Mike Barrett

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About Mike Barrett
Mike Barrett is a test-prep expert who has been tutoring people for standardized tests ever since he was in high school. His approach to tests like the SAT, PSAT, ACT, GRE, LSAT, ISEE, and SSAT is unique in that it is based on his strategic analysis of the role of testing in education and in admissions, rather than on a superficial appraisal of the supposed subject-matter of an individual test. In other words, while most test-prep courses will teach students to memorize vocabulary words for the SAT, for example, Barrett explains to students how top-scoring SAT-takers minimize the importance of vocabulary by exploiting certain weaknesses inherent in the process of standardization itself.
Barrett employs a variety of formats to work with students: He tutors over the phone and in person, he lectures to large groups, he holds small seminars, he sells online video courses, and he offers free training materials through his blog and through YouTube.
Tens of thousands of students have used Mike Barrett's ideas to improve their performance on standardized tests. Because of the sheer volume and variety of feedback he has received from these tutoring students, Barrett has been able to refine his approach to testing, and tutoring, in a way that sets his methods apart from those of other test-prep resources.
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Blog postThis article announces the second edition of the ACT Prep Black Book, explains why it was created, and discusses whether test-takers and tutors should invest in it.
The post The Second Edition of the ACT Prep Black Book is Here! appeared first on Testing Is Easy.
4 years ago Read more -
Blog postAn announcement of the new SAT Black Book, along with a modified changelog of the effort to overhaul it.
The post The New SAT Prep Black Book is Up! (includes changelog) appeared first on Testing Is Easy.
5 years ago Read more -
Blog postThe answer to this question will vary from person to person, but, in general, not much matters apart from your LSAT and GPA. (Before I go on, let me point out that I totally realize that what I’m saying here contradicts what most admissions people at most schools will tell you. They want you to […]
The post Besides LSAT Score and GPA, What Do Law Schools Look For? appeared first on Testing Is Easy.
11 years ago Read more -
Blog postWhen you skip a question on the SSAT, you neither gain points nor lose points. If you answer a question correctly, then you gain points; if you answer it incorrectly, then you lose one quarter of the points you would have gained for answering the question correctly. But, again, if you leave the question blank, […]
The post What Happens When I Skip A Question On The SSAT? appeared first on Testing Is Easy.
11 years ago Read more -
Blog postThe short answer is that you usually can’t, not when you’re starting to do the experimental section itself. Sometimes there’s something noticeably off about a section, but not usually. The longer answer is that there’s not really an advantage to identifying the experimental section while you’re taking the test, anyway, so there’s no point thinking […]
The post How Can You Tell Which Is The Experimental Section On The LSAT? appeared first on Testing Is Easy.
11 years ago Read more -
Blog postAs far as the SSAT company itself is concerned, you can take the SSAT as many times as you like. Your target school may have its own policies, though–the best thing to do is to contact the school directly and ask what their current policy is on re-taking the SSAT. Most top schools’ web sites […]
The post How Many Times Can I Take The SSAT? appeared first on Testing Is Easy.
11 years ago Read more -
Blog postPrepping for the LSAT shouldn’t be nearly as time-consuming as most people make it out to be. If you really pay attention to the bizarre design of the test, you can make significant progress in as little as a day or a weekend, believe it or not. Getting to the point where you’re routinely in […]
The post When Should I Start To Prep For The LSAT? appeared first on Testing Is Easy.
11 years ago Read more -
Blog postEvery school has different policies when it comes to the SSAT–and, on top of that, the SSAT requirements will differ from year to year, and they’ll also depend on your race, gender, and background. So the short answer is that there’s no real way to know what score your school requires. If you really want […]
The post What SSAT Score Does My Ideal School Require? appeared first on Testing Is Easy.
11 years ago Read more -
Blog postIf you’ve been looking around on this site for a while, you know that the whole point of standardized tests is that they’re not constantly changing in any ways that matter. That’s what makes them standardized, and that’s also what makes them beatable. But sometimes, actually, after years or even decades, they do change, massively, […]
The post Standardized Testing Changes: What They Look Like appeared first on Testing Is Easy.
11 years ago Read more -
Blog postNot Nearly As Often As You Might Think 🙂 Every community of test-preppers has its own unique and cherished myths. For people applying to college, there’s the myth that the ACT is fundamentally different from the SAT. For people applying to business school, there’s the myth that every GMAT question immediately affects the difficulty of […]
The post LSAT Changes? appeared first on Testing Is Easy.
11 years ago Read more
Titles By Mike Barrett
This listing is for the Kindle e-book version of the SAT Prep Black Book, Second Edition. For the physical paperback version of the book, please choose the "paperback" format above.
Click the "look inside" feature above to browse the SAT Prep Black Book and get a feel for how it approaches the SAT!
The fully up-to-date SAT Prep Black Book, Second Edition gives you unique, effective SAT strategies from Mike Barrett, an SAT tutor with clients all over the globe who pay him hundreds of dollars an hour for phone tutoring. In addition to extensive and effective training on every aspect of the SAT, this Black Book gives you detailed, systematic, easy-to-follow walkthroughs for every question in 4 of the College Board's official SAT Practice Tests.
The Black Book is a must-have in your SAT preparation, whether you need to
- make a perfect 1600 to be competitive at an Ivy,
- score a 450 in each section to claim a sports scholarship,
- or anything in between.
You can find the first 4 Practice SAT tests from the College Board for free on the College Board’s website, or in the "Blue Book," which is the College Board's Official SAT Study Guide, 2016 Edition or 2018 Edition---both editions contain the first 4 official SAT practice tests. (The SAT Prep Black Book has no affiliation with the College Board.)
The Black Book and the real practice SAT tests from the College Board are all you need to get your best possible SAT score.
The Black Book is the ideal SAT book for 3 major reasons:
- It covers every aspect of the test with advice that actually works, making it unique in the SAT prep field. It doesn't just review material from your high school classes! Instead, you'll learn to exploit design flaws in the SAT, using its own "SAT tricks" against it.
- The Black Book contains 600+ detailed, systematic, easy-to-follow walkthroughs for real SAT questions from the College Board, so you know that what you're learning actually works. You'll see every question from the first 4 official SAT Practice Tests attacked in a way that clearly demonstrates the ideal thought process on the SAT. (You'll need your own copies of those real SAT practice tests, which you can get for free from the College Board’s website. You can also find them in the College Board’s 2016 or 2018 “Blue Book.”)
- The Black Book is a clear, concise roadmap to the SAT. (See the selected highlights below). It explains exactly how every SAT question works, and how to beat it in the least time possible.
Selected Highlights from the SAT Prep Black Book:
- Why the SAT isn’t designed like a high school test, and how this fact influences every aspect of the proper approach to SAT preparation…
- Why every SAT question can only have one valid answer, no matter how much it might seem otherwise sometimes…
- How to look at SAT questions the same way the College Board does when it writes them…
- Why it’s so important to work with real SAT questions from the College Board…and why you shouldn’t pay much attention to the College Board’s written explanations for those questions!
- The simple formula that allows you to crank out a top-scoring essay (that is, if you even need to take the SAT Essay in the first place)…
- The special grammatical rules that
This listing is for the Kindle e-book version of the ACT Prep Black Book, Second Edition. For the physical paperback version of the book, please choose the "paperback" format above.
Click the "look inside" feature above to browse the Black Book and get a feel for how it approaches the ACT!
The fully up-to-date ACT Prep Black Book, Second Edition gives you unique, effective ACT strategies from Mike Barrett, an ACT tutor with clients all over the globe who pay him hundreds of dollars an hour for phone tutoring. In addition to extensive and effective training on every aspect of the ACT, the ACT Prep Black Book gives you detailed, systematic, easy-to-follow walkthroughs for every question in all 3 official practice tests from the current Official ACT Prep Guide.
The Black Book is a must-have in your ACT preparation, whether you need to
- make a perfect 36 to be competitive at an Ivy,
- score a 10 in each section to claim a sports scholarship,
- or anything in between.
The Black Book works best when used with the authentic ACT questions in the "Red Book," which is the Official ACT Prep Guide, 2018, by ACT, Inc. The Black Book shows you how to beat the ACT, while the Red Book gives you real ACT questions to practice with. (The ACT Prep Black Book has no affiliation with ACT, Inc.)
The Black Book and the Red Book are all you need to get your best possible ACT score.
The Black Book is the ideal ACT book for 3 major reasons:
- It covers every aspect of the test with advice that actually works, making it unique in the ACT prep field. It doesn't just review material from your high school classes! Instead, you'll learn to exploit design flaws in the ACT, using its own "ACT tricks" against it.
- The Black Book contains 600+ detailed, systematic, easy-to-follow walkthroughs for real ACT questions from the Red Book, so you know that what you're learning actually works. You'll see every question from all 3 of the Red Book's official ACT Practice Tests attacked in a way that clearly demonstrates the ideal thought process on the ACT. (You'll need your own copies of those real ACT practice tests, which you can find in the Official ACT Prep Guide, 2018, by ACT, Inc.)
- The Black Book is a clear, concise roadmap to the ACT. (See the selected highlights below). It explains exactly how every ACT question works, and how to beat it in the least time possible.
Selected Highlights from the ACT Prep Black Book:
- The important differences between the ACT and a normal high school test, and how they influence every aspect of the proper approach to ACT preparation…
- Why every ACT question can only have one valid answer, no matter how much it might seem otherwise sometimes…
- How to look at ACT questions the same way ACT, Inc. does when it writes them…
- Why it’s so important to work with real test questions from ACT, Inc.…and why you shouldn’t pay much attention to the official written explanations for those questions…
- Why focusing on the wrong answers can be just as important as finding the right one…and how to do it effectively…
- The simple formula that allows you to crank out a top-scoring essay (that is, if you even need to take the ACT Writing test in the first place)…
- The special grammatical