review, I experienced a few new things and a harder version of Mathematics (SAT II C). Khan Academy provides the most basic knowledge about how the fundamental things, which we already learnt in O levels, AS.

       I personally recommend going through Princeton’s SAT-II Maths because there are some essential and new things needed to be learnt before shifting to more advanced Barron’s. Things like formula of Ellipse, Conic sections, Polar Coordinates and some few other things are to be learnt from Princeton Review first and after that a student can surely go through Barron’s. Barron’s dispenses some really hard topics in Maths and it’s strongly recommended for someone determined to get a perfect 800 in SAT II Maths. It is the book that will answer some unanswered questions which you always ignored doing A levels (you may have thought that it might be unnecessary) and will show you the elaborate works on (1) trigonometry, (2) functions, (3) permutations and (4) variation. Only Core Mathematics 1, 2 and 3 are needed to sit for SAT II exam because the partial fractions, further Binomial Expansion, further differentiation and integration are not needed for SAT II.

       Barron’s book shows the special angles which have a pattern to show the values for different sine, cosine and tangent angles which will save much time in the exam hall. There are graphs which show inverse functions clearly showing how they were formed. I always faced problems in domains and ranges but this area is organized so well and the explanations are so well described that I do not have any more doubts in it. Barron’s book contains maths of limitations, which I personally found complicated during A2 but the concept is crystal clear now because of Barron’s elaborated explanation of how it is derived. The 3D vector was not much detailed in Princeton Review but in Barron’s, it is not only there but shown where it is derived from and where it is used.

       Most importantly, Barron’s Maths has standard test questions which actually are quite hard to solve. I believe if someone gets through the whole book attentively and spends a week on it, one will have the ability to score a perfect 800 in SAT II Mathematics.

Borno’s Observations:

Princeton just touches the tip of the iceberg of A-levels mathematics, which is almost 70 percent of what we’ll need to study and has clear and concise elaboration of individual chapters but lacks further emphasis on some topics such as (1) higher degree polynomial graphs and more advanced and detailed lessons on (2) sketching and determining types of graphs (which is required in SAT). Barron’s also has emphasis on further pure mathematics with topics such as (1) multivariable functions and (2) imaginary numbers. Barron’s focuses on improving one’s basic knowledge about general mathematics and hence goes deep into its roots, which is necessary to answer concept based questions. Barron’s also has after chapter exercises with clear explanation for answers to individual questions, it has all the questions necessary and a variation of questions and topics like no other (Princeton SAT and Khan Academy). Overall it is the complete book to study in order to excel in SAT 2 Level 2 Mathematics.

Borno and Siam Added following Comments on 24th September

Long term review: Barron’s might seem like the complete book to study for SAT Maths level 2 and after I divulged further and further into the chapters, I discovered not only does it have everything every other book or website has to offer, it also has all the emphasis on each and every concept in a concise but detailed form. It might be absurd to come across questions like for example: 

If ((3,2), (4,2), (3,1),(7,1),(2,3)) is to be a function which of the following must be removed from the set ? (Barron’s Chapter 1.1 exercises Q1) Initially it might look like something you’ve never come across your AS or A2 but answer is (3,2) or (3,1) because every ordered pair must have a different x-element (3 in this case) in order to be a function.

Another example might be in chapter 3.1 (Trigonometry) where they introduce new terms like initial side, terminal side and Example 1 from the same chapter: Express sin 320 in terms of angle theta and angle beta.

One might argue that spending time on questions like these are futile, but remember these are concept-based questions and anyone with a proper caliber in general mathematics should be able to answer these questions without any difficulty. So does questions like these come in the real SAT exams? Not always. But these questions help examiners determine a candidate’s proficiency and understanding of Mathematics so a few might pop-up in the exam. If one completes the Barron’s SAT Maths Level 2 book, not only will it benefit one from being able to answer both concept-based and complex questions, but it will help one build an understanding of Mathematics like no other.