There are so many ACT-based tutoring sites and books scattered over the internet and on shelves in bookstores—it can be overwhelming to know where to start! Fiveable is here to simplify your search by breaking down the best resources you can use to make your studying as efficient and effective as possible. For a quick overview on the ACT exam format, check out our article "What's on the ACT?" to familiarize yourself with the exam.
⭐️ Fiveable's Resources
We have a wide variety of articles and guides that'll help you achieve your dream score. All our guides are written by high-scoring students who have gone through the process of taking and crushing the ACT, and we want to help you knock it out of the park, too. Our overview guides give you a run-down of every subject and provide you with practice ACT questions!
Fiveable’s ACT Hub will help you build the conceptual understanding you need to rock 🔥 the ACT. This hub has resources for all five sections of the ACT, as well as blogs with answers to common questions related to the ACT. Since all the resources are curated by students, you can be sure you're getting useful tips that have helped many students in the past.
We also offer ACT Crams, which are live virtual events hosted by students that have succeeded on the ACT. Offered for 5 nights before every ACT test date, these events will provide last-minute tips and tricks for every section of the ACT to boost your confidence for test day. You can engage with a fun community of students who are taking the ACT at the same time as you to hype each other up and increase your chances of getting the score you want. 🎉
🤓 ACT Resources for Review
When reviewing for the ACT, it is best to study with a combination of practice tests and resources to boost conceptual understanding. The best place to access ACT practice tests is CrackAB, with 20 completely free practice tests since the ACT last updated the exam in September 2015. ✅
On CrackAB, you’re able to focus your ACT studying efforts on specific sections. You can access hundreds of different passages or example questions across the English, math, reading, science, and essay sections, sharpening your skills in each section before test day. ✏️
🎉 Free ACT Resources
There are numerous other free ACT resources that you can use to succeed on your next ACT! 🙌
- Varsity Tutors—Varsity Tutors offers free unofficial diagnostic tests and practice tests with explanations. While these resources will not be as reliable and precise as the ACT’s official test forms, this resource is still helpful if you want even more practice.
- Princeton Review—Princeton Review offers certain free ACT review products, including practice tests that you can take virtually with a proctor or individually without a proctor.
- Reddit’s r/ACT Wiki—Written by students who recently took the ACT, this Reddit page is a gold mine 💰 of advice and answers to FAQs!
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- Erica Meltzer’s Complete SAT/ACT Grammar Rules—This page has a pretty self-explanatory name--it is a guidebook to the grammar rules you will need for the ACT and SAT. It may seem boring, but memorizing the grammar rules on this website will help you significantly on test day. To reinforce your understanding, practice the topics you learn on this page with the rule-specific practice tests on CrackAB. You'll ace the ACT English section in no time!
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- ACT.org Math Practice—What better way to practice for the ACT than to use the ACT's resources themselves? This page offers a free practice math test, and although the test is split up into five sections, you should time yourself and take all 60 questions at once before checking your answers. That way, you can get a feel for the real ACT Math section.
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- PrepScholar Blog—PrepScholar has numerous articles on ACT preparation, and they also explain the content of the ACT. They offer great strategies and useful advice for every section.
🎥 For Those Who Prefer Video Tutorials
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- SupertutorTV—SupertutorTV offers helpful tips and tricks for the ACT and goes over the more challenging problems in each section. Moreover, their YouTube channel also includes content covering topics like AP exams.- - SupertutorTV offers a great ‘practice proctor’ video, which you can play in the background when you take complete practice tests!- - They also offer a list of calculator programs that you can load on your calculator to help you breeze through the ACT Math section. Be sure to check ACT's calculator policy to double-check that these programs are approved.
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- BestACTPrep—The vast array of free content on this YouTube channel is very helpful for review. They offer many strategies that you can implement across the four required sections, and even provide walk-throughs of practice questions.
💸 Paid ACT Resources
While it’s definitely not necessary for you to pay for comprehensive ACT review, you can also benefit from these paid ACT resources:
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- Official ACT Prep Guide for 2023-24—With 6 full-length practice tests, a study guide, and online flashcards, the ACT’s official prep book may come in handy for your practice needs! Pro tip: You can probably purchase a cheaper book from the past 3-4 years and still get excellent preparation, or purchase a used version.
- Erica Meltzer’s The Critical Reader for Reading & English—These two books are helpful if you are specifically struggling in either section and need assistance with raising your scores within those sections.
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- The College Panda’s ACT Math Guide & Workbook—This book can be helpful if you need to focus specifically on the ACT Math 🧮 section.
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- For the Love of ACT Science—For those of you who can’t stand all the graphs 📈, tables, and charts 📊, this book breaks down the science section on the ACT.
🎉 Wrap-Up
All the work you’ve done will pay off on your test date. Through the use of the resources above, you are on track to succeed and to get your dream 💭 score. Remember: practice is most effective when you consistently reflect and correct your errors! Therefore, when you grade your completed practice tests, take notes on what you missed and the types of questions you need to work on in the future. A spreadsheet with columns for the question you missed, why you got it wrong, the correct answer, and how you can get it right in the future will do the trick! Take your analysis one step further by looking for patterns in the reasons you got the question wrong or how you can get it right. Then, you'll know exactly what to focus on for your next practice test. 😌
Here at Fiveable, we want to make sure that you're prepared to do your best on test day! Know that we’re all rooting 🙌 for your success on the ACT!