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It's the ACT's turn. No longer considered a “regional” test and accepted at all four-year colleges throughout the United States, it's the most popular college admissions test in the country. More than 1.8 million students from the class of 2013 took it. Now updated to address the changes planned for the ACT in 2015, Up Your Score: ACT is the test prep and survival guide that kids will actually want to use. Written by Chris Arp, a Princeton graduate and top ACT tutor— with the help of four students who aced the test (and went on to the colleges of their choice)—it's a true insider's guide, filled with effective strategies and tips, delivered with the attitude, smarts, and wit that make Up Your Score the best-selling alternative test prep series in print. Beginning in 2015, the ACT will include more layers in its scoring (including separate STEM, English language arts, and “progress toward career readiness” sub-scores); in some places it will be administered digitally (and those tests will include optional “constructed-response” questions, in which students will have to come up with the answers, not select among multiple choices); and the essay will be less open ended, requiring more analysis. In addition to addressing these changes, the book explains how to crush the reading section by developing the Five Habits of Lean Forward Reading. Master the math section through techniques like “plugging in,”?an amazing trick that simplifies all algebra word problems. Annihilate the English section by absorbing six key punctuation and eight essential grammar rules. And sail through the science section by understanding that it actually tests reasoning. Plus there is an ACT fitness regime, tongue-in-cheek fashion and beauty tips, and a recipe for energy-boosting GameFace Quintuple Sugar Blast Bars. Good luck finding that in any other test prep book.

Yes, kids, there is an alternative to the big, bad SAT—it's called the ACT. And yes, there's now an alternative to the big, bad, boring ACT study books: Up Your Score: ACT, the prep and survival guide with attitude.Like Up Your Score: SAT, Up Your Score: ACT is the underground guide for the 1.65 million kids who take the ACT every year (more than take the SAT). It's written by Chris Arp, age 26, a Princeton graduate, along with his colleagues at Manhattan's prestigious Veritas Test Prep company and three high school seniors who each scored an ACT-perfect 36. They take the guerrilla guide Up Your Score approach of combining a thorough knowledge of how the test works and the subjects it covers with for-student, by-student tips and strategies; lively pop culture references and jokes; and a fresh knowledge of what it's like to actually take the test.Ace the reading section by developing the Five Habits of Lean Forward Reading, including Treat reading like a conversation and Pay attention to direction words. Master the math section through techniques like “plugging in,” an amazing trick that simplifies all algebra word problems. The ACT is heavy on grammar, so the book delves into commas, semicolons, pronouns, transitions, and more. It covers the science the way the test does—showing how to use science reasoning. Plus—how to make GameFace Quintuple Sugar Blast Bars for that needed burst of energy.