ACT or SAT?: Choosing the Right Exam For You (College Admissions Guides) [Paperback]

Princeton Review (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 9, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0375429247 | ISBN-13: 978-0375429248

Are you one of the millions of high school students planning to take the SAT or the ACT? Almost all colleges accept either test, and so you may be faced with a difficult decision — which exam to take? The tests are very different — the SAT is based on reasoning, the ACT on curriculum. The experts at The Princeton Review can help you figure out on which tests you’ll score higher, based on your personal test-taking skills and preferences, and guide you on this important step in the college admissions process.

SAT or ACT? features an assessment test to identify your strengths and weaknesses as well as plenty of SAT and ACT practice questions so that you can get a real feel for both exams. Additionally, you’ll get explanations and drills so you can learn about the nature of the SAT and the ACT and figure out which test you’ll do better on.

Most colleges value the ACT and/or the SAT as a key part of every student’s application. Knowing which test will best highlight your skills and lend the most strength to your applications is a crucial factor in getting into the school of your choice. Don’t make the SAT or ACT choice without this guide.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Review (June 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375429247
• ISBN-13: 978-0375429248
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #461,057 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Great idea, but sloppy execution January 7, 2013

By Frederic Chiu

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I recommend this book because there is nothing else like it. Unfortunately, it seems the product was published without thorough editing. This is a shame, since readers are obviously interested in testing themselves against a model, and they have to trust the accuracy and completeness of the test, or they begin to doubt their own performance.

Examples of mistakes:
Stating there are 4 sections of reading, when there are only 3.
Listing the wrong answer as the correct one in the answer section, even though the correct answer is implied in the explanation.
Typos that make math formulas difficult to understand - no raised or lowered characters, so you can't tell if it is a square or a log.
No explanations of the scoring for the essay part of the SAT, which makes the final scoring chapter incomprehensible. They list 59 questions, but only provide 35 actual questions in the test.
Skimpy explanation of scoring for the ACT section. It's an average of 4 sections, but you have to figure that out.
References to 'I' changed to 'you' without consistency, even within the same sentence.

The explanations of the answers are succinct and clear. In fact, the general usefulness and quality of the book is wonderful, which makes the mistakes all the more glaring and doubt-inducing. A book like this really needs to be error-free, completely.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Could be better June 18, 2012

By Skymom

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

My son is about to start his junior year in high school, and we're trying to decide which of the two assessment tests he should take--or whether he should consider taking both. This book provided some useful information, and the comparison test, which includes sample questions from both tests, will, I hope, prove enlightening (he hasn't taken it yet). The personality test is so generalized that it's more silly than revealing--I had unrealistically high expectations, I suppose.

My biggest complaint, however, is about the very uneven editing of the book itself. I realize it is written to appeal to high-school-aged readers, so the style is somewhat informal. However, the book has quite a few basic copyediting errors, many inconsistencies in format, and--for a book whose purpose is to compare two similar things--it lacks a truly parallel structure throughout. Over and over, I found myself having to go back to the top of each paragraph to figure out which test the author was referring to. The information itself is ill-served by the poor organization, thus the book as a whole really suffers. It's a shame, and I would love to think the publisher will revisit this book, as the topic is increasingly important to high school students, their teachers, and their parents.

I have a couple of other, perhaps petty, complaints: There is a misplaced modifier in the very paragraph that talks about how the tests assess a student's understanding of misplaced modifiers--this is, again, primarily an editing issue, but it's an unfortunate one. The inexplicably nasty attitude toward the Educational Testing Service and Princeton, NJ that's revealed in Chapter 1, however, is the author's own responsibility. I have no affiliation with Princeton or ETS, but I found the tone used to describe them quite off-putting. It strongly colored my view of the entire book, in fact, and was a surprising inclusion in a publication that claims to be impartial.

5.0 out of 5 stars A very thorough resource October 14, 2009

By Midwest Book Review

Format:Paperback

ACT OR SAT? CHOOSING THE RIGHT EXAM FOR YOU should be in the collections of any high school library with college-bound students. It provides students with a personality quiz tied to a practice exam that includes sample ACT and SAT sections, providing students with clear options and guidance on which standardized test to take for college. Parents will also find it clearly explains what's on each test and how admissions offices view the scores: a key to college entry.