Best products from r/ACT

We found 92 comments on r/ACT discussing the most recommended products. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 62 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.

Top comments mentioning products on r/ACT:

u/richlara · 4 pointsr/ACT

I think if you want it a lot you can do it (at least get your score to a 32+ range)

So first you want to get all your test scores to a solid 30. For English, this is gonna be pretty easy for you, but obviously a lot harder for science and reading. I think, since your scores are below that 30 range, i think you should focus on content THEN on time and understanding the test.

I'll advice you, if you are financially able to get the actual ACT book (the one ACT inc. sells) as well as this ACT black book. The ACT black book literally has everything you need for a good score, INCLUDING CONTENT and TIPS. And then you probably want the actual ACT book for practice tests and stuff. But PLEASE don't use other ACT books (and if you aren't able to get both, purchase the black book only because you can find practice tests online. If you aren't able to purchase either, I've included links to help with gaining that information)....

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For English, improvement is all dependent on knowing the rules (esp COMMA rules) and recognizing the pattern of ACT questions. To do this, you have to learn ALL OF THESE grammar rules, (and given that your score is at a 29, then you must know most of them). Then you must strive for consistency and perfection. Every time you miss a question on an English question, please think about why you got it wrong and WHAT THOUGHT PROCESS you needed to go through to get it write. I used to keep a notebook to do this because writing it down helped me remember. English is the easiest score to improve, and it is the quickest so getting your english score to a 35/36 would be really good. It all comes down to consistent practice and understanding your mistakes. Make sure to do a lot of practice questions (but only real ACT English questions, do not use Princeton, Barron, etc.), this builds up your intuition for knowing the correct answer and you begin to recognize patters this way.

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For Math, you obviously have content issues. Go to this link for strategies, tips, and TOPIC guides. The topic guides are good for reenforcing concepts you don't know. I'm also assuming that time is a problem for you. It was a problem for me too. First, do the math section with no time limit and try to do your best, and if you get to the 30+ range that way, you need to take a lot more sections under the time limit and train your brain to go faster, esp on the first 30 questions. I'm pretty sure that you can still get a 30 on math by missing 10 questions (fact check me on this I might be wrong).

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For Reading, you need to learn HOW to read and COMPREHEND a passage correctly. You need to understand that all the questions in this section only have one answer, and this answer ALWAYS has evidence in the passage. Even if an answer is partially right, IT IS WRONG. It must be 100% correct to be the correct answer. The black book really reenforces this concept. You also might have time problems. The correct way to do ACT reading is to give yourself 8.5 min per passage. If you're a slow reader, give yourself 5 min to read and process the passage, then head to the questions but know you are going to have to rush. Try to get through all the questions with accuracy and precision.

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For Science, you don't need to know any actual science. It is all reading graphs and analyzing them under the time limit. There might be like one or two questions that require ACTUAL science. NEVER read the blips of texts unless you absolutely need to, unless it is the Conflicting Viewpoints passage, then and only then READ EVERY SINGLE WORD. Know that you will only have a max of 5 to 6 minutes per passage. That's why you need to keep the reading to a minimum.

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I think if you really put all the work and heart into studying you can get your score up to maybe even a 34+. It is all about consistency, accuracy, and precision in your practice. You have a month and a half so you should get going as soon as possible. I'd suggest splitting out the sections into a full practice test for the first 2 weeks, and then taking a practice test each week until the test. AMA or PM me if you have any questions or need help, I'm more than happy to. Hope this helps, and that you get your score up!

u/hungryholo · 4 pointsr/ACT

theres the official act prep guide which is probably your best bet because it comes from the act people, it costs about $20 but im sure that your local library would have it because mine does, i know that uworld has act problems and people on this reddit get the free trials, and you can find free act practice tests and can print them out. heres some question sets on the official act website.

as for the science section, its actually very simple. in my experience you dont actually need any extensive background knowledge in science. its more on the logical side, as most of these tests are. if you can read and interpret graphs and charts and come to logical conclusions, practice a little bit to figure out the whole idea of how to find the answer, you should be fine. science is actually the section where i get the least wrong.

you can definitely study for free. theres quite alot of free test pdfs and if you can find the act prep guide at a library that would be even more help. the guy from uworld gives free access so thats free too. the problems on the act website are also free. i hope thats enough to help you study and good luck!!!

u/sickcint · 1 pointr/ACT

There are a ton of strategies online you could use to improve your reading speed (just google them) and using effective reading strategies also helps. Some people deep read while others skim and refer back, but when it comes to reading those strategies are really subjective so find out which one works best for you. The MOST IMPORTANT strategy for reading is to NEVER answer the questions in the order ACT gives you. For example, you should answer questions about general summation last and questions referring to specific lines first. This saves A TON of time. As always, practice makes perfect. The most useful practice book for reading I've found is this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0997517824/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
For science, organize the passages into difficulty levels and come back to the more complicated passages (or passages that require reading) after you've finished the easier ones for the science section. This will save you a significant amount of time.
Hope this was helpful! :)

u/ranik23 · 1 pointr/ACT

I never read or even looked into either of those books, so I can't give a fair comparison but she bought it off amazon. It's honestly actually a great read because it's concise and the examples are hilarious. But I have to be fair and say that both of us attend a pretty selective/rigours program for math, science, and english (which is literally what the ACT is), and the program itself helped us a lot in terms of content/time management since we did covered a lot of this material early on in highschool. I'd love to help out in any way I can if you ever need it :)

https://www.amazon.com/Your-Score-2018-2019-Underground-Outsmarting/dp/0761193669/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511133974&sr=8-1&keywords=up+your+score+act+2018+2019

u/gadgetman6 · 2 pointsr/ACT

lol its ok u will improve. here are some of my resources:

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if u haven't already, i suggest this book for practice tests: https://www.amazon.com/Official-Guide-2018-19-Online-Content/dp/1119508061?ref=ast_p_ep

once i was done with that, i looked up tests online (there are plenty of them!)

if u struggle with science, i suggest this book: https://www.amazon.com/Love-ACT-Science-innovative-standardized/dp/0996832203/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1537486319&sr=1-2&keywords=act+science

it's a bit pricey, so i suggest getting a used one

if u wanna learn some great tips on how to improve ur score in every section, this book has some amazing info: https://www.amazon.com/ACT-Prep-Black-Book-Strategies-ebook/dp/B07BGDM282/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1537486409&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=act+black+book&psc=1

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i found these books to be sufficient, but also look for tutors in your area for help

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good luck, i hope to see ur thicc 36 post soon! send me a message when it happens :D

u/prepACTSAT · 1 pointr/ACT

If you want a cheaper (and I think better) alternative, consider Understanding the ACT Scientific Reasoning. Here's what it has the "for the Love of ACT Science" doesn't have:

  • advice about how to approach the section - understanding how the passages are structure and what to look for. My method is based on how science is actually done, so it helps you understand all the passages without too much hard work.
  • discussion of the good and bad timing strategies and which suit different people
  • different advice for students in different score ranges
  • proper review of outside knowledge you need (30+ pages instead of 1), including how to answer equation/math questions
  • answer explanations to the ACT's 5 free practice tests so you can apply your practice on the real tests (always better than book tests)
  • detail on all the different types of graphs and what they show

    This is a new book, published this year, so it's not very well known yet, but if you read my Amazon reviews, you'll see that private tutors are now using the methods they've read in my book. I've been tutoring since 2014 and almost none of my students have science as their lowest score. It's almost $10 cheaper than "For the love of...", and I think it's a lot better. I don't waste space in the book constructing practice tests, because you can find them online for free and it's impossible to replicate the ACT's anyway (the book has links to my own website where you can find them). Instead, I guide you as to how to practice effectively.

    Find it on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-ACT-Scientific-Reasoning-mastering/dp/1771365692/
u/raymondadvantage · 3 pointsr/ACT

If you're scoring 25's everywhere, you have a lot of content you need to learn.

Most of the 3rd party books are crap. Sorry. They are. I've read almost all of them, and it's filler.

I like Webster's grammar: https://amzn.com/0375719679
+understanding the rhetorical questions by using practice tests and making your own steps
Cheap math book: https://amzn.com/1592441300
Reading: Man, I've covered this on other posts
Science: a basic understanding of scientific concepts + practice

A 7-point increase is not easy on your own, but you can do it if you make a study plan and stick to it. You're going to have to search out why you don't get questions right if you don't understand the explanations. You're going to have to hold yourself accountable to your own knowledge level. Doing something that hard on your own is extremely difficult, but, if you can do it, you will be supremely prepared for college and will be a very successful person.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not in any way trying to discourage you from doing this on your own. The fact that you're on this subreddit and asking for help already shows that you are a lot more mature than your peers. Make a plan; stick to it; and re-evaluate it periodically.

If you go content-driven (which is the evidence-based way to increase your score the most), you're not going to get linear score increases. You might study for a month and get 1 point. Some weird click moment happens when things get easier and recall of topics starts to happen more. But isn't it like that for almost everything?

u/hawkeye295 · 1 pointr/ACT

If you're going for a high score I recommend Barrons. These practice tests are notably harder than the actual ACT, but if you don't let it kill your confidence it can increase your score. For example, on the English section, I averaged in the high 20s in this book. On my final actual test, I got a 36. Luckily, the book is pretty cheap on amazon..

https://www.amazon.com/Barrons-ACT-Act-Book-Only/dp/1438003471

u/[deleted] · 1 pointr/ACT

In all honesty, you don't need big-name practice workbooks (PR, Barron's, Kaplan, etc.) to do well on the exam. Take as many of the ACT practice tests (the real ones, skypetutor has a link on reddit), and each time you miss a question, be sure to review what you got wrong. For English, if you're a beginner, study the ACT English bootcamp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9-UcKc39-U&list=PLWrx3HAZbAqGTrgoMjihz1tHLdhJ3YwdR

For math, I would recommend Richard Corn's book on the ACT math section: https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Guide-Math-Richard-Corn/dp/0998584916/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1537652751&sr=1-2-fkmr0&keywords=ultimate+guide+to+the+math+ACT+2nd

He gives a really good explanation of all the concepts on the ACT math section and even includes practice questions.

For reading, I would recommend you just grind as many of the practice tests as possible. Also remember, one of the answer choices is 100% correct, while the three others are 0% correct. In other words, one of the questions is completely, without a doubt, correct, while the others contain something that is completely wrong.

For science, I would recommend you grind as many practice tests since this section is similar to the Reading section, but I would also recommend For the Love of ACT Science by Michael Cerro, found here: https://www.amazon.com/Love-ACT-Science-innovative-standardized/dp/0996832203/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1537652960&sr=1-1&keywords=for+the+love+of+act+science

He gives a thorough review of ALL types of questions on the test, and even includes several practice tests that are based off of the real exams.

I will stress this one more time, NOTHING BEATS PRACTICE WITH A REAL ACT TEST. Don't spend 30 dollars off on Amazon to buy a Princeton Review or Barron's practice book with only 3-4 practice tests. There are over 70 real tests on reddit, courtesy of skypetutor: https://www.reddit.com/r/ACT/comments/8l7xhc/links_to_free_pdf_downloads_of_all_65_and/

u/Meritosis · 2 pointsr/ACT

English - Erica Meltzer

Math - College Panda

Reading - Erica Meltzer

Science - For The Love of ACT Science (FTLOAS) By Michael Cerro

Essay - College Panda

I also recommend buying the ACT red book for practice tests

Another option is the ACT black book, has very good strategies

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I bought all these and I started with math, going well so far! These have really good reviews and is recommended by this subreddit!

u/rain_on_sun · 1 pointr/ACT

I like the way you think. I've been noticing myself that spending hours studying and testing on a screen often leaves me with a headache. On top of that, you're just clicks away from any distractions being online.

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I definitely admire the old-fashioned by the books approach. After taking another redditor's recommendation, I ordered this: https://www.amazon.com/Book-Practice-Problems-Manhattan-Prep/dp/194123450X

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I should be getting it soon (hopefully today or tomorrow). Let me know what you think of it.

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I have like 12 days before the test. Wish me luck.

u/ACTforyouandme · 1 pointr/ACT

I would assume you would have a solid shot at Cornell. Cornell is actually the most transfer-friendly of the Ivies. I just applied to Cornell as a transfer student with a 34 and am waiting on my decision. However, most of the other Ivy League schools take a more limited number of transfers. Not to say that it would be impossible to transfer somewhere like Yale, for example, but your shot would be significantly lower than that of a first year applicant's. I think you should check out Cal Newport's "How to Become a High School Superstar." The title may sound corny, but the author details the stories of many successful gap year students. Here's the Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/How-High-School-Superstar-Revolutionary/dp/0767932587. Also, as a prospective transfer student I've read a lot of material on the tips and tricks of transfer admission so feel free to PM me if you'd like to ask me anything! Hope this helps!!

u/myaltaccountforme · 1 pointr/ACT

https://www.amazon.com/Casio-W800H-1AV-Classic-Sport-Watch/dp/B001AWZDA4

It’s 10 dollars. To make it silent just unscrew the back panel (it has 4 tiny screws) and put tape over it. It counts upwards from zero. Super easy to use and super cheap. It can also function as a normal watch as well.

u/Mao1435 · 1 pointr/ACT

I mean there are basically two ways. One: improve your fundamentals. That's like the long-term strategy. Basically, read like crazy. New Yorker, the Atlantic, New York Times, non-fiction books, and what not. It's like if you don't even have the muscle to throw a three-pointer, then it's pretty much pointless to practice 3pts.

Second is to learn some reading skills. Annotations, skimming & scanning, etc. Personally I'm not a big fan of these, but they do come in handy if you don't have, like 5 months to incrementally improve your reading.

If you do have the time, I would recommend the following two books:
https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Literature-Like-Professor/dp/0062301675/ref=pd_sim_14_7?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0062301675&pd_rd_r=35Q5NY3NKYMXGNRRAZZ6&pd_rd_w=4BP03&pd_rd_wg=oJkPO&psc=1&refRID=35Q5NY3NKYMXGNRRAZZ6

https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Book-Classic-Intelligent/dp/0671212095

u/IowaTransplant21 · 3 pointsr/ACT

There isn’t really a good quick fix to math. Study and do practice problems. You shouldn’t focus on memorizing a hundred different math formulas.

For science check out this book: For the Love of ACT Science: An... https://www.amazon.com/dp/0996832203?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

You don’t really need to know anything specific about science. It’s about picking up context clues from the questions, analyzing trends/axis titles, and comparing theories (in the conflicting viewpoints section). If you have any questions, you can find us at https://learnDSM.com. I’m publishing a few articles about the test on my site. Prep Scholar is a pretty good resource too.

u/rgrabbit · 1 pointr/ACT

I moved from a 28 to a 33 on the science section solely I believe from changing the way I approached the section. Don't read the passages before moving to the questions, it's a waste of time and frankly there's a lot of extra info you don't need. Most of the questions are just looking at some charts and finding the answers. For the questions that ask about info from the passage just read the few lines you need. Trust me, it'll help tremendously. Also, I used this book https://www.amazon.com/Love-ACT-Science-innovative-standardized/dp/0996832203 to study for the science section. It's a little pricey (28 ish dollars) but its totally worth it. Anyways, hope this helps. Also for the English and Math sections check out the "College Panda" books they also helped my score immensely. With these books and doing practice tests I ended up at a composite of a 35! You've got this.

u/readditoveragain · 2 pointsr/ACT

Thanks, I will definitely use those tips! I just ordered this https://www.amazon.com/Test-Buddy-ACT-36-for-ACT/dp/B01E0CS5L4/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_pdt_img_sims?ie=UTF8 and I am hoping this will help move me along.

u/saadzmirza · 1 pointr/ACT

Purchase and read through this book, thoroughly. Then do the practice tests in it:
https://www.amazon.com/Official-ACT-Prep-Guide-2016/dp/1119225418/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475214343&sr=8-1&keywords=red+book+act


Approach questions with confidence after you read the book.

E: Learn the English grammar rules: http://blog.prepscholar.com/act-grammar-rules

M: Brush up on math with Khan Academy SAT Math Practice.

R: Practice tests!

S: Practice tests!

  • When taking practice tests, always take them in a realistic environment (preferably in the AM).

  • USE A TIMER. Practice setting the timer 5 minutes early. This will help you get used to 5-minute warnings. Try to finish AT the 5-minute warning so you have time to go back and check.

    You'll do great!
u/ACTswordmaster101 · 1 pointr/ACT

https://www.amazon.com/Test-Buddy-ACT-36-for-ACT/dp/B01E0CS5L4

This is awesome. I used it for my test. Maybe it gave me luck for my 33

u/keedorin · 1 pointr/ACT

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0996832203 - science (Really helpful)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0997517824 - Reading (Really helpful)

I'm very skeptical when it comes to buying books that promise that they'll help me out. When everyone told me to buy these books, I believed they were lying about how good they were; however, when I read these books, it made the ACT test seem so much more simple. Also, as sk0620 said, taking a bunch of practice tests help out a lot. Every day, I do a section practice test to better my skills.

u/BioPsy16 · 1 pointr/ACT

Keep in mind that the creators of CrackACT have no credentials and the material may not be similar at all. Also, test prep books often have really good explanations, which could help you understand the problems better.

I recommend this book for math: https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1936214601/ref=olp_f_used?ie=UTF8&f_new=true&f_used=true&f_usedAcceptable=true&f_usedGood=true&f_usedLikeNew=true&f_usedVeryGood=true

u/dkerschbaum · 3 pointsr/ACT

Get a book. If you have never taken one, I would recommend the official ACT Test Book (or it's named something like that). Take a practice test without looking at anything just to get an idea of what your score looks like.

Official ACT Book: https://www.amazon.com/Official-Guide-2018-19-Online-Content/dp/1119508061/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1549992754&sr=8-3&keywords=official+act+prep+guide+2018-2019

If the benchmarks you mentioned are the ones that ACT has, then they are:
Math: 22
Science: 23
English: 18
Reading: 22

After that, break down the most troubling sections into smaller chunks and work on those. Some examples for me were the last 20 math questions (usually the hardest of the entire math test), Prose Fiction reading passages, multiple science sections, etc.

Take another practice test, rinse and repeat.

If you feel this isn't helping, I understand completely. This is what I did, and it helped me. Find another method, or get a tutor, which is what I did. Hope this helps!

u/croatiaking · 1 pointr/ACT

Also, if out of sources, order the the new red book.

This will have 3 additional recently administered exams. So make the best use of them!

u/remembertosmilebot · 1 pointr/ACT

Did you know Amazon will donate a portion of every purchase if you shop by going to smile.amazon.com instead? Over $50,000,000 has been raised for charity - all you need to do is change the URL!

Here are your smile-ified links:

https://smile.amazon.com/Understanding-Scientific-Reasoning-Jerusha-Richardson/dp/1771365692/ref=sr_1_3

---

^^i'm ^^a ^^friendly bot

u/YuzuFan · 2 pointsr/ACT

I used this prep book, I thought it was phenomenal myself. I caught one error in the whole book, and all the questions were exactly like the ACT

https://www.amazon.com/Book-Practice-Problems-Manhattan-Prep/dp/194123450X

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Did the whole book in 2 weeks at the end of one summer break just before school and then aced the September ACT, never looked back. Very thankful for this book

u/quesbook_testprep · 1 pointr/ACT

ACT Prep Black Book, Ultimate Guide to the Math ACT and Top 50 ACT Math Skills for a Top Score are used by lots of students and tutors. I won't recommend you reading the whole book though. Smart prep is all about finding your weak knowledge points first through practice and work on those specific skills through targeted and focused practice or reading related materials to fill the content gaps.

u/faups · 3 pointsr/ACT

My friends and I really like this book. It goes in-depth with every skill needed on the ACT, with explanations and ample practice problems.

u/skypetutor · 1 pointr/ACT

Find it on Amazon--despite rampant PDF sharing on this forum, I don't encourage the stealing of copyrighted books. https://www.amazon.com/Love-ACT-Science-innovative-standardized/dp/0996832203

u/DFReroll · 3 pointsr/ACT

Get yourself this book

And go over it. Then use the strategies it teaches you on a couple practice tests...

ACT Science is a 35 minute sprint at the end of a 4 hour marathon.

u/jackdez23 · 1 pointr/ACT

https://www.amazon.com/Test-Buddy-ACT-36-for-ACT/dp/B01E0CS5L4

I got this one and it really helped me get the timing down act switching from the sat. It has timer presets for each section and tells you what question/passage you should be on. The only downside is that it is cheaply made and overpriced, but in the end it gets the job done.

It does count up tho so if that does would work for you I’d go with a different one.

u/FHM_IV · 2 pointsr/ACT

For the 26 I didn’t study more than a week out for any of them, but for this last one I signed up for a prep class and started studying about a month and a half before the test. Every Saturday I’d take a practice test from the ACT prep book then go over what I’d missed the following Monday and Tuesday and try to figure out what I did wrong and I’d rework all the math problems. I also used the 5 lb. ACT practice book to get extra practice on the types of problems I was struggling with.