ACT Prep #2: Best Websites and Books

One of the big questions with ACT Prep is:  Which book?  Which method?  This questions comes because there are literally hundreds of books and hundreds of websites all promising to help you increase your score.  It's so overwhelming!  Where do you start?  When do you start?  Hopefully this post helps you make sense of the jungle of ACT Prep.

First Topic:  Books

If you are going to take the ACT, then you should practice with REAL ACT TESTS.  None of the big test prep companies you hear about (Princeton Review, Kaplan's, CliffNotes) are authorized to actually use or re-publish ACT Tests, which means that their questions and tests are close, but not really.  It gives a false sense of security to the student that uses them--and then on test day--Wham!  They suddenly score a 20 instead of the 25 they were planning on.  Instead of getting a test prep book with test questions that are kind of similar to the real thing, just get the real thing.  You need to buy the actual ACT Prep book, published by the ACT company.

This is the real deal:  The Official ACT Prep Guide.  Always note that it is the OFFICIAL book, because a lot of companies print "ACT" really big, so it tricks students and parents all the time.  And once a student invests $30.00 in a book, they're hard pressed to give it up...even if it's not going to improve their score much.  The Official ACT Prep Guide says "official"...and it's red.  It's been red for years--it's red again this year.  It's a simple way to tell it apart from the official SAT Prep Book, which is blue.  Red = ACT Book.  Blue = SAT Book.   (Future post about the differences between the ACT & SAT).

That is by and far the best overall book you can get.  There are specific sections that go through the Reading, English, Math, and Science Comprehension Topics.  And then there are usually 4 full-length practice tests included.  As I wrote in this earlier post about ACT Prep, there is no substitution for building up mental stamina by actually taking REAL TESTS.  If you sit down and practice taking several real tests (complete with timer, bubble sheet, isolated area from distraction), you'll have a good handle on what your actual performance will be.  This is why buying a book with real tests is so crucial.

The full-length tests should be taken at the beginning of your ACT Test Prep, at the middle, and again at the end.  This way you can make study plans based on which sections need the most help.  There are four sections:  Science Reasoning, English, Reading, and Math.  Each person has different strengths and weaknesses, and should spend varying amounts on the different sections according to their specific scores.  The new Official ACT Prep book actually organizes it in this way, which is very helpful to most students.  Sidenote:  If you are very organized and self-motivated to follow a similar plan without the book organizing it for you, you could buy the 2015 Real ACT Prep Book (Last year, they used the word "Real" instead of "Official), and save some money.

Make a schedule that helps you focus on ONE section of the test for at least 2 weeks (minimum of four 1-hour sessions/week).  This isn't just a suggestion--this is the minimum of what you should do.  That's 8 hours of studying one topic, spread over two weeks, and it is that sort of studying that allows you to understand and remember the rules, the wording of the problems, the types of questions that are asked, and how to actually respond to the questions.  This is deep studying rather than surface studying, and it makes all the difference in helping to raise your score.  Deep studying (focusing on one area long enough to go deep into the material) is very different than how most students naturally study.  Most students will skim through the book, spend 15 minutes reading about English, 5 minutes wondering how they can shorten the time needed to study, followed by 15 minutes scanning the Science Reasoning Section, and a final 5 minutes looking at the clock, with a promise to come back tomorrow and do better.  You're smiling because you've done this.

Instead of studying with this halfway effort, take time to make a plan.  Take a real practice test, then mark out a plan based on the order of sections you will cover.  Get out the calendar, schedule in study sessions, and stick to it.  Be prepared that everyday you sit down, you will actually go deep into the rules, the material, and even the way the questions are worded so that you are familiar with the structure.  If you are putting in consistent effort, you'll make progress.

I recommend supplementing the individual sections of the ACT book with reading about from the Prep Scholar Website.  They have a program that you pay for--but they also have loads of free posts about how questions are posed, rules that come up time and again, and similar helps for the test.  You don't have to pay a dime to read through their posts--you just have to be committed to actually reading and understanding the material.  Some posts are longer than others, but the point is to apply the principles they introduce, not race through the articles.  The students who have been committed to actually reading and applying these posts have seen huge increases in their scores.

I also recommend using the Prep Scholar Website because the book can be rather dry and is written like a textbook, which can add to the monotony of studying for a standardized test.  The Prep Scholar posts are written by individuals about isolated topics of test prep, and are easier to understand and digest.  If you notice that you're plowing through the ACT prep book and it feels like one math section of the book and losing interest fast--switch over to the Prep Schol

Here are the links that will help you find the greatest amount of helpful information on their website.

Prep Scholar: ACT Strategies

Prep Scholar: ACT English

Prep Scholar: ACT Reading

Prep Scholar: ACT Math

Prep Scholar: ACT Science

You can also sign up to receive email updates from this website, which I would recommend.

One note:  The Prep Scholar Blog is a part of the Prep Scholar company, which sells individual test prep as well.  I am not affiliated in any way with any company about ACT Prep, including Prep Scholar.  I'm pretty sure that Prep Scholar doesn't even know I exist.  I was not paid by anyone to write this post, or any other post on this blog. I just think that this is the best way to prepare students for the ACT without an exorbitant cost, as all the blog posts are free and full of valuable information you would get from an individual tutor.  Using both the ACT Prep book and the Prep Scholar Blog is a great combination of real practice questions with specific tips for studying, understanding formulas and rules, and discerning the pattern of the test.  So, buy the book, mark the calendar, click on the Prep Scholar links, and get started.  Good luck!