Curveball: The ACT finally released the Real ACT Prep Guide, 4th Edition … but they named it the Official ACT Prep Guide. And that’s where the creativity ends. (Quick note: this review applies to the 2016-2017 edition. You can find our review of the Official ACT Prep Guide 2018 edition here!)

The Real ACT Prep Guide, 4th Edition with a New Name

We’ve been waiting for this book for a LONG time. (See the bottom of this post for our laments on the overdue-ness of this guide.)

Honestly, as someone who likes to consider herself one of the biggest champions of ACT test-takers everywhere, I’m pretty disappointed for the kids. The ACT could have done a much better job of addressing the complaints with the out-of-date real ACT Guide, 3rd Edition that has been around for five years (ancient in standardized-test years), and it fell short.

But let’s start with the good stuff. There are definitely some things the ACT got right with the Official ACT Prep Guide, 2016-2017.

Pros to The Official ACT Prep Guide, 2016-2017

I like the very specific lists of concepts and skills that are tested on the ACT in the first chapter. This gets quite detailed, particularly on Math, such as “[students need to know how to] solve equations in the form of x + a = b, where a and b are whole numbers or decimals” or “find where a rational function’s graph has a vertical asymptote” This makes it very easy for students to know specifically what bits of school knowledge they need to brush up on.

I also appreciate that the ACT’s Official Guide truly embraces the test prep mindset, even more than the old guide did. Part 3 is specifically entitled “How to Improve Your Score” and the book does actually give some real, helpful advice to improve your ACT score in all sections: English, Math, Reading, Science, and Writing.

There are better answer explanations to the practice test questions. Some could use work, but in general, answer explanations are comprehensive and go beyond just stating the right answer (The College Board could learn a few things here regarding the Official SAT Study Guide). I particularly like the Math incorrect answer explanations. For example, “If you chose A, you may have incorrectly used the radius of the circle instead of its diameter in the formula.” This is real. This is what students do. An explanation like this actually gives you good insight into how the ACT constructs incorrect answer choices by anticipating where students might get tripped up along the way.

It has official practice tests that have actually been given to students. You aren’t going to get official ACT questions any place other than from the ACT, and these official tests should always form a core part of your test prep. But my enthusiasm here is tempered. See the first Con below for why.

Cons to The Official ACT Prep Guide, 2016-2017

The reason why the old Real ACT Prep Guide, 3rd edition has been such a travesty for the past few years is that it no longer matched the test students saw when they actually went to go take the ACT. In the years since this guide was released, the ACT changed the format of the Science section, added comparison passages on Reading, and introduced an entirely different essay. The Official ACT Prep Guide, 2016-2017 fixes these issues, thankfully. Format-wise the test now matches what students will actually see. However, this is a downgrade from the previous book for a couple reasons. One, as many students (and tutors like myself) have reported: the ACT tests of recent years have gotten more nuanced and complex and indeed a bit harder and trickier. But even though this is a refreshed guide for 2016-2017, the tests are a hodgepodge of old and new material, including material you could access in old ACT prep materials or on the ACT website.

And, what’s more, there are only 3 practice tests in this book, not 5 practice tests as there were in the old Real ACT Prep Guide! Come on! Students need more to practice with.

There are other oversights as well, such as the fact that the book says it will address in Chapter 1 the proportion of Data Representation, Research Summaries, and Conflicting Viewpoints questions that will appear on the ACT Science test. It never does. This is a big deal, since many students prep with a specific pacing strategy on the hard-to-finish Science section, and the unannounced format change has seriously thrown off students in the past. In addition, the guide has the same practice essay prompt in both in the first practice test and as a prompt to practice with in the Writing chapter of the book.

If you’re studying for the ACT, you should buy this Official Guide. It’s an indispensable part of your ACT test prep. That said, I think that the ACT could have done a much better job with the guide — hopefully it will with next year’s guide!

Video Book Review

Check out our video book review of the The Official ACT Prep Guide below!

See below for our previous thoughts in this post on why a new edition was badly needed for more context on why the new book falls short

Like many students and tutors out there, we think a 4th Edition of The Real ACT Prep Guide (The “Red Book”) is ridiculously overdue.

The 3rd edition (the current edition) was published in 2011, so, yeah… nearly five years ago. The tests in the book are from the 2005-2010 period, and, since this time, the ACT has changed in numerous subtle and not-so-subtle ways.

Here’s what’s not-so-subtly out of date in the 3rd edition:

The Writing test entirely changed in September 2015. This means that all of the example essays, scoring guides, and advice in The Real ACT Prep Guide no longer apply.

The Reading test has added a comparison passage as one of the four passages to read on the test. There are no examples of comparison passages in the Red Book.

More subtly, but still incredibly important:

Most tutors and students agree that the ACT has gotten more complex and harder to finish since around 2010. This means that students who prep with the Red Book are often panicked when they sit for the actual test administration and find it to be harder than the official tests they practiced with.

It’s honestly really a travesty. For a test that is so important to so many students and families, workarounds such as a website disclaimer (on the same page where they are continuing to sell the book) that the Writing advice and examples in the guide are no longer valid really doesn’t cut it.

But there’s hope!

(Sooner rather than later, we hope.)

The ACT expects to release a 4th edition of The Real ACT Prep Guide in 2016, although it’s not clear exactly when. The new guide will not be published by Peterson’s, which published the previous versions of the guide, but likely by the ACT itself (or some other company it employs in that effort).

Here’s what you can do while we wait:

I still recommend that students use the 3rd edition of the Red Book until we have a 4th edition. There’s still nothing quite like questions from the test maker to model the test you will actually see. But you need to supplement this with good practice materials that mimic more recent developments of the test and with the materials the ACT has released online to match the new test. These include:

A more recently released test. The current ACT in the Preparing for the ACT Guide on the website is from June 2014.

The practice questions on the ACT website.

The updated sample Writing prompt for the new essay on the ACT website.

In addition, look for practice materials that have been created to mimic the newer ACTs. This is our goal at Magoosh — we’ve created our questions and strategy advice with the more recent ACT tests in mind, and we will continue to update them as we see changes in the test.

When we get more information on the release of The Real ACT Prep Guide, 4th Edition, we will be sure to pass it along here!