I tried to use this but the book was super thick and I just couldn't get into it, I used an online interactive study guide instead and I scored a 26 on my ACT. My sister did well with this book, the only difference between us is I have ADHD and she doesnt.

I bought 4 books to prepare for my ACT exam (Princeton Review (Cracking the ACT, 2007 Edition), Kaplan ACT 2007 Comprehensive Program, McGraw-Hill's 10 ACT Practice Tests, and The Real ACT Prep Guide). I found the Real ACT Prep Guide to be the best one as it has three real practice exams at the end (as close as u can get to the real exam).As far as the preparation material provided for preparation, it is not as good as Kaplan's or Princeton's. i would rate the four books as follows:

1.The Real ACT Prep Guide. -- the practice papers at the end of the book are real ACT exams.

2.Kaplan ACT 2007 Comprehensive Program --(The practice papers are as difficult as the real ACT exam (but defenitly not as close as the rela exam)and the preparation material provided is also good but they dont have any sample essays to crack the writing test)

3.Princeton Review (Cracking the ACT, 2007 Edition)-- (the preparation material provided is the best compared with the Kaplan and the real ACT books and the papaers at the end are comparable with the Kaplan's.)

4.McGraw-Hill's 10 ACT Practice Tests -- the 10 papers are a good practice but they are comparitively easier than the real exam.

If you plan to buy just one book to prepare for the ACT exam then you should buy The Real ACT Prep Guide.

This edition is two years old, so don't buy this one but do get this book! Amazon has two listings for this book--one is for the new edition. I agree with the other reviewers that the primary benefit of this book is the 3 practice tests with detailed answer explanations provided. The book offers limited advice on how to best improve on its various sections--especially the science section where many students feel extremely rushed. But the practice tests are worth the price of the book.

This certainly ranks up there. My other choices for 2007, hands down:

1) How To Ace Your Way Through College & Still Have a Life
2) The MLA Handbook
3) Fiske Guide to Colleges

Dr. Vernon M
Cambridge, MA

The Real ACt Prep Guide is fantastic. It knows exactly what is on the test and is the only prep book made by the people that design the test. The others are all "What they THINK the test will be like". A winner!

Good book for my daughter's studies. Received in a timley fashion and as described.

This book is the only source for real test questions. There are several knock offs but this is the one and only real deal. College Prep Coach, the premier test company in the country, uses this guide exclusively in its course. If you are serious about ACT test prep this book is a must have item.

Prepared by the organization that writes the ACT. As a teacher who helps prep students for the college admissions tests, I know what most students are willing to do. Hours of study and review over a long period of time may be the ideal, but it is an unrealistic ask of most teenagers. Their most efficient use of time is to take practice tests and then look over the problems missed. This book has real questions direct from the source combined with good explanations of all answers. The overall review sections are short and to the point. Students may take practice tests one section at a time to avoid burnout (but must understand why they missed each question). A few hours spent preparing with this method will raise scores, probability of admission to certain schools and the amount of scholarship money a student is likely to earn.

The ACT Official Guide is a great book for practicing ACT questions, it offers a little bit of all types of questions. This book is especially good for starters, but the major drawback is that it doesn't offer too much of mathematical review or strategies. Luckily, i bought the "EZ ACT -Math Strategies" book along with this book. It helped me a lot by applying the math strategies given in the EZ SAT book to the question in the Official Guide.EZ ACT - Math Strategies

The ACT is quickly becoming an equal competitor to the SAT college entrance exam. Accordingly, the test prep industry is growing up around this relative newcomer-turned-regular on the admissions scene.

This book, published by the ACT organization--the makers of the test--is a fantastic resource for any student or teacher working on test preparation. But, in all honesty it is only worth the [...](a pretty reasonable price) because of the three real practice tests included inside. The rest of the book...the introduction, the strategies, and even the question answer explanations...have been done better by other organizations. It's no slight to the ACT company, but they simply did not choose to share the best strategies to beat their own test.

Still, this book contains the only published real ACTs, and all other companies cannot match their faithfulness to the test (some companies unfortunately are very, very far off). Similarity and accuracy are essential for practicing, because the format, style, and difficulty level of practice problems can vary immensely. Since the best way to practice for the test is to work out real problems, this book is a must-have resource for any student or instructor.

Hopefully the ACT will publish some more tests soon. In the meantime, you can also try and get a hold of their free "Preparing for the ACT" guide which comes out every fall. Each one contains a full practice test, so try and get your hands on them. Good luck practicing!

[...]

this book is good if you have an idea as to what it is you are doing ie...remeber this stuff from hs some topics i remembered vaguely and this book doesn't spoon feed you anything you should already know it just basically let you know what to expect...gives you an idea thank god i got it from amazon b/c i wouldn't haven't bought it from barnes and nobles at the price they are selling it for !!!

I found this book to be very informative and useful. I would recommend this book to anyone preparing for the ACT.

I am a high school math teacher and I purchased multiple copies of this book to use as a review for my students in after school review sessions for the ACT. I believe that all of the students who worked with me in these sessions will perform significantly better on the ACT than they otherwise might have.

I found this book to be very informative and useful. I would recommend this book to anyone preparing for the ACT.

This book is really great if all your big need is some practice test.
BUT, if you looking for something to renew your lesson, this book is NOT the one. Yes it does have some explanation and such, but it is not enough to make you learn the things that you should know, not just the right answer but how to get to it.

I use the Cracking ACT from Princeton Review, it is really nice, refresh your memory about those lesson from back at school time, help you to understand better how to do things, not just what the right answer is. More like a guide and a teacher, teaching you how to solve the problem too. It really helpful to me, more than this book it self.

When I do the test questions in this REAL ACT book, yes there are answers with tiny explanation of why the right answer is what, but not in detail of how to get to that right answer in deep. Pretty hard to understood if you have no idea how to do algebra at least in basic ( forgot about them or other reasons ).

I am a mother of 4 going back to college in her 40's and this is what I was looking for to help prepare me thank you

very informative in preparing for the act.
strategies for taking the act, stress relievers, practice tests, (the answers and explainations for those tests), and other helpful information

Having been out of the school setting for about a year and a half, finding The Real ACT Prep Guide allowed me to refresh what I've learned. Not only did it guide me through the problems the step by step instruction is really simple and comprehensive.

This was exacly what I ordered and it was delivered promptly. Excellent service.

I used this book along with Kaplan's Act Guide and it was wonderful. This book gives you more than enough information needed to Ace the ACT.

I highly recommend this book!!!!

Three other teachers and I offer an ACT reveiw for students in our community and we love this book. It's put out by the ACT company itself, so all it's test questions are actually old ACT test questions.

It offers good test taking advice and is a great tool for bettering your score on the ACT.

Good quality

Competitors will tell you they have the corner on ACT questions, but, turns out, only the actual ACT preparers will release the true questions to appear in their book. All other prep book have waste-of-time practice questions.

Competitors will tell you they have the corner on ACT questions, but, turns out, only the actual ACT preparers will release the true questions to appear in their book. All other prep book have waste-of-time practice questions.

This book is useful in its inclusion of several actual ACT exams for practice, and it is this that grants the book an automatic "five star" rating. The rest of the book (review material, test taking strategies, etc.) is too meagre to help improve one's score significantly and I strongly suggest that those wanting a more in-depth review of the material covered on the exam purchase a copy of Barron's ACT preparation book.

This book is useful in its inclusion of several actual ACT exams for practice, and it is this that grants the book an automatic "five star" rating. The rest of the book (review material, test taking strategies, etc.) is too meagre to help improve one's score significantly and I strongly suggest that those wanting a more in-depth review of the material covered on the exam purchase a copy of Barron's ACT preparation book.

When I purchased this item back in August I studied it as best as possible. This book doesn't give away answers and such that I fear some probably believe it does. This helps you on stuff to prepare for on the test. Since this book is from the people that make the ACT's it's only right that they wouldn't give away secrets to get a 36. The first time I took the test I went in blindly, not expecting the score I got and I truly believed that I got a good score but it was in fact an 18. So I was deterred away and knew that I needed to take it again. So I purchased this book, studied, and was better prepared. With the experience that I had gained from the test the first time and now having taken the practice tests in the book. I now have a 23 instead of an 18. A 5 point increase doesn't seem a lot to some but I would prefer that score and knowing that I tried. So I recommend this book if you truly want help to increase the score or know what you are about to face when the test comes up.

When I purchased this item back in August I studied it as best as possible. This book doesn't give away answers and such that I fear some probably believe it does. This helps you on stuff to prepare for on the test. Since this book is from the people that make the ACT's it's only right that they wouldn't give away secrets to get a 36. The first time I took the test I went in blindly, not expecting the score I got and I truly believed that I got a good score but it was in fact an 18. So I was deterred away and knew that I needed to take it again. So I purchased this book, studied, and was better prepared. With the experience that I had gained from the test the first time and now having taken the practice tests in the book. I now have a 23 instead of an 18. A 5 point increase doesn't seem a lot to some but I would prefer that score and knowing that I tried. So I recommend this book if you truly want help to increase the score or know what you are about to face when the test comes up.

While the book does not contain much info in the way of test content or strategy. It is your best opportunity at getting to take REAL ACT practice tests. An extra bonus are the explanations for all test questions.

I bought this book along with the ACT for Dummies, and I only use this book for the practice tests. Whether you want to improve your score or just get a feel for the test, this book's 3 practice tests can't be beat. After all, they are the real ACT tests.

The answers after each test offer some explanation if you missed the question, but since this book doesn't tend to brush you up on any skills in the beginning, it won't do it in the answer, either. If you miss a hard math problem, the answer won't offer as much explanation as other books do.

If you're planning on using this book to review for the ACT a few nights before, don't bother. The information is organized as if you were taking the real test, question by question. It tells you what type of question it was, and how you should have answered it. The night before the test, I would find it more helpful to go straight to your math notebook and brush up on your geometry instead of trying to memorize types of questions.

Overall, this book really does seem like it was written by "the Makers of the ACT." Explanations and directions on how to approach a question sound like they come right out of the test its self. This can be helpful if you haven't taken the test before, but for those of us who have and simply want to improve our scores, this information is just repetetive.

In conclusion, if you want to buy this book for it's practice tests, you'll be satisfied with it. I suggest also picking up a sample practice test along with your registration packet if this is your intent. But if you want to buy this book to help you better understand sine, cosine, and tangent, and cram information right before the test, don't bother with it.

I bought this book along with the ACT for Dummies, and I only use this book for the practice tests. Whether you want to improve your score or just get a feel for the test, this book's 3 practice tests can't be beat. After all, they are the real ACT tests.

The answers after each test offer some explanation if you missed the question, but since this book doesn't tend to brush you up on any skills in the beginning, it won't do it in the answer, either. If you miss a hard math problem, the answer won't offer as much explanation as other books do.

If you're planning on using this book to review for the ACT a few nights before, don't bother. The information is organized as if you were taking the real test, question by question. It tells you what type of question it was, and how you should have answered it. The night before the test, I would find it more helpful to go straight to your math notebook and brush up on your geometry instead of trying to memorize types of questions.

Overall, this book really does seem like it was written by "the Makers of the ACT." Explanations and directions on how to approach a question sound like they come right out of the test its self. This can be helpful if you haven't taken the test before, but for those of us who have and simply want to improve our scores, this information is just repetetive.

In conclusion, if you want to buy this book for it's practice tests, you'll be satisfied with it. I suggest also picking up a sample practice test along with your registration packet if this is your intent. But if you want to buy this book to help you better understand sine, cosine, and tangent, and cram information right before the test, don't bother with it.

I purchased this book to prepare for the ACT. It familiarizes you with exactly what you need for the test. It's excellent for long-term preparation, but you can even use it in a crunch. I flipped through some of the pages the night before I took the ACT and had never opened up the book before, read through some things, and I ended up getting a perfect composite score of 36. You don't need any resource other than this one in preparing for the ACT.

I purchased this book to prepare for the ACT. It familiarizes you with exactly what you need for the test. It's excellent for long-term preparation, but you can even use it in a crunch. I flipped through some of the pages the night before I took the ACT and had never opened up the book before, read through some things, and I ended up getting a perfect composite score of 36. You don't need any resource other than this one in preparing for the ACT.

I guess this book just owns everything else.

The test and its scoring are a bit weird, but it is still much more fair than its more famous counterpart, SAT. The tests, along with full explanations are very authentic indeed. And -while nothing very cunning- the tips are somewhat helpful as well. Anyway, I guess its results are best to illustrate with numbers.

I am a Romanian student who is in the best 5 people in Physics in his generation (seniors) (i got 800/800 in maths and physics) so theoretically I should have had problems only in English and Reading. I did some tests on my computer (Princeton Review stuff) and stopped at about 27-30. Then I bought this book and the scores were steadily improving and in the end I got a 35 too! At the test I got a 34-34-34-29 (Science has some ambiguous questions and sometimes harsh scoring too). Anyway I am very satisfied with the book. Top of the notch.

I guess this book just owns everything else.

The test and its scoring are a bit weird, but it is still much more fair than its more famous counterpart, SAT. The tests, along with full explanations are very authentic indeed. And -while nothing very cunning- the tips are somewhat helpful as well. Anyway, I guess its results are best to illustrate with numbers.

I am a Romanian student who is in the best 5 people in Physics in his generation (seniors) (i got 800/800 in maths and physics) so theoretically I should have had problems only in English and Reading. I did some tests on my computer (Princeton Review stuff) and stopped at about 27-30. Then I bought this book and the scores were steadily improving and in the end I got a 35 too! At the test I got a 34-34-34-29 (Science has some ambiguous questions and sometimes harsh scoring too). Anyway I am very satisfied with the book. Top of the notch.

I guess this book just owns everything else.

The test and its scoring are a bit weird, but it is still much more fair than its more famous counterpart, SAT. The tests, along with full explanations are very authentic indeed. And -while nothing very cunning- the tips are somewhat helpful as well. Anyway, I guess its results are best to illustrate with numbers.

I am a Romanian student who is in the best 5 people in Physics in his generation (seniors) (i got 800/800 in maths and physics) so theoretically I should have had problems only in English and Reading. I did some tests on my computer (Princeton Review stuff) and stopped at about 27-30. Then I bought this book and the scores were steadily improving and in the end I got a 35 too! At the test I got a 34-34-34-29 (Science has some ambiguous questions and sometimes harsh scoring too). Anyway I am very satisfied with the book. Top of the notch.

I bought this book expecting to have some practice questions and some tutorials on the subject matter that I will inevitably have to face during the actual ACT.

The only thing that it really gave me was just the type of information that was going to be on the test, but no workable problems or tutorial information on subjects that I have either never taken or am rusty at for lack of practice.

This book, in my opinion, was a waste of my money and did not fulfill the objective that I had previously expected it to.

I bought this book expecting to have some practice questions and some tutorials on the subject matter that I will inevitably have to face during the actual ACT.

The only thing that it really gave me was just the type of information that was going to be on the test, but no workable problems or tutorial information on subjects that I have either never taken or am rusty at for lack of practice.

This book, in my opinion, was a waste of my money and did not fulfill the objective that I had previously expected it to.

I bought this book expecting to have some practice questions and some tutorials on the subject matter that I will inevitably have to face during the actual ACT.

The only thing that it really gave me was just the type of information that was going to be on the test, but no workable problems or tutorial information on subjects that I have either never taken or am rusty at for lack of practice.

This book, in my opinion, was a waste of my money and did not fulfill the objective that I had previously expected it to.

I purchased this book before taking the ACT for the first time. I figured it would be a good idea to get a review book with full-length tests included because unlike the SAT for which I took the PSAT, I had never taken the PLAN exam because my high school does not offer it, and I was completley unfamiliar with the ACT format. The book is very extensive, which is helpful if you have the time to read through the whole thing, but I for one did not: I waited until after taking my SAT to start working on ACT prep so I wouldn't be trying to prep for two different tests at the same time and therefore I only had a few weeks to review. This may seem like a long time, but anyone who is a junior in high school (especially those who attend college prep. schools) knows that there is little time left to do much of anything after homework and extracurriculars. I only cracked open my copy of the Real ACT Prep guide ot get a feel for what on earth this "science" section is all about, to see how scoring works, and look at how the ACT optional writing differs from the SAT essay (in my opinion, the ACT writing prompts are less abstract than the SAT ones).
I did most of my prep work from Kaplan's "Procrastinaters Guide to the ACT" purely because I WAS short on time and it covers topics in a much more concise fashion. It does only include one full practice test, but when I registered for the ACT via mail at my school, we were given a booklet from ACT with a practice test, so I actually had two tests outside the "Real ACT prep guide." This was plenty under the time constraints I had.

I will probably re-take the ACT simply because I can do so and choose which score I want to send (unlike the SAT). This time I will have more time to prepare so I will use the "real ACT Prep guide" to especially look over the math and "science" sections in more depth.

In short, if you have plenty of time before you take the test, this is a very good book. If you haven't got a whole lot of time, go for something more in the vein of "The procrastinator's guide."

*note: I put the science section in quotations simply because the section has little to do with scientific knowledge; all it really measures is how quickly you can analyze table and graphs to make conclusions and beat the clock--emphasis should be put on the -quickly- part!

I purchased this book before taking the ACT for the first time. I figured it would be a good idea to get a review book with full-length tests included because unlike the SAT for which I took the PSAT, I had never taken the PLAN exam because my high school does not offer it, and I was completley unfamiliar with the ACT format. The book is very extensive, which is helpful if you have the time to read through the whole thing, but I for one did not: I waited until after taking my SAT to start working on ACT prep so I wouldn't be trying to prep for two different tests at the same time and therefore I only had a few weeks to review. This may seem like a long time, but anyone who is a junior in high school (especially those who attend college prep. schools) knows that there is little time left to do much of anything after homework and extracurriculars. I only cracked open my copy of the Real ACT Prep guide ot get a feel for what on earth this "science" section is all about, to see how scoring works, and look at how the ACT optional writing differs from the SAT essay (in my opinion, the ACT writing prompts are less abstract than the SAT ones).
I did most of my prep work from Kaplan's "Procrastinaters Guide to the ACT" purely because I WAS short on time and it covers topics in a much more concise fashion. It does only include one full practice test, but when I registered for the ACT via mail at my school, we were given a booklet from ACT with a practice test, so I actually had two tests outside the "Real ACT prep guide." This was plenty under the time constraints I had.

I will probably re-take the ACT simply because I can do so and choose which score I want to send (unlike the SAT). This time I will have more time to prepare so I will use the "real ACT Prep guide" to especially look over the math and "science" sections in more depth.

In short, if you have plenty of time before you take the test, this is a very good book. If you haven't got a whole lot of time, go for something more in the vein of "The procrastinator's guide."

*note: I put the science section in quotations simply because the section has little to do with scientific knowledge; all it really measures is how quickly you can analyze table and graphs to make conclusions and beat the clock--emphasis should be put on the -quickly- part!

I purchased this book before taking the ACT for the first time. I figured it would be a good idea to get a review book with full-length tests included because unlike the SAT for which I took the PSAT, I had never taken the PLAN exam because my high school does not offer it, and I was completley unfamiliar with the ACT format. The book is very extensive, which is helpful if you have the time to read through the whole thing, but I for one did not: I waited until after taking my SAT to start working on ACT prep so I wouldn't be trying to prep for two different tests at the same time and therefore I only had a few weeks to review. This may seem like a long time, but anyone who is a junior in high school (especially those who attend college prep. schools) knows that there is little time left to do much of anything after homework and extracurriculars. I only cracked open my copy of the Real ACT Prep guide ot get a feel for what on earth this "science" section is all about, to see how scoring works, and look at how the ACT optional writing differs from the SAT essay (in my opinion, the ACT writing prompts are less abstract than the SAT ones).
I did most of my prep work from Kaplan's "Procrastinaters Guide to the ACT" purely because I WAS short on time and it covers topics in a much more concise fashion. It does only include one full practice test, but when I registered for the ACT via mail at my school, we were given a booklet from ACT with a practice test, so I actually had two tests outside the "Real ACT prep guide." This was plenty under the time constraints I had.

I will probably re-take the ACT simply because I can do so and choose which score I want to send (unlike the SAT). This time I will have more time to prepare so I will use the "real ACT Prep guide" to especially look over the math and "science" sections in more depth.

In short, if you have plenty of time before you take the test, this is a very good book. If you haven't got a whole lot of time, go for something more in the vein of "The procrastinator's guide."

*note: I put the science section in quotations simply because the section has little to do with scientific knowledge; all it really measures is how quickly you can analyze table and graphs to make conclusions and beat the clock--emphasis should be put on the -quickly- part!

This guide is essential for a simple reason. It is the only one that provides authentic ACT questions. When preparing for the ACT, it is critical that you practice with test samples using true ACT questions. All the other companies (Barron's, Kaplan, Princeton Review, etc...) provide imitations of such questions. Some are criticized for being too hard, or too easy. Don't waste your time and use the real stuff.

However, you can't trust the test makers to give insightful strategies about how to handle their own test. That would be like a conflict of interest. Use this book strictly to practice the test. For strategies, you'll have to look elsewhere. Some of the best sources are from books on sale on the web by companies founded by students who have been extremely successful ACT test takers. One of these companies is Lazy Student's Way. If you want to spend less money, use the Kaplan ACT guide. It is much richer and better in terms of providing strategies than this one. Either way, you will be well armed to ace the ACT.

This guide is essential for a simple reason. It is the only one that provides authentic ACT questions. When preparing for the ACT, it is critical that you practice with test samples using true ACT questions. All the other companies (Barron's, Kaplan, Princeton Review, etc...) provide imitations of such questions. Some are criticized for being too hard, or too easy. Don't waste your time and use the real stuff.

However, you can't trust the test makers to give insightful strategies about how to handle their own test. That would be like a conflict of interest. Use this book strictly to practice the test. For strategies, you'll have to look elsewhere. Some of the best sources are from books on sale on the web by companies founded by students who have been extremely successful ACT test takers. One of these companies is Lazy Student's Way. If you want to spend less money, use the Kaplan ACT guide. It is much richer and better in terms of providing strategies than this one. Either way, you will be well armed to ace the ACT.

This guide is essential for a simple reason. It is the only one that provides authentic ACT questions. When preparing for the ACT, it is critical that you practice with test samples using true ACT questions. All the other companies (Barron's, Kaplan, Princeton Review, etc...) provide imitations of such questions. Some are criticized for being too hard, or too easy. Don't waste your time and use the real stuff.

However, you can't trust the test makers to give insightful strategies about how to handle their own test. That would be like a conflict of interest. Use this book strictly to practice the test. For strategies, you'll have to look elsewhere. Some of the best sources are from books on sale on the web by companies founded by students who have been extremely successful ACT test takers. One of these companies is Lazy Student's Way. If you want to spend less money, use the Kaplan ACT guide. It is much richer and better in terms of providing strategies than this one. Either way, you will be well armed to ace the ACT.

This guide is essential for a simple reason. It is the only one that provides authentic ACT questions. When preparing for the ACT, it is critical that you practice with test samples using true ACT questions. All the other companies (Barron's, Kaplan, Princeton Review, etc...) provide imitations of such questions. Some are criticized for being too hard, or too easy. Don't waste your time and use the real stuff.

However, you can't trust the test makers to give insightful strategies about how to handle their own test. That would be like a conflict of interest. Use this book strictly to practice the test. For strategies, you'll have to look elsewhere. Some of the best sources are from books on sale on the web by companies founded by students who have been extremely successful ACT test takers. One of these companies is Lazy Student's Way. If you want to spend less money, use the Kaplan ACT guide. It is much richer and better in terms of providing strategies than this one. Either way, you will be well armed to ace the ACT.

This book provides some very helpful tips on how to score well on the ACT. The best part of the book are the practice tests in back that were taken from real ACT tests. I think this is the only book that offers real ACTs.

This book provides some very helpful tips on how to score well on the ACT. The best part of the book are the practice tests in back that were taken from real ACT tests. I think this is the only book that offers real ACTs.

I needed a 32 on my act score, and got a 31 before, so I checked out a few books from the library on ACT test review. I found this book helpful because it gives you actual tests, and has more tests than most ACT books come with. But, it does not give you the most helpful hints on how to become better. I would recommend Kaplan or Princeton Review series ACT books to help you get better at the ACT. I would recommend this book after you have studied these tips and would like to practice the timing and see what your score will most likely be.

I needed a 32 on my act score, and got a 31 before, so I checked out a few books from the library on ACT test review. I found this book helpful because it gives you actual tests, and has more tests than most ACT books come with. But, it does not give you the most helpful hints on how to become better. I would recommend Kaplan or Princeton Review series ACT books to help you get better at the ACT. I would recommend this book after you have studied these tips and would like to practice the timing and see what your score will most likely be.