Cracking the ACT

As an ACT Tutor, I have found this book most helpful to use with my students. From math strategies to punctuation technicalities, this book covers it all. The Science section is extensive, and very helpful as it is bursting with strategies. The practice tests provided in the book are of moderate difficulty. I recommend this resource to any student who wants to be prepared for all 5 test sections and get inside the heads, per say, of the test writers. As the ACT is very time pressured, learning Princeton Review's strategies would be very beneficial to students. I also recommend this resource to any tutor or parent that is looking to help a student prep for the ACT exam. ACT prep can be rather arduous, but is always rewarding--good luck! Stacy Padula, Author of "Montgomery Lake High"

I got this book for my boyfriend to help him prepare for the ACT, along with two more books including the official preparation guide. I was a bit worried about which one was best, since he hasn't taken college preparatory classes in high school and therefore would be harder for him to familiarize with subjects he was never taught. He soon told me, though, that this was the only book he needed. It explains everything in detail other than just giving tips, it is fun to read and also makes him feel confident about his scores; an excellent prep guide.

I think that the science section of this book is not as difficult as the ACT tests are. Otherwise, this contains useful information and good practice tests. I would buy this with the Real ACT Book, though, to make sure to get good science help.

Bought this book for my daughter and it helped her prepare for the test. I srtongly believe it got her and extra 3-5 points on the test.

Before purchasing this book, I bought the Peterson's and Sparknotes ACT preparation books. The Peterson's book is terrible, and its practice tests are impossible to score well on (along with this, they are definitely not comparable to the real ACT test). The Sparknotes book is excellent with its English concepts, but its Reading, Science and Math weren't as good. Cracking the ACT contained not only great practice tests, but its English and Math reviews helped me a lot! I took a diagnostic test in the Peterson's book and scored in the low twenties for Math and English (I didn't even attempt the others because the book was terrible). After reviewing the Princeton Review book, I was able to score a 29 and 30 on Math and English, respectively on the real test. The Science portion also gave good strategies pertaining its questions. For the Reading and Science sections, all I would recommend you do is to start READING BOOKS! You can't really "study" for these sections, so I would advise you to start checking out/buying some books for your spare time if you want to do well on these parts. This book, however, gave good formats on how to approach these questions. Overall, this book was very helpful, and I will continue to study it for when I take the ACT again this summer.