Preparing your high school student for the ACT can be a daunted task. With the high cost of colleges nowadays, it is even more critical to get good scores to help with scholarships and get accepted into the college of your choice.  36U ACT Prep from 36 University will help your student prepare for the ACT.

The cost is very reasonable at $15.00 a month. You can cancel your subscription at any time. You are not locked into it for a certain amount of time.

36U ACT Prep is a unique prep for the ACT. It approaches it differently than other programs on the market. There are no lectures; instead, they use engaging motion graphic videos. The videos are around five minutes in length and are designed for visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles. Each video works on a specific topic using graphic illustrations. Each topic also has a downloadable component.

36U ACT Prep does not offer the full-length ACT sample test. Instead, they recommend you go to the official site to take the practice test. The program is meant to help you work through the ACT quickly and effectively with specific topics in each subject. In each subject, you have a motion graphic video for the topic. For example, in English, it will have one lesson on commas and another one on semicolons, dashes, and other concepts for the topic punctuation. Instead of a full-length test, you will have cumulative final quizzes for all the subjects. The last quizzes are also broken down into smaller chunks if there is more than one.

The layout of your lessons is downloading the Note Taking Guide and Note Taking Key. Next, you watch the motion graphic videos and take the quiz. You then review your questions, and if needed, you can retake the quiz. The quiz questions vary each time you retake the quiz and rotate with old and new questions.

An overview of navigating your account explains how the program works, along with tips, downloads, resources, and links. How to look at your progress and results and how many attempts are made on each quiz.

 36U ACT Prep covers math, English, reading, and science. Each section starts with an introduction video. You will see star ratings in the videos that indicated how many times you are likely to encounter the concepts in the ACT. Then, it is broken down into four sections: The Set-Up, The Pace, Plan of Attack, and Pro Tips.

The Set-Up gives you a layout of the different sceneries in that portion of the test and how many questions to expect; like in science, you can expect to see diagrams, tables, and graphs.

The Pace gives you an overview of how many questions and how to plan out your timing on that portion. An example: Science plan for thirty-five minutes and how many minutes you should plan per question.

Plan of Attack goes more in detail about what to look for in that section and highlights areas you should pay attention to details of that particular topic. It may suggest you underline certain areas or pay attention to specific areas in that portion of the test.

Pro Tips will give you suggestions and tips to help you get through sections quickly while taking the ACT.

Both Note Taking Guide and Note Taking Key have the same content as the videos. So, students can work on the worksheets while watching the videos.

The quizzes are only a few questions for each topic. There are around one-hundred and seventy-seven quizzes that are formulated from an extensive question bank for the ACT. They have hints and solutions to assist you throughout the program. Immediate feedback is provided at the end of the quiz and why the answer is correct or incorrect. It breaks down each possible answer to why it is correct or incorrect and provides a solution to the question. At the end of each quiz, you can view the quiz fully with the information you see during the quiz. If you score low, you can retake the quiz as many times as needed.

We had ordered the official ACT book this summer, and it was intimidating and had my son questioning going to college. He felt overwhelmed and defeated by the enormous book.

The videos are very well done and do a good job breaking up sections by topics. The videos make each topic clear and concise. It was refreshing seeing lessons broken down into chunks that felt more manageable. My son can go through several topics in a day with the short videos or do a section a day or one quiz. Areas that he is not confident on he can retake as many times as needed. This has shown both of us areas that he has gaps in. As he approaches his sophomore year, I feel more confident preparing him for the ACT. I think he feels better about taking the ACT also.

Taking the ACT does not have to be stressful, and I am impressed with the quality of 36U ACT Prep. 36U ACT Prep is an excellent resource for prepping for the ACT. I am delighted with this.

Product review by Renee Knoblauch, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, July 2021