Taking the ACT test is one of the options that students can consider when they are applying for college. Similar to the SAT exam, the ACT exam is believed to display a student’s academic preparedness for the subjects they have studied during their high school years. It is used in most colleges in the United States in assessing the qualification of a student in entering their programs.
Getting a high score in the ACT may place a student in a competitive position among other applicants, increasing the chance of the student's acceptance. Students may even aim to receive scholarships from their school with an exceptional ACT score. Due to the complexity of achieving a high ACT score, many students attempt to find an ACT prep or tutoring that will help them receive a good score. There are a lot of ACT courses that vary in learning format, access period and budget for students to choose from based on their situations. Finding the right course will be greatly helpful for students in becoming closer to their desired outcome in the ACT exam.
10 Best ACT prep courses 2022
1. Kaplan
Kaplan provides live and on-demand courses as well as private tutoring. The self-paced program is suited for those looking for the best value as it has the lowest price among all the program listed here. It provides 30 brief on-demand lessons that students can watch everyday without dedicating too much portion of their daily schedule. More expensive programs include the live online ACT course that is led by teachers in real-time as well as the unlimited program that provides the materials for other tests such as PSAT and SAT. Students can benefit from 7-day free trial and consultation to find the right program for them.
2. The Princeton Review
Similar to Kaplan, the Princeton Review has on-demand, live program as well as one on e one tutoring. While their ACT 31+ guarantee course is on the more expensive side, their guarantee policy assures money back to students when students who started with a 26 score do not pass the score of 31 on their actual test. It can be an attractive option for advanced students looking to apply for top universities. For students with even higher goal can opt for more intensive and expensive 34+ score guarantee program. The dashboard page has a neat organization of contents for students' convenient practice and review.
3. Prestige Institute
Prestige offers both in-person and online ACT courses that meet different needs of students of all levels. It has live bootcamp and crash courses as well as one-on-one tutoring. The live program includes concept and advanced classes and crash courses aiming the actual test dates that covers the entire concept plus application to the questions. With the motive of realizing in-person classes at home, Prestige provides live sessions with the top instructors in the industry, a large question bank, and an online community where students can ask questions and study together. Free consultation and a full-length mock test is available to help students find the best program based on their needs.
4. Magoosh
Magoosh is the best option for those seeking a quality education on a budget. Its online self-paced course guarantees students who study 20 minutes a day can raise their score by at least 4 points. One notable feature of Magoosh test prep is their optimization of the materials for computers, tablets and mobile phones to help students access them from anywhere. The study planner and text reminder features enable students to set their goals and maintain their study schedule. While it is a completely self-paced course, students can benefit from the tracking resources to maintain their study schedule. Students can also benefit from their 7-day free trial.
5. Testive
Testive was founded by MIT students on the idea of providing high-quality and low-cost tutoring to students from their home. It offers three different types of courses : the bootcamp, coaching, and coaching plus. The basic prep program that comes with practice questions and tracking features is free, while it encourages students to use its coaching system. It lets students identify their learning style first and goes on to connect the coach to them that is best suited for their situations. Students can choose from a regular coaching program and a premium program with more intensive instructions. Free practice tests with digital proctoring is included in the program.
6. Prepscholar
Prepscholar is known to have structured lesson videos provided by highly qualified instructors. Like many other companies, it provides a guarantee policy where students will see their scores increase by at least 4 point or they will get their money back. While its mobile accessibility can be less appealing compared to other services, it provides one of the highest number of test questions as well as 100 hours of video lessons. The reminder feature involves email reports sent to students and parents to help them keep track of the students’ learning progress. Free initial consultation is provided for students who need help choosing courses.
7. Peterson’s
Peterson's test prep provides an online self-paced program that is on a monthly subscription basis. It provides written material on specific ACT subjects using flashcards for effective delivery of the contents. Rather than the lesson videos, Peterson’s prioritizes the use of their quality study guide to train students to be a better test taker. Its program is the best for those seeking budge-friendly options while maintaining the access to qualified instructions and resources. Upon signing up, students can access the content materials of other exams such as SAT and AP. While it is not the one with the most up-to-date technology, Peterson utilizes simple and down-to-earth method in their delivery of contents.
8. Prep Expert
Prepscholar is known to provide high-quality materials for students’ comprehensive learning. Students can download the book that contains some useful resources from the course dashboard upon signing up. It offers live classes, self-paced course, and private tutoring options, with the live classroom having the most popularity. Students can engage in live interactions with the teacher and other students as they listen to the lecture. The guarantee policy assures that students see 4-point or higher ACT score increase or they will receive their money back. Another strength of Prep Expert is that every tutor leading its course has scored in the top 1% in the ACT test.
9. Varsity Tutors
Varsity tutors is an in-person and online tutoring service that specializes in test prep. The website provides access to the detailed profiles of the ACT tutors including their test scores, education and location. Students can choose the tutor that is best suited for their individual goals and situations. The tutor satisfaction guarantee policy ensures that students obtain the best help they need with the instructors of their choice. Besides tutoring, Varsity tutors also offers bootcamps of different pricings that either cover all four sections a specific subject on the SAT.
10. Khan Academy
Having an exclusive ties with College Board on the SAT test, Khan Academy does not have a section specifically dedicated to ACT prep. However, all the relevant ACT concept materials are accessible on Khan Academy’s website. Students can practice with test questions and watch video lessons that cover all four sections on the ACT. The best part of learning from Kahn Academy is that all the resources are absolutely free of charge. It is a great option for students with determination to start their ACT prep and obtain useful information on the concepts of the ACT exam.
Conclusion
With the competitiveness of the online ACT prep market, many companies are providing courses of different quality and quantity of resources on a varied price range. The most common formats that appear throughout different companies are live classrooms, on-demand lessons, self-paced courses and one-one-one tutoring. To make the most use of the diverse options in the ACT prep, students may compare the different benefits that each course provides and choose the one that best suits their goals and learning styles. Some points that students may be able to consider are their user-friendliness of their software, qualified materials and test questions, pricing, and the quality of the instructors.
Prestige Institute is the premier ACT & SAT test prep in the East Coast, primarily based on NJ and NY. Over the past 7 years in the test prep industry, it has helped over 10,000 students reach their target scores to apply for their desired colleges. It is best known for its exclusive expertise on the ACT exam as a result of its years of dedicated study on the questions and test taking strategies. Its online program offers both live classroom and self-paced courses that includes access to extensive library of questions, expert study materials, and most importantly, its signature online Slack community where students can actively interact with their peers by asking questions or discussing on specific subjects.