<p>My daughter, a junior, just decided to concentrate on the ACT, having taken trial tests of ACT and SAT. We need to buy a good study guide. Any books you liked or didn't like?</p>
<p>No book 10char</p>
<p>Oldmom, ignore Andrew. </p>
<p>The two books I would recommend are the Princeton Review guide and the Real Act Prep Guide. </p>
<p>PR is particularly good for the english sections. My english score jumped from a 29 to a 34 (later a 35) by exclusively using this guide. There are also valuable tips on how to approach the reading section, as well as math. Science is a different story, because I did not find any of the guides very helpful for that section.</p>
<p>The Real ACT book is great for practice tests. There are 5 full length, actual ACT tests included and there is a somewhat brief review before the tests. But I really ended up using only the practice tests…</p>
<p>And the books really do help! My score went from a 30 composite to a 34 composite, which makes a world of a difference in college applications…</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>The most important thing is just volume of practice tests. The review book itself isn’t that important; you get way more out of repetition and dumping some time into a lot of practice. Just buy as many books as you can that have practice tests in them</p>
<p>Source: 36</p>
<p>NO… Practice books ARE important.</p>
<p>Must get: Princeton Review 1296 questions, RED BOOK!!!, Barron’s 36, and 4 more real tests found on the internet (the pdfs ACT releases every year, containing real ACT tests), and 1 on actstudent</p>
<p>Total of 10 real tests</p>
<p>This is what I did:
Take the first test on the red book, see how I did (26 E, 35 M, 26 R, 36 S)
Then I move on to Barron’s 36, understand how to beat English and Reading
Then 1296 questions to practice all the reading and English tests
Then back to the Red book + the 5 official tests on the internet to keep practicing and practicing… even the day before the test lol</p>
<p>Then I got 31E and 34R, with 34C. Total of 4 months of reviewing. </p>
<p>Practice does work!</p>
<p>In retrospect, I’m not a huge fan of the 1296 questions book. I was consistently dropping 33s and 34s on Reading/English with those tests, but 36’d the real ones. I think the red one (Real ACT Prep Guide) is much more reflective of the difficulty of the actual ACT. </p>
<p>If you got the cash to blow, get everything you can get your hands on. I did a practice test every day or two in the two weeks leading up to the test. Time-consuming? Sure. But damn effective.</p>
<p>The Real ACT book really helps since it contains old ACT tests. But genuinely speaking, the best way to practice is to practice a lot with the material, as in the questions themselves. I wasn’t too picky with which books I worked with versus the sheer number of questions I forced myself to practice with under timed conditions. Then you start getting used to those questions and give yourself less and less time to speed up.</p>
<p>Are there any sites that provide free practice tests? I bought 1296 questions PR, the red book and 36 Barron</p>
<p>Are there any sites that provide free practice tests? I bought 1296 questions PR, the red book and 36 Barron. I got a 26 and I did not prep. I need help with the reading section as i got killed on this section. I aiming for a 36 but i don’t know where to beginning. I am lost. Are there any books that I could buy that help with the reading section?</p>
<p>Barron’s 36 and real (red) book. Take the 1st practice test in Red Book and gauge depending on your results.</p>