<p>My daughter is a high school junior and slated to take her first real ACT test in April. All juniors at her school take this test as part of their standardized testing. We are also going to sign her up to take the test in May and June so she will have more chances to get the score she needs for the college she wants to attend and the major that she wants to pursue. So my question is, are the prep courses really worth it, and do they truly help you get the score you need?</p>
<p>She has taken 2 practice tests so far. Last year as a Sophomore, she took a practice test through our local library and scored a 22. Last month she took a practice test that was offered through her high school and scored a 28. She took both tests w/out any preparation at all and was able to raise her score by 6 points. So if she took a prep class before taking the <em>real</em> test, would she have a shot at raising that 28 somewhere into the 30's?</p>
<p>Also, the companies that offer prep course in our area have classes that meet as little as once or twice before the April test, all the way up to one on one private tutoring. We are planning on having her take a class that is somewhere in the middle. We want to sign her up for the class that begins meeting the end of February and then meets basically every Wednesday night and Saturday morning until the test in April. She would also get 4-5 hours of one on one tutoring w/this class that would focus on the specific areas she needs to work on. Also, as part of the course, all the students in the class will take 4 practice tests and then the instructor of the class will gear their prep towards what the class needs to work on based on their practice tests. We are also planning on buying her some prep books and having her do some prep on her own, and she also has access to some online prep materials/practice tests since she signed up for the practice test through her high school last month. The prep class that we want to sign her up for is $1000. That is quite a hefty price tag, but if it enables her to get the ACT score that she needs, it will be priceless. So I guess my question is, are these expensive prep classes really worth it compared to just trying to study on your own? Thank you in advance for any replies!</p>
<p>Unless the 2 practice test from the library was a retired test that 22 she made is not accurate. If the high school used a booklet from the ACT themselves that is a good indicator of her score. </p>
<p>Please do not waste 1000 on a prep course. You are better off spending the 1000 dollar on books and multiple tests. </p>
<p>This link contain a book from the ACT makers themselves. Contain 5 retired tests. There are exactly 3 booklets that the ACT have given to High School counselors. The ACT websites offer a online course for 20$ which contain 2 tests. Also, the ACT have another test that is broken down into sections but it contain enough for a full test. </p>
<p>I would also recommend you to make your daughter take the December one. The more tests she take the higher the chance of improvement. </p>
<p>If you take the test on Dec., June, April you could purchase your test (to see what you miss) you have taken for a fee of 18 dollars. </p>
<p>The prep companies will just give practice booklets to practice on. They would also try emulate the retired tests. The only thing tutoring could really help with is math and English.</p>
<p>Thank you for your post and thank you so much for the link! We decided against her taking the $1000 prep course and have decided instead to have her take a course that meets every Saturday morning for 4 hours and Wednesday evening for 3 hours. The cost of the course is going to be around $500, and while still a hefty fee, much less than $1000. She is still going to do a lot of prep on her own and we are going to be purchasing many of the prep books that are available. She wants to get a score as high into the 30’s as she can, and we hope this is the best strategy that will allow her to do so. Again, thank you so much for your reply!</p>