Ultimate Guide to the Math ACT

I'm a Harvard grad, ACT/SAT perfect scorer and ACT tutor with 15 years of full-time experience. This 1st edition of the Ultimate Guide to the Math ACT (published in 2012) is now a bit outdated, but it's still the very best strategy guide out there for ACT Math. It includes a strong focus on the basics such as fractions, decimals, percentages, proportions, basic algebra, geometry and word problems, yet also deftly covers more difficult concepts such as matrices, probability, imaginary numbers, logarithms, inverse functions, polynomial/synthetic division, and translation of trigonometric functions. What I like most about this book is not only that it explains ACT math concepts in a clear and concise way, but that it focuses only on the math concepts actually tested on the ACT. In addition, it references and categorizes questions from the Real ACT Prep Guide (an older edition), which is a great idea because there is no better practice than using real ACT questions during the prep process. There are a couple of minor problems with the book, now that it's 2017. First, the ACT Math has increased in difficulty somewhat, and now covers a broader range of subject matter, which means that there are now a few minor topics (such as slant asymptotes and the equation of an ellipse) that are not included in this book. Second, as I mentioned before, this book references many questions from "The Real ACT Prep Guide," but there have been several updates to the Real ACT Prep Guide aka the Official ACT Prep Guide aka the Big Red Book. If you are looking for the actual edition that Corn is referencing in this book, then here it is: The Real ACT (CD) 3rd Edition (Official Act Prep Guide) However, be aware that the Writing/Essay portions of these older tests are now completely outdated. Overall, this is an excellent guide and it covers 99% of what you will need to excel on the Math ACT. Highly recommended, and well worth the Kindle version for only $5. For my full ACT prep recommendations, google "ACT Action Plan."

Pros: 1.) Compact and Focused 2.) Comprehensive - each and every math topic on the test is covered 3.) Clear - the lessons are well written and easy to follow 4.) Concise and clear answer explanations for all problems Cons: 1.) Practice problems are a little easy at times. Especially since the post-2015 ACT Math sections have grown noticeably more difficult. 2.) Not nearly enough practice for low to mid level students. Definitely a good book for a refresher or for a quick overview of what is on the ACT. Just be sure to supplement it with a source of additional practice such as actual ACT Math sections or the Manhattan Prep 5 lb book.

I am a full time professional test prep tutor. I work with hundreds of highly motivated, competitive students looking to gain an edge on being admitted to the most selective universities. This is the type of book that I love to find. Written by a tutor who works on these topics daily. I have just finished reading this book from cover to cover. Though I did not do all of the exercises, I will. And I will read the explanations. Reading the answer explanations is as important as reading the lessons, maybe more so. And I will have students buy this book. How I will use it is as it is intended: a workbook on areas where a student is weak. I can identify those areas and will assign that chapter as homework. A student does not have to do ALL of the book to get a higher score, just the chapters that are problematic. Because Richard is a professional tutor with many years of experience, he writes each lesson like a tutoring session - straight to the point, learn what you need to learn to get this type of problem correct, and then move on. I did read the 1 & 2 star reviews. I can understand their points, if you want professionally edited polish, go to Kaplan or Barron's. But they focus more on polish and not to the point tutoring. I love to read books by real tutors who work with real students, like Erica Meltzer (her ACT English book is a perfect compliment to this one). Like Erica, Richard writes in a "teaching" style, telling you what he knows from studying the ACT. The book flows like a conversation between a top-notch tutor and a motivated student. He teaches what the student needs to learn and then moves on. If he covered every topic in depth, this book would be thousands of pages long. I only recommend investing your $15 in this book if you want a real bargain from a tutor who probably charges more than $300/hour for one-on-one sessions. ($15 is about 3 minutes of his time). But his book gives you 20 to 30 hours worth of tutoring.

This is a good book, and I have used it to brush up on my mathematics skills lost from high-school - it's a good all-round primer to the various topics, written in a concise style, and the chapters focus exclusive on each of those topics. What this book isn't is a narrative, learning book: I have found that the book introduces the matters concisely, but that - where in doubt - various web searches, youtube video tutorials and others have been useful to supplement the book. Then, at the end of each chapter, there are quite a few sample questions - and these are good, since they're not generally easy, with tricky questions and very good multiple choice answers - with most answers being entirely plausible for those who've tripped up. All in all, a good book. Download the errata also, there are a few minor mistakes that are answered in that - but otherwise a 5-star review, and much enjoyed.

Unlike SAT math, which requires mental gymnastics, ACT math is straightforward and very similar to math taught in high school. It tests a combination of algebra, geometry and pre-calculus. What's needed is a book that provides a comprehensive, detailed and well-paced review of these math areas in such a way that any high school student can sit down and work from start to finish (alone or with a tutor) to master the material. Richard's book does just that. It covers all the territory tested on ACT math, presenting section-by-section conceptual overviews followed by test questions that implement and extend the concepts. Detailed answers accompany each section. An index is provided at the end of the book that cross-references questions to the ACT Red Book, an extraordinarily practical feature. Trust me, this book is a great resource and teaching tool. I use it with all my ACT students to make sure there are no gaps in their "math histories" and to extend the range of their ACT math expertise. Highly recommended.

This book did what I wanted it to. It helped me achieve a better score on the math portion of a placement test. I would have given it five stars but it really doesn't do that great of a job explaining the more complicated problems and there were some obvious typos and math errors, for example, it said on one of the problems the solution ended up resulting in 90 because 16x5=90 which is incorrect. That being said, it helped me go from a failing to a passing and I was able to place where I needed to so, there you have it.

What a fantastic book to prep for the ACT! This "guide" is an excellent resource to shore up areas of weakness in math before the ACT. Math is not our daughter's favorite subject. It was an area that needed improvement to bring her ACT score up in order to qualify for an academic scholarship. I made her a schedule and she diligently (with my gently prodding) worked through the book before retaking the ACT. After reading each section, she completed the practice problems, and checked them. If we noticed a section/concept where she missed several problems, we would look up that concept on Khan Academy and she would complete the corresponding unit. Her hard work and focus resulted in a 3 point increase on her ACT!

I'm a tutor, and have used this book with about 10 students. It's perfect for a student scoring lower than about a 26 on the ACT Math section, as that tends to mean they need a little work on many topics on the test. This book provides clear explanations and true-to-test practice problems for every math topic on the ACT. For a comprehensive review, it's hard to beat.

Yes, it is a good book with lots of practice.