<p>Hello, I am a sophomore and took the ACT in October with no prep and got C:25 E:24 M:27 R:23 S:26 W:8 I plan on taking the test again in April and want to get somewhere in the 30s. What prep books/online prep do you guys recommend? I plan on getting The Real ACT Guide which is the red book, but I was also considering getting 2 of the Barron's books being the Science and Math Workbook and the English, Reading, and Writing book. Would these 3 books help me achieve my goal of a 30+ composite score and where would the best place be to get them? Thanks!</p>
<p>I just finished going through the Barrons ACT 36 book and it was helpful, but there were not a whole lot of practice sections.<br>
The next book that I am going to try is the Princeton Review “Cracking the ACT” and maybe the book of 1296 questions or some number like that. I have heard on these forums that they are pretty good.<br>
I also have an old copy of a Kaplan practice book that I may use. I have looked through it a little bit and it seems to be OK. I don’t know that I would buy it though.</p>
<p>Honestly, I feel as though the best way to improve is often the cheapest. One cheap book will give you a lot of tips (I used ACT for dummies and got a 33 lol) and just ask peers who scored well for tips, take practice tests (bootleg online lol), and look up tips online. I wouldn’t pay money for a bunch of fancy books because they don’t actually help that much (even though I only really used for dummies, i got my hands and tried a lot of the other ones, and they’re no better)</p>