<p>In preparation for the ACT test in October, I went to the library and picked up just about every test guide (Kaplan, Cliff Notes, Real ACT, among others) I could find that contains practice tests.</p>
<p>My problem, however, is that there seems to be discrepancies in my results. I've taken all three tests that are in the Real ACT, and I've recorded my results and calculated my average from these tests. Most alarming to me, however, is that on the Real ACT test my English score average is 33, whereas when I took the Cliff Notes English test (I only took one - not all three), I scored a 23.</p>
<p>It's my opinion that Cliff Notes asks different content and types of questions than the Real ACT, but I want the opinion of other people. Which score should I take as being more accurate, the Real ACT or the Cliff Notes one?</p>
<p>So if the Real ACT is the more accurate (after all, it's published by the organization), should I not use the other test prep guides to study from? I mean - the Cliff Notes version was a different format/had different content - content that evidently isn't very useful.</p>
<p>Instead of dwelling on which book is better than another, you should just try solving each book one by one. After you have done that, you will realize which book was actually helpful. Remember, practice as much as you can.</p>
<p>I used 10 practice ACTs by McGraw Hill to get the timing issue down, even though the scoring is a bit on the light side, and some of the answers in the book are wrong. But 10 practice tests for 20 bucks isn't a bad deal. In the weeks approaching the test, I used Real ACT to get more used to questions and scoring like the real ACT.</p>
<p>I've heard some people say the Real ACTs are a bit on the easy side since they are a few years old and standardized tests tend to get harder in recent years. However, from my experience with the september testing, the Real ACTs were good preparation.</p>