Steven W. Dulan - McGraw-Hills Conquering ACT Math and Science

McGraw-Hills Conquering ACT Math and Science

Second Edition

Second Edition

Steven W. Dulan
and the faculty of
Advantage Education

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ISBN: 978-0-07-176417-9
MHID: 0-07-176417-8

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I would like to acknowledge the outstanding contribution of the faculty and staff of Advantage Education. Your hard work and dedication have made this endeavor a success. You are not only the smartest, but also the best.

Special thanks must be given to the following Advantage Education faculty and staff members: Aishah Ali, Lisa DiLiberti, Ryan Particka, Andrew Sanford, Alexander Savinov, and Amanda Thompson.

Senior Editor and Project Manager: Amy Dulan
McGraw-Hills Conquering ACT Math and Science

Steven W. Dulan, J.D., has been involved with ACT preparation since 1989, when, as a former U.S. Army infantry sergeant and undergraduate student at Michigan State University, Steve became an ACT instructor. He has been helping students to prepare for success on the ACT, PSAT, SAT, and other standardized exams ever since. Steve scored in the 99th percentile on every standardized test he has ever taken.

After graduating from Michigan State University, Steve attended Thomas M. Cooley Law School on a full honors scholarship. While attending law school, Steve continued to teach standardized test prep classes (including ACT, SAT, PSAT, GRE, GMAT, and LSAT) an average of 30 hours each week, and tutored some of his fellow law students in a variety of subjects and in essay exam-writing techniques. Steve has also served as an instructor at Baker University, Cleary University, Lansing Community College, the Ohio State University Real Estate Institute, and Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Guest lecturer credits include Michigan State University, University of Michigan, Detroit College of Law, Marquette University, Texas Technical University, University of Miami, and Wright State University.

Thousands of students have benefited from Steves instruction, coaching, and admissions consulting, and have secured entry to the colleges and universities of their choice. Steves students have gained admission to some of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in the world, and have received numerous scholarships of their own. Since 1997, Steve has served as the president of Advantage Education (www.AdvantageEd.com), a company dedicated to providing effective and affordable test prep education in a variety of settings, including one-on-one tutoring via the Internet worldwide using its Personal Distance Learning system. The information and techniques included in this book are the result of Steves experiences with test preparation students at all levels over many years.

The ACT is the fastest-growing and most widely accepted college entrance exam in the United States. It is designed to assess high school students general educational development and their ability to complete college-level work. The authors of the ACT insist that the ACT is an achievement test, not a direct measure of abilities. It is not an IQ test, nor is it a measure of your worth as a human being. It is not even a perfect measure of how well you will do in college. Theoretically, each of us has a specific potential to learn and acquire skills. The ACT doesnt measure your natural, inborn ability. If it did, we wouldnt be as successful as we are at raising students scores on ACT exams.

The ACT actually measures a certain knowledge base and skill set. It is trainable, meaning that you can do better on your ACT if you work on learning the knowledge and gaining the skills that are tested.

The ACT is made up of four multiple-choice testsEnglish, Mathematics, Reading, and Science Reasoningand one optional essay. There are 215 multiple-choice questions on the test. The multiple-choice tests are always given in the same order, followed by the essay. In fact, there is a lot of predictability when it comes to the ACT. The current exam still has a great deal in common with ACT exams from past years. This means that we basically know what is going to be on your ACT in terms of question types and content.