The ACT for Dummies, by Suzee Vlk from Test Prep Bookstore.com

You've heard that performing well on your ACT can make up for mediocre performance in high school. But how can you ace it? Suzee Vlk, author of The SAT I for Dummies, can help. The ACT for Dummies is packed with useful information and strategies to help you prepare for the test. The book includes advice on how to use the book efficiently (Vlk estimates you'll need 19 hours to work through it), review chapters for all four sections of the exam, and two complete practice exams. In familiar Dummies style, Vlk includes a handy tear-out "Cheat Sheet" with a summary of the most important information and a "Part of Tens" section with 10 things colleges are looking for in their applicants and "Ten Dumb Things You Can Do to Mess Up Your ACT." With its witty writing, clear layout, and helpful icons in the margins to point out tips, tricks, and traps in the exam, and sample questions, The ACT for Dummies makes test preparation easy and relatively painless. --C.B. Delaney

Reviews:

It got me into college

The ACT for Dummies is a great ACT study guide. The Math section totally refreshed me and was very valuable when it came to test time. But what really made the ACT for Dummies book so good was that it was full of really cheesy humor. This humor helped keep me reading a book that would otherwise be extremely dull and positively unbearable. I wouldn't be at the University of Michigan without the ACT for Dummies!

Hey also check out The 5 Minute Iliad, after finishing the ACT book

Errors

It's fun to read and it's a good prep. Unfortunately, the practice tests contain several errors. So far, I have only taken the english and the math sections of the first test, and I have found three errors. (And this is only on the first two of eight practice sections!) I have the 3rd Edition and these problems might be different in other editions. Feel free to dispute me.

(Asterisks represent underlined portion in question.)
English, problem 19, test 1:
Born in 1921 in Ithaca, New York, Alex spent his early years with his grandmother in henning, *Tennessee*. The oldest of three sons in his family.

19. A. NO CHANGE
B. Tennessee - the oldest of
C. Tennessee because he was the oldest of
D. Tennessee. Alex was the oldest of

The explanation gives D as the correct answer. They must have forgotten to underline "The oldest of" in the sentence following Tennessee.

Math, problem 18, test 1:
18. Triangles I and II (not shown) are similar figures. The
angles of triangle I are in the ratio 1:2:3. If the
perimeter of triangle I is 15+5(SQRT)3, and the shortest side
of triangle II is 15, then what is the perimeter of triangle
II?
F. 150+20(SQRT)3
G. 60+15(SQRT)3
H. 60+5(SQRT)3
J. 45+5(SQRT)3
K. 45

After working the problem, I got the answer 45+15(SQRT)3. The explanation gives the same, but it's not an answer choice!

Math, problem 28, test 1:
28. Given that x is an integer, for what value of x is x+(2/3)x
and x+4<15?
F. 8
G. 9
H. 10
J. 11
K. 12

I took this to mean, "For what value of x are both x+(2/3)x AND x+4 less than 15?" I thought that was a strange was of phrasing it and the explanation implies that the question should have asked, "For what value of x is x+(2/3)x>15 and x+4<15?" It gave the answer H. It seems they left off the second half of the first inequality.

Sorry if this sounds like bashing, but these flaws really threw me off during my practice test. It entered my mind that the test could be wrong, but I did not think that assuming that the ACT people made a mistake was the smartest thing to do.

Also, I am under the impression that the practice tests in this book are not real ACT tests, meaning that they were made up for this book - not priorly administered tests.

extremely helpful

I bought this book with the intention of just reading the sections I had trouble with. I found it to be so helpful and easy to read, I ended up reading the entire book. I don't beleive I would have scored as high if I hadn't.

This is a great book for preparing for the ACT exam.

I am a high school student in Iowa, and I had previously taken the ACT and was not content with the score I recieved. I bought this book on Amazon.com, read the entire book, and finished and scored the practice tests prior to taking the test a second time. When I went to take the test again, I felt a lot more confident about the test, and when I got my results, I had raised my composite score 5 points, and one of my subject scores 7 points. I suggest that every college-bound student read this book before taking that very important test.

Good Overall

This book is a good all around source of ACT review. It has a regular review of geometry and basic algebraic concepts. However, it does not come close to everything you kneed to know, which would be nearly impossible. I have studied the whole book and have raised my math score by 4 points!

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What is the American College Test (ACT)?

The ACT for Dummies

Suzee Vlk

For Dummies, 2002-08-15

Price: $16.99

Reviews: