Hi, I’m a Senior with my final chance to take the ACT in only four weeks. My superscore (out of two times) right now is a 30 but am aiming for a 33. I know about the one official ACT Practice Test released on the Internet, but that seems to be the only one currently available to me.
I’m looking for ACT Practice Tests… lots of them. Problem: The only official ACT tests I have access to are years old, maybe ~2011. I have checked nearby libraries, asked my friends, requested from my school’s administrators, but I am unable to reach hold a copy of The Official ACT Guide 2016-2017 (with three practice tests) or The Real ACT Prep Guide (with five practice tests).
I am receiving mixed information on old and 3rd party ACT Practice Tests, most claiming that they are inaccurate to the actual test and should not be bothered with. Is this true? Would a 2011 ACT Practice Book still help me get the 33 I need? From what I hear, with the exception of the Writing section, not much has changed with the other ACT sections. Is this true? If so, then would using review books from 2011-2015 to practice my reading, writing, and math skills be beneficial? How about 3rd party practice tests such as those offered by Kaplan, Khan Academy, Princeton, and Barron? Are they reliable?
I don’t care about tips and tricks. I just want practice tests. Thank you! 
Honestly yes, pre 2011 is fine (As Long as it is NOT 3rd party). I wouldn’t go back farther than 2009. The act is so often being updated and there are so few practice tests that reflect every little change it’s impossible to keep current. That being said, do be very aware of the changes and latest updates, so there are no surprises. English has honestly never changed and neither has reading (except the dual reading passage - its no big deal). Just be knowledgeable of the changes that you will see, you can find them on College Confidential easily, so there are no surprises on test day that shock and induce panic. Science has hardly changed (dropped a passage) and so has math (it has just been getting increasingly harder- don’t worry about this, just study the topics that now appear more on the act
Become Proficient in these and there will be no issues in math (the questions aren’t tricky, you just need to know the content)
Line inequalities
Graphical Inequalities
Ratios
Logarithms
Trigonometry
Conic Sections
-Circle
-Hyperbole
-Ellipse
I would steer clear of third party tests. I have taken a few from Princeton and they were truly awful. Nothing like the real test. After taking a few real act tests, something just wasn’t quite right, and the overall dynamic is so much different. Only the ACT corps can Truly make ACT tests.
I would strongly recommend against third party.
Nothing is like the real thing.
Not much difference other than the essay…old ACTs are great practice. Yes, the questions are harder (a bit) on the new ones, but the curve is also more forgiving on the new ones in many instances.