If you prefer studying with an actual book than reading off materials from your computer or device screens, then you are in the right place.
With only a few months away from the ACT, you are probably browsing the internet, looking for the most effective prep book you can get your hands on.
So to help you pick the right one, we have reviewed some of the most popular ACT prep books out there and created this guide for you.
But before we immediately jump into the list of books you should check out, let us first assess your study strategies.
Table of Contents
What is the best way to prepare for the ACT?
Given that you prefer reading from an actual book, it would not be much use to you if we recommend some helpful online learning website.
So rather than doing that, we would discuss some of the ways on how you can get the most out of your ACT prep book.
ACT Prep Guide as your core prep
Since not all prep books are created equal, it would be best to stick to the book that is created by the ones who are also taking the ACT exam.
We are not saying that other test prep books are not effective, it is just that the Official ACT prep book is already a pure gold mine and it should be exploited to the fullest extent.
You can work on a full-length ACT practice test that is designed like the real one. Some students find that they only need The Official ACT Prep Guide to prepare for the actual exam.
Wouldn’t you feel more at ease if the prep guide you are using is also created by the ones making the actual ACT exam?
Simulate an ACT Test Day
Using the official full-length practice test made by ACT, try to imitate the actual testing day. You can do this by timing yourself and mimicking the testing environment.
This way, it would help tone down your test anxiety and you would not be too overwhelmed during the actual testing day.
Doing test runs like this would also help you familiarize yourself with the format of the exam, making it easier for you to answer and read long passages with ease.
Apart from that, it would also give you an idea of what is a good ACT score. By doing several test runs, you can assess your own potential and capabilities.
Use other learning materials
Despite already having the official ACT prep guide, you should still look for other learning materials that you can supplement it with.
Using other practice tests are also useful for targeted practice. If you managed to exhaust the contents of the official test prep, then it would be best to use other prep guides aside from the official ones if you are still struggling with the other subjects.
As much as possible, drill on your weak spots and find other learning materials that are easy to understand. This way, you would not have a hard time grasping complex topics that you struggle to understand.
Which ACT prep book is the best?
Picking the right prep book is a crucial part of preparing for your ACT. If you study smart and supplement these ACT prep books with the right learning materials, chances are you would score higher on your exam.
It is less difficult to pick a test prep book than gather supplementary learning materials. However, that does not mean that it is easy and that you should just pick any test prep book on Amazon or in any local bookstore.
So to help you choose the right one, we reviewed some of the popular textbooks that you can easily buy either online or offline.
The Official ACT Prep Guide
As we mentioned before, this prep guide is a must-have. It contains the best practice tests because the questions are designed to be similar to the actual ACT.
When you buy the 2020-2021 edition of this guide, you would get a five full-length practice test, essay prompts, as well as 400 additional questions that you can unlock with a code that you get when you buy the book.
One of the things that make this prep guide different from the ones they gave out for free online is that every practice test questions have answer explanations.
Unlike the PDF (does not have answer explanations) that they usually gave out for free every year, this prep book tells you the reason why it is the correct answer.
However, some find their answer explanations are still lacking and needs more improvement. For this reason, it is highly recommended to have other learning materials aside from this prep book.
ACT Prep Black Book
This unique ACT prep book is one of the most helpful guides in the market.
Rather than giving you several practice problems and tests, this book would instead encourage you to understand the common trend and pattern in the ACT.
By understanding how the ACT has been carefully designed, you would be able to beat the test and answer the questions with ease.
This book also suggests several practical approaches that would really come in handy when you take the actual exam.
One of the drawbacks to this prep book is it is not suitable for targeted practice. Since this book would mainly teach you practical approaches and strategies, you would not necessarily learn to how solve math problems, practice with your ACT calculator, or even write better essays.Â
Barron’s ACT Premium Study Guide
Barron’s prep guide is a good book for general study. It touches all the subjects as well as provide detailed lessons with several examples.
Apart from that, this book also provides test-taking strategies and even customizable study plans that you can incorporate into your test prep.
Since this is the premium version of the guide, you would get four practice tests in the book and two more online.
While this prep book is extremely thorough and offers a lot of content, some students find it overwhelming and sometimes unnecessary.
Some of the concepts they discuss in this book require extra work and more research for you to even understand. Rather than utilizing your time to learn something new, you would then have to do additional research and work instead.
If you are looking for more practice test materials, you can also use Barron’s other books on the ACT.
The ACT 36 book has full sections on English, Reading, Writing, Math, and Science. It has mini-lessons and exercises on different subtopics.
Princeton Review ACT Premium Prep
This comprehensive ACT prep book contains test-taking strategies, review content, and practice questions. It is especially helpful for those who want more challenging materials for their test prep.
The book contains four full-length practice tests and four more online. There are also drills and questions at the end of each section, allowing you to recall the information you just learned.
If you know nothing about the topics that ACT covers in their exam, then Princeton Review would be a great place to start. This prep book gave clear instructions and the contents are easy to follow.
Given that it is not the official test prep for the ACT, the questions in this book might not be too representative of the actual exam.
Unlike the prep book from Barron, some students find the content of this Princeton’s guide too simple or too easy.
So if you are planning to use this as your core prep book, it would be best to supplement it with the official ACT prep book or other learning materials.
Kaplan’s ACT Prep Plus
Another great guide on how to study for the ACT is the one from Kaplan. By the end of this prep book, you would have a basic idea of what the actual exam would be like.
It is not the best material for targeted practices, but it does cover the fundamentals topics you should know before the exam. The contents are easy to understand and do a decent job of covering all four subjects.
Like Princeton, this prep guide from Kaplan is also a great place to start if you do not know any of the topics that the ACT covers.
When you buy the 2021 Edition, you would get one full-length practice test in the book and four more online (which is not a lot). You need to buy Kaplan’s 8 Practice Tests if you want more practice material.
One of the bonuses, when you buy this prep book, is you get one-year access to their online center. So if you happened to forgot your book at home, then you just access their materials online.
All in all, it is still a great additional prep book if you are looking for more learning materials for the ACT.
McGraw-Hill Education ACT Elite
The 2021 Edition of this prep book contains five full-length practice tests and another three that you can access online.
As with any ACT prep book from McGraw, the main highlight of this guide is the Science part. They also offer great tips for pacing as well as strategies for answering multiple-choice questions.
You can get the most out of their practice test. Compared to the other third-party prep book out there, this is the closest one you can get (especially the Science section).
The answer explanations could use a bit of work but all in all, it is still quite helpful for uninterrupted study sessions.
It may not be the closest one you can get from the actual ACT exam, but this prep book still holds a lot of potentials.
If you want more targeted content on other subjects, then you can just avail their other ACT prep books like their Top 50 ACT Math, English, Reading, and Science Skills.
Up Your Score: ACT, The Underground Guide
If you ever got bored of the other traditional prep book, then you can check out this Underground Guide instead.
It breaks down complex concepts into fun and easy-to-digest pieces. This guide also has tips that could help you avoid stress during test prep and boost your confidence during the actual exam.
Since information is laid out with humor, it is like reading conversations, which in turn makes it a lot easier to follow and understand.
It is a great prep book if you are still in the process of creating your study plan. This Underground Guide would help clear out your questions and anxieties about your test prep.
Keep in mind that since this is a lighthearted departure from the other prep book, it is in no way a substitute to the official ACT prep guide.
This Underground Guide is not a sufficient source if you are looking for a comprehensive practice test. It would just simply help you develop good test-taking habits for your upcoming ACT exam.
Is the practice ACT harder than the real ACT?
As we mentioned before, these prep books are designed to be your guide before the exam. Their practice questions are merely representative of what the actual ACT might look like.
What we meant to say is, it would be up to you to find out when you take the actual exam.
Your perception of the actual exam would ultimately depend on how much you improve during your test prep.
If you manage to ace several test runs before the ACT, then chances are you might find the actual exam a lot easier. If by any chance you only manage to do only one practice test, then the actual ACT exam might be a lot harder for you.
In the end, there are several factors that come into play during the actual testing day so we cannot assure you that the real ACT would be like a walk in the park.
But, one of the comforting factor about the ACT is that you can retake it a couple of times. There are even colleges that superscore ACT, so it would not hurt your college application if you retake the exam again.
So before you relax and look at the best high school graduation gifts after you took the ACT, you should first decide whether you are already satisfied with your score or not.
Conclusion
To recap, we have discussed and reviewed several popular ACT prep books like
- The Official ACT Prep Guide
- ACT Prep Black Book
- Barron’s ACT Premium Study Guide
- Princeton Review ACT Premium Prep
- Kaplan’s ACT Prep Plus
- McGraw-Hill Education ACT Elite
- Up Your Score: ACT, The Underground Guide
If you have already took the exam, then you can check out our article regarding the ACT score release dates to find out your composite score and ACT percentiles.
All in all, these books would be a great help for your test prep. When used effectively, it would help you improve your ACT score range.Â
Todd VanDuzer
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