<p>There is a new book called Barron's Act 36; Aiming for perfect score. I am having a hard time to find this book and I want to know if anyone has ever used it and is it similiar to the regular Barron's Act book.</p>
<p>Barrons is hard to understand and their format sucks…they have omit sometimes for choice b. Nuff said, it might be good it might be bad… I have the normal one and I don’t like it. Kaplan and pr is better. The red book is decent but they don’t really have much of anything they teach you. It just goes thro each section within like 10 pages (don’t know exact pages atm).</p>
<p>Barron’s ACT 36 isn’t out yet. That’s prob why your having a hard time.</p>
<p>@Galib2011 I disagree. I have both the Barron’s and the PR. I think having both is optimal, but if I had to have one, I’d go with Barron’s. </p>
<p>PR had a better format, was easier to comprehend, included more realistic practice tests, but told only the most commonly tested information. Recommended for lower level scorers who wish to improve a couple of points.
Barron’s is like high school in a textbook. EVERYTHING that the ACT could possibly test is put in that book. You might study 10 pages and learn only 1 thing that will be on your ACT test. BUT you KNOW that no matter what shows up on test day, your ready. Barron’s had crazy hard practice tests, though. But it reinforced what the book was teaching you. Get Barron’s if you have a long time to prepare. I bought it a week in advance and studied appx. 8 hours a day to get through it all.</p>
<p>I have no idea how Barron’s 36 could be any harder than the one they already have out.</p>
<p>I have no experience with Kaplan.</p>
<p>if you do get Kaplan DON’T DO THE PRACTICE TESTS. they are flat out dreadful. mistakes everywhere, randomly capitalized answers… a complete mess. I missed several questions when I took one because of their errors.</p>
<p>@stevped, for barrons, i know you said make sure you have enough time to prepare…exactly how long do you recommend?
im thinking about taking the ACT again in June (took it last weekend, so i dont know my score yet), but won’t have time to start studying until APs are done in mid may…</p>
<p>@joshh
i know what you mean
my old tutor used to give me practice kaplan tests, and i didnt learn a thing from them, especially the reading section
it was the worst and earned me a horrible grade on the february exam
however, with my new tutor, i have been taking real ACTs from The Real ACT Prep Guide and i have been doing so well</p>
<p>stevped, your justification for barron’s doesn’t really make sense because the ACT isn’t the kind of test you’d want to study for like a textbook based-test. in theory, the ACT requires no background knowledge, so there’s nothing you should be “studying” per se, save a few math formulas and grammar rules. in my opinion, books need to have good practice tests because improving on the ACT is all about practice, not “studying.” therefore, i think the fact that PR has more realistic practice tests makes it a better book overall.</p>
<p>are PR practice tests about the same level/easier/harder?</p>
<p>i hear they’re easier.</p>
<p>Ive got the Barrons ACT book as well as the SAT book. and I luv them both. I also own Kaplan, but I prefer Barrons. What I like to do before the day of the test, is read thru the math stuff, just read. It really boosts my confidence. Yes, I agree the practice tests are HARD. But think about it this way, if u figure out how to do well on the practice tests, the real test will be a snap!</p>
<p>I thought PR was just slightly harder…</p>
<p>@jax I completely disagree. The first half of the ACT (English and math) is a measure of textbook obtained knowledge. If you have learned how to do the problems, you will get them right. Sure, being intelligent can help, but you must have had already learned the rules before hand. </p>
<p>The second half (reading and science) is about how quickly you can understand and absorb new information. I would say that this half focuses more on you intelligence and not prior knowledge. This half is not as easy to study for, but practicing and familiarizing yourself with the types of problems they ask will help you know what info to focus on in the
passages. I think barron’s does a good job at this.</p>
<p>@Dana I went through the entire barron’s book in a week but I studied 8 hours a day. To really get the info good, I’d say study for it a month. Good luck on your AP’s. I recommend PR for those.</p>
<p>there’s no reason for me to rebut your argument. it’s not like either of us are wrong. books do different things for different people. </p>
<p>after reading through these forums, people should have an idea of the types of things each book offers, and then decide for themselves which parts are more important and inevitably get that book.</p>
<p>gonna bump this old topic, anyone have some new input? I have the PR right now and am debating whether I should get the regular or the 36</p>
<p>I actually JUST finished Barron’s 36, and I found their Mathematics, Reading, and English section to be pretty helpful. It was just that their Science was god awful.</p>
<p>Well that’s bad, PR: Cracking the ACT is notoriously bad at Science too.</p>
<p>So which is better? Normal Barron’s or 36?</p>
<p>I used PR’s book to study and I consistently got 30’s on each test I took from them and got a 33 on the actual test.</p>
<p>I found the regular barron better than the barron 36 because the regular barron covers almost everything the barron 36 covers.</p>
<p>For somebody who got a 32 and wants to get higher, which book, Barron’s ACT or 36, would be best?</p>