In my opinion, if the goal is to get into a top college and/or “chase merit” it would be wise to have a good budget for test prep. One on one tutoring can help some testers, my D20 was one of them. She went from a no-prep ACT 27 practice test to a 34 working with a tutor over 9 months. She took it 3x and got better each time (31, 32, & 34). The tutor absolutely taught her “strategies” to perform better and was a source of encouragement throughout the process.
Pretty much all of her HS peers who are going to their first choice college used test prep tutors. IMO, some things are worth the money…