Is the red book a necessity?

Test Preparation ACT Preparation
1

<p>Hello guys,</p>

<p>Do you guys sincerely think the red book is a necessity for ACT prep? For a couple of reasons I won't be able to get my hands on it, but I was able to loan the Princeton Cracking the ACT book from a friend and have access to Barron's 36 and many online practice tests. If I'm aiming on scoring over 30, do I truly NEED the red book?</p>

2

<p>The key reason why the red book is relevant is because it has actual ACT tests written by the real test writers. The tests in the book capture the style and format of the ACT as accurately as possible. When one starts using third party tests, there is no guarantee about their quality and the amount of effort that went in to writing them. In fact, I would say most of them are worthless. Also some of the companies just copy the exact ACT questions and change the name and numbers a little bit. Considering all this it makes sense to just use the official tests. The test prep books can be useful for learning the basics and understanding the concepts.</p>

3

<p>@SATQuantum‌ - I see your point. There are some official tests available online, but not all the ones from the red book. The tests in the Princeton ‘Cracking the ACT’ should help as well, no?</p>

4

<p>My son got a 35 without using the redbook as did at least two of his friends. Not even sure he took a practice test (although he took the test twice, once as a sophomore). Score goes up with maturity, sleep, more reading, more intense math competition etc. Test prep is obviously good to find gaps - prep is good and it is probably a good resource. If you can turn test prep into a “game” and have some fun with it, I can imagine taking as many practice tests as reasonably possible might be a good strategy.</p>

5

<p>@2018RiceParent‌ - Thanks for the advice. What did your son do to prepare for his retake? Did he just take it?</p>

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<p>@2018RiceParent‌ - Impressive. Thanks for the hope!</p>

8

<p>@Dannnn Sorry, I have no idea how good the Princeton Review tests are, perhaps others can comment. I personally would spend the $20 to get the Red Book, but if money is an issue just get a used copy from half.com, or go to the public library. </p>

9

<p>@SATQuantum‌ - It’s all good, thanks for the advice. I’m actually from Canada so we don’t have this book at our public library! :(</p>