CliffsTestPrep CSET: Social Science 1st Edition

I am going to give this four stars though though I am not entirely sure what I would give this. It did, however, help me pass all three subtests on the first go around so, yay.First, I got the kindle version as the book was too expensive.Second, the book is not set up as is the test. On the test you have the three subtests and the questions are jumbled together. In the book there is a section on each different subject, i.e., world history, is separate from American History etc. The test itself is not set up that way. You can answer an econ question and have the very next three be geography questions. Bear that in mind.I found this book really helpful with the economics portion of the test. I know the history and the American government didn't scare me but the econ section... first I found it tediously boring. However, it seemed to cover everything I would need. I had also gone online and looked at other online sources for econ and that seemed to help too.I cannot honestly say if this book will help you or not, all I can say is that this is the only source I had for the test and I took all three subtests at once and passed them all. I suppose that, as with all things, you need to decide if it works for you too. Good luck.

I purchased this book to prep for my upcoming CSET test, and while recently graduating in June with honors in this subject (US/Chinese History), I believed it important to brush up on certain aspects I'd known foreign. (European history, Econ, Civics, etc.)..I'm not going to say this is the best book for the test. It isn't. Sure, there's misspellings and simplistic explanations... but this is a REVIEW book, not to be used as a sole-resource for the test. I find its strengths to be that it re-aquaints the reader with unfamiliar information and covers a wide range of topics. THE OWNESS IS ON THE READER to pull out necessary information that is foreign, strengthen your knowledge, and then consider yourself ready.I'll re-post when I've either passed or failed!

World history seems to be my weak point. Bought this book and a few others to help study for the test and nothing helped. I finally just got help from my friend who already was a world history teacher. Would not recommend for world, would recommend for the other tests.

I used this book the same year I graduated with a BA in US History and this book was a great reminder that what we learn as adults about history is NOT what we are expected to teach students. I won't fault CliffsNotes that the information in the book is not detailed or in depth - that is how we are expected to teach ;)Although I don't, I DID take the test as if I would only skim the surface and passed with all "++++" but one "+++" scoring.If you are not familiar with History outside of cable channels (i.e. History Channel crap), you need to take the course work option; this book will not help you. But if you have a background in history, this is a simple way to remember HOW TO TAKE A STANDARDIZED TEST!I passed on the first... pass ;)

If you plan on taking all 3 CSET exams at once and want a brief overview along with practice tests.This is your book.If you don’t have a degree in history and need to learn the material and take practice subtests one at a time, this is not for you.Khan academy, Crash Course, and other AP resources are much better suited for those who would like more information or those who wish to teach history without having a BA in History.Best of luck.Edit: Taking a star off because these practice questions do not feel like the actual test at all. Also, they don’t cover or even mention the information questions ask in their summary of info.So you have to get more sources anyways.There are better resources than this.Edit 2:In trying to use the practice questions, I can’t get over how bad this book is. It’s frustrating to use because they don’t give you enough information to study, and the questions seem far more specific than the other practice tests I’ve taken. The only way to effectively use this book is to reverse engineer the questions into study materials via googling the answers, but then what’s the point of half the book if I have to do the research anyways? Might as well just go take a class on US history on khan academy.Also, some of these questions have two appropriate answers and I would argue that they choose the incorrect one.Ffs it is annoying and I’m only using it in spite because I can’t return it. 0/10 would not rebuy. Get a different book.Edit 3: my test is tomorrow (subtest 2) and I am out of practice questions so I cracked this beaut again and I am absolutely blown away at how stupid this book is compared to the other (limited) practice tests. I took the full course I’m at teachertestprep and coming back to this makes me feel like I got dumber for even attempting. I’ll add a pic or two as example. It’s stuff like reading comprehension and the ability to read a simple graph. And the questions are SO LAZY. Half of them are “blah blah blah EXCEPT...” like they read a list of bullet points and just picked one to bullshit a little.

Best price prep book for the content. The format is a short all sweet review which was perfect me since I just graduated with a B.A. in history. I passed all my exams the first time and without driving myself crazy with studying either!

This book is more of an outline to help you with the things you need to know for the CSET. There are facts within this book but it is necessary for you to also use this with an outside source for more information. I am pairring this with U.S. history for dummies which is an easier explanation unlike most textbooks. This book just helps with knowing exactly what will be asked on the test instead of you studying extra information.