Customer Reviews

The Real ACT Prep Guide (The only guide to include 3 Real ACT tests)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This guide is essential for a simple reason. It is the only one that provides authentic ACT questions. When preparing for the ACT, it is critical that you practice with test samples using true ACT questions. All the other companies (Barron's, Kaplan, Princeton Review, etc...) provide imitations of such questions. Some are criticized for being too hard, or too easy. Don't waste your time and use the real stuff.

However, you can't trust the test makers to give insightful strategies about how to handle their own test. That would be like a conflict of interest. Use this book strictly to practice the test. For strategies, you'll have to look elsewhere. Some of the best sources are from books on sale on the web by companies founded by students who have been extremely successful ACT test takers. One of these companies is Lazy Student's Way. If you want to spend less money, use the Kaplan ACT guide. It is much richer and better in terms of providing strategies than this one. Either way, you will be well armed to ace the ACT.

Everyone studies for the ACT in a different way but the one thing that everyone needs to do is practice. This book offers 3 practice tests published by the College Board. Getting into the ACT offers 2. My advice is get both of them. When I did 2 practice tests before this book I got 28's on both. Then I worked through the 3 tests in it and saw significant improvements each time. When I finally took the ACT I got a 31 on it so from personal experience I recommend this book.

I bought this book along with the ACT for Dummies, and I only use this book for the practice tests. Whether you want to improve your score or just get a feel for the test, this book's 3 practice tests can't be beat. After all, they are the real ACT tests.

The answers after each test offer some explanation if you missed the question, but since this book doesn't tend to brush you up on any skills in the beginning, it won't do it in the answer, either. If you miss a hard math problem, the answer won't offer as much explanation as other books do.

If you're planning on using this book to review for the ACT a few nights before, don't bother. The information is organized as if you were taking the real test, question by question. It tells you what type of question it was, and how you should have answered it. The night before the test, I would find it more helpful to go straight to your math notebook and brush up on your geometry instead of trying to memorize types of questions.

Overall, this book really does seem like it was written by "the Makers of the ACT." Explanations and directions on how to approach a question sound like they come right out of the test its self. This can be helpful if you haven't taken the test before, but for those of us who have and simply want to improve our scores, this information is just repetetive.

In conclusion, if you want to buy this book for it's practice tests, you'll be satisfied with it. I suggest also picking up a sample practice test along with your registration packet if this is your intent. But if you want to buy this book to help you better understand sine, cosine, and tangent, and cram information right before the test, don't bother with it.

I purchased this book before taking the ACT for the first time. I figured it would be a good idea to get a review book with full-length tests included because unlike the SAT for which I took the PSAT, I had never taken the PLAN exam because my high school does not offer it, and I was completley unfamiliar with the ACT format. The book is very extensive, which is helpful if you have the time to read through the whole thing, but I for one did not: I waited until after taking my SAT to start working on ACT prep so I wouldn't be trying to prep for two different tests at the same time and therefore I only had a few weeks to review. This may seem like a long time, but anyone who is a junior in high school (especially those who attend college prep. schools) knows that there is little time left to do much of anything after homework and extracurriculars. I only cracked open my copy of the Real ACT Prep guide ot get a feel for what on earth this "science" section is all about, to see how scoring works, and look at how the ACT optional writing differs from the SAT essay (in my opinion, the ACT writing prompts are less abstract than the SAT ones).
I did most of my prep work from Kaplan's "Procrastinaters Guide to the ACT" purely because I WAS short on time and it covers topics in a much more concise fashion. It does only include one full practice test, but when I registered for the ACT via mail at my school, we were given a booklet from ACT with a practice test, so I actually had two tests outside the "Real ACT prep guide." This was plenty under the time constraints I had.

I will probably re-take the ACT simply because I can do so and choose which score I want to send (unlike the SAT). This time I will have more time to prepare so I will use the "real ACT Prep guide" to especially look over the math and "science" sections in more depth.

In short, if you have plenty of time before you take the test, this is a very good book. If you haven't got a whole lot of time, go for something more in the vein of "The procrastinator's guide."

*note: I put the science section in quotations simply because the section has little to do with scientific knowledge; all it really measures is how quickly you can analyze table and graphs to make conclusions and beat the clock--emphasis should be put on the -quickly- part!

I needed a 32 on my act score, and got a 31 before, so I checked out a few books from the library on ACT test review. I found this book helpful because it gives you actual tests, and has more tests than most ACT books come with. But, it does not give you the most helpful hints on how to become better. I would recommend Kaplan or Princeton Review series ACT books to help you get better at the ACT. I would recommend this book after you have studied these tips and would like to practice the timing and see what your score will most likely be.

The Real ACT Prep Guide is a great resource for preparing for the test. I can't understand why anyone would pay hundreds of dollars for a classroom course or private tutor, when they can just buy this book? The Real ACT Prep Guide allowed me to work at my own pace, whenever I wanted to, 24/7. Most importantly the "retired" practice test questions have given me a major confidence boost for the upcoming ACT.

Prepared by the organization that writes the ACT. As a teacher who helps prep students for the college admissions tests, I know what most students are willing to do. Hours of study and review over a long period of time may be the ideal, but it is an unrealistic ask of most teenagers. Their most efficient use of time is to take practice tests and then look over the problems missed. This book has real questions direct from the source combined with good explanations of all answers. The overall review sections are short and to the point. Students may take practice tests one section at a time to avoid burnout (but must understand why they missed each question). A few hours spent preparing with this method will raise scores, probability of admission to certain schools and the amount of scholarship money a student is likely to earn.

The ACT is quickly becoming an equal competitor to the SAT college entrance exam. Accordingly, the test prep industry is growing up around this relative newcomer-turned-regular on the admissions scene.

This book, published by the ACT organization--the makers of the test--is a fantastic resource for any student or teacher working on test preparation. But, in all honesty it is only worth the [...](a pretty reasonable price) because of the three real practice tests included inside. The rest of the book...the introduction, the strategies, and even the question answer explanations...have been done better by other organizations. It's no slight to the ACT company, but they simply did not choose to share the best strategies to beat their own test.

Still, this book contains the only published real ACTs, and all other companies cannot match their faithfulness to the test (some companies unfortunately are very, very far off). Similarity and accuracy are essential for practicing, because the format, style, and difficulty level of practice problems can vary immensely. Since the best way to practice for the test is to work out real problems, this book is a must-have resource for any student or instructor.

Hopefully the ACT will publish some more tests soon. In the meantime, you can also try and get a hold of their free "Preparing for the ACT" guide which comes out every fall. Each one contains a full practice test, so try and get your hands on them. Good luck practicing!

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This book is really great if all your big need is some practice test.
BUT, if you looking for something to renew your lesson, this book is NOT the one. Yes it does have some explanation and such, but it is not enough to make you learn the things that you should know, not just the right answer but how to get to it.

I use the Cracking ACT from Princeton Review, it is really nice, refresh your memory about those lesson from back at school time, help you to understand better how to do things, not just what the right answer is. More like a guide and a teacher, teaching you how to solve the problem too. It really helpful to me, more than this book it self.

When I do the test questions in this REAL ACT book, yes there are answers with tiny explanation of why the right answer is what, but not in detail of how to get to that right answer in deep. Pretty hard to understood if you have no idea how to do algebra at least in basic ( forgot about them or other reasons ).

This book is useful in its inclusion of several actual ACT exams for practice, and it is this that grants the book an automatic "five star" rating. The rest of the book (review material, test taking strategies, etc.) is too meagre to help improve one's score significantly and I strongly suggest that those wanting a more in-depth review of the material covered on the exam purchase a copy of Barron's ACT preparation book.