It is so surprising to hear how much money is being spent in this area, although I guess I shouldn’t be shocked. If I had the money to spend and my kids weren’t good test takers I probably would have paid for some tutoring. As it was, I only paid for an SAT book and ACT book and a few tests. While my kids were not particularly motivated to study on their own due to busy schedules, fatigue etc., I felt that it was up to them to put in the work if they wanted, and I shouldn’t need to pay for expensive classes or tutors.
S19 took his first ACT right at the end of sophomore year without prep. He scored pretty high in all areas except in English where he had a 26. He took it again about 6 months later and did fairly minimal studying (much to my dismay) but did spend a few hours reviewing grammar. His English went up to a 35 and he had a composite of 34. We we went back and forth about whether or not he should take it once more and he eventually decided to try it for a third time during the summer after junior year. Again, he put in very little time studying but I believe just the experience with the real life test and working on the timing (especially with math) was what helped him. He got a 36.