By Patrick Fitz

Students who are taking the SAT or the ACT have a wealth of resources from which to choose. While education consultants would recommend that students enroll in formal SAT prep or ACT classes, for example, students may through necessity or choice elect to study for these standardized tests on their own.

From individual volumes to long-standing institutional resources, test prep materials currently on the market span various spectra, from quality to length to verisimilitude. Students would be advised to do their homework before purchasing (or borrowing!) test prep materials and commencing their self-study with third-party learning resources.

Below is some advice on how to go about this process and set oneself up for success on the testing journey.

Resources on the Market

There exists a wealth of material worth considering to study for the SAT or the ACT. The best-known of these resources are guidebooks and diagnostic exam copies written by institutional test prep companies and agencies. Students and parents know the names—any bookstore or website selling test prep materials is likely to start with these: thick volumes of hundreds of pages of instruction, practice problems, and often one or a few demo exam copies.

Another, less common, alternative are unique volumes written often by individuals with deep expertise in the education industry. Each may focus on a particular section or aspect of the actual test or be an omnibus guidebook providing instruction and practice for the entire exam, be it the SAT or the ACT. These editions are more likely to be sold on specific websites, in larger bookstores, or from the individual themselves.

Idiosyncrasies and Trends

Each of these providers has what might be called a house style: trends evident throughout the various sections of the test (both the SAT and the ACT) where material deviates from the actual exam. This could include, for example, a disproportionate focus on certain math topics or literature and history reading passages focused on slightly different time periods. Each is different and may shift through time.

While no publishing house is likely to put out material that noticeably and significantly diverges from material on either the SAT or ACT, past students have reported that small differences do exist and, perhaps more importantly, scores on diagnostic exams may swing in one direction or the other.

For example, a student who scores a 1300 on the real SAT may have been scoring a 1350 on practice tests from one provider but only 1240 on tests from another. While the actual score is approximately the average of the two in this example (and the more tests taken from different providers, the better that average figure would be as a representation) only sitting diagnostics from one provider would obvious skew the test taker’s perception of their ability before the real SAT or ACT—this, in turn, could impact performance on test day.

Effective Use of Materials

It is entirely possible to buy a single guidebook, self-study, and perform well on the ACT or the SAT. Many students do this. However, one student’s particular weaknesses on a given exam may not be well-addressed by a particular provider’s offerings. Simply picking up a copy off of the shelf, then, is not the ideal strategy.

Students should, if possible, conduct research into the various resources available on the market and choose accordingly. Even better, students with opportunity should consider purchasing materials from multiple providers, which would even out whatever irregularities or divergences from the real SAT or ACT exam there are.

Irrespective of which and how many guidebooks any given student uses, students should remember that each is a representation, and not a perfect facsimile, of the actual exam it is purported to explain and instruct. This mindset will empower students to focus on using these resources not as talismans or cheatcodes but merely as tools for study.

Conclusion

Self-study is one option that students have when preparing for the SAT or the ACT. This may be truly independent or in conjunction with SAT classes or ACT prep or some other form of guided preparation for the exams.

Education consultants advise students to be, if not wary, then at least realistic about these materials. Guidebooks published by the various institutions through the years have assisted many students with achieving their dream scores, but completing one (or many!) does not guarantee a high score. One even shares the name of an institution in the Ivy League! Don't be fooled by clever marketing: resources are guides and tools, requiring a great deal of hard work and dedication from students in order to be truly beneficial.

Consequently, none is perfect, and students should ground their diagnostic exams in real sample SAT and ACT tests put out by the respective testing agencies. College Board and ACT Inc. each publishes past papers that real students have taken for real students. While supplementing these is both necessary and wise, they are the starting point for any form of test prep.

- Hale Education Group