Maybe a course or private tutoring just isn't in the budget, or maybe you want to give SAT or ACT test prep a try on your own first. There are so many materials out there, though. What to choose? The teachers at Advantage Point have compiled a list of the most powerful and affordable test prep materials available.

Believe it or not, we have tested nearly every test prep resource out there. In fact, our Cleveland location includes a large resource room stocked with almost every currently available SAT or ACT test prep product for our students to borrow. We've gone through all the books and received feedback from thousands of students. Here are our 5 top picks for the ACT and 7 top picks for the SAT:

Boost Your Score:

The Unofficial Software Guide to the Real ACT

You may already know that the ACT is the most predictable test ever created. The ACT always tests the same exact skills—in the same amounts!—in each section of each test. Boost Your Score: The Unofficial Software Guide to the Real ACT helps you achieve your target ACT score by using the ACT’s predictability to your advantage. Since the same skills always repeat, you can best prepare for the ACT by taking official ACT practice tests and then thoroughly picking them apart.This software analyzes your performance on four official ACT tests and provides you with a comprehensive analysis of your particular strengths and weaknesses.

You’ll know exactly which skills you need to improve to succeed on the ACT. Then, the software’s database of tutorials, quizzes, worksheets, and helpful links provide you with targeted resources to boost the exact skills you need to improve. Learn more.

Price: $14.95

Have an Amazon account? Check us out on Amazon: Boost Your Score! The Unofficial Software Guide to the Real ACT   

The Undercover Guide to the ACT

The Undercover Guide to the ACT is the strategy and skills review book used by all Advantage Point students.  It is fantastic (if we do say so ourselves!) In The Undercover Guide, we tried to fix several problems we noticed in other test prep materials. The Undercover Guide has it all:

1) Amazing strategies to help you nail all four mandatory sections of the ACT

2) Comprehensive review of all necessary skills. (We found this lacking in many test prep books currently on the market)

3) Practice problems for each skill tested on the ACT

4) An online component, with links to quizzes, interactive worksheets, and four ACT tests.

5) Complete integration with the free official ACT practice test on the ACT website as well as the three previously administered tests in The Real ACT Guide. When we highlight a strategy or a skill, it's not just theoretical. We also show you exactly how you would put it into practice on an official ACT.

Price: $16.99

Available 9/25/09.

1,296 ACT Practice Questions

Our staff is composed of former instructors at both Kaplan and Princeton Review, but we all agreed that Princeton Review's 1,296 ACT Practice Questions is next in our list of helpful ACT test prep products. If you buy most of the Kaplan or Princeton Review test prep books, you'll quickly see that there are simply not enough practice problems wth decent explanations. Again, since the ACT is so predictable, the same questions types will always repeat. One sure path to ACT success is to practice, practice, practice with sample questions.

The Official SAT Study Guide (2009 version)

We strongly recommend The Official SAT Study Guide, put out by the SAT company.The SAT is an extremely predictable test, so one of the best ways to prepare is to take a whole bunch of official practice tests and analyze them. This book includes 10 real practice tests.

Please note that this book does not provide particularly good test taking strategies (this would be a conflict of interest for the SAT folks!) or an adequate review of skills. Therefore, while this book is a fantastic part of a do-it-yoursefl test prep program, you will need other materials as well. In addition, it is important to realize that the official SATs in this book actually do not come with answers and explanations. This is the part that always gets us steamed up. After all, how can you learn from your performance on an official test if you don't understand the mistakes you made? That's why we recommend the next product, which provides answers and explanations to this version of the Official SAT Study Guide.

The Official SAT Study Guide Solutions Manual (2009 version)

Van Tsai's Official SAT Study Guide Solutions Manual provides the answers and explanations for The 2009 version of The Official SAT Study Guide mentioned above. While there are times in the manual we felt we would have explained things differently than he did, this book is the best option out there for those who really want to get the most out of the official SAT tests.

The Official SAT Study Guide (last year's version) 

For those who want to save some money, we strongly recommend the previous version of The Official SAT Study Guide, put out by the SAT company.The SAT is an extremely predictable test, so one of the best ways to prepare is to take a whole bunch of practice tests and analyze them. This older edition includes 8 real practice tests. Although this book is the (much cheaper!) 2008 edition, the SAT has not changed, so the tests are still perfectly valid. In fact, besides for the inclusion of different previously administered SAT tests, this book is virtually identical to the newer version.

Please note that this book does not provide particularly good test taking strategies (this would be a conflict of interest for the SAT folks!) or an adequate review of skills. Therefore, while this book is a fantastic part of a do-it-yoursefl test prep program, you will need other materials as well. In addition, it is important to realize that the official SATs in this book actually do not come with answers and explanations. This is the part that always gets us steamed up. After all, how can you learn from your performance on an official test if you don't understand the mistakes you made? That's why we recommend the next product, which provides answers and explanations to this version of the Official SAT Study Guide.

The Official SAT Study Guide Solutions Manual (2007-2008 version)

Van Tsai's Official SAT Study Guide Solutions Manual provides the answers and explanations for The 2007-2008 version of The Official SAT Study Guide mentioned above. While there are times in the manual we felt we would have explained things differently than he did, this book is the best option out there for those who really want to get the most out of the official SAT tests.

Kaplan SAT Writing Workbook

We love Kaplan's SAT workbooks and recommend them to students all the time. Since the Kaplan folks devote an entire workbook to each SAT subject, the books provide a level of throughness not seen in other SAT prep materials. The writing workbook provides a comprehensive overview of the writing section, reviews all the necessary skills, presents powerful strategies, and includes a ton of practice material.

Kaplan SAT Math Workbook

We love Kaplan's SAT workbooks and recommend them to students all the time. Since the Kaplan folks devote an entire workbook to each SAT subject, the books provide a level of throughness not seen in other SAT prep materials. The math workbook provides a comprehensive overview of the math section, a brief review of the top math concepts tested on the SAT, and includes a ton of practice problems for every math question type.

Kaplan SAT Critical Reading Workbook

We love Kaplan's SAT workbooks and recommend them to students all the time. Since the Kaplan folks devote an entire workbook to each SAT subject, the books provide a level of throughness not seen in other SAT prep materials. The crtical reading workbook provides a comprehensive overview of the critical reading section, reviews all the necessary skills, presents powerful strategies, and includes a ton of practice for both long and short reading comprehension as well as sentence completions.