ACT Prep Courses in Berkeley (California)

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The ACT has experienced significant growth as a popular standardized test to take as part of completing the college application process, providing an alternative to the SAT. In many states, the ACT has actually surpassed the SAT in terms of popularity among high school students putting together their college applications. Are you a Berkeley-area student seeking to obtain the highest possible score on the ACT? Set yourself up for the success you deserve by working with the experienced and dedicated instructors at Manhattan Review, where we are pleased to off all the test-related resources and materials you need to score in the top percentiles on the ACT. There is no need to waste your already limited time trying to piece together a study plan you hope covers the most relevant information. At Manhattan Review, we have deconstructed the ACT and studied every section and every question. We've combined our in-depth knowledge of this complex exam with our industry-leading standardized test prep syllabus, resulting in high-quality educational instruction. Our convenient, results-driven ACT prep courses are designed to help you achieve the score you need to be accepted to the college of your dreams. Preparing for a test as important as the ACT can be more than a little stressful, but we are proud to offer the most comprehensive and student-focused ACT prep options in the Bay Area. Whether you prefer classroom-style group courses, interactive online instruction, or customized learning through working one-on-one with a private tutor, there's always an option for you with Manhattan Review. We are proud to have created unique ACT prep options that fit every learner's needs, allowing our students to obtain top scores and continue on to collegiate success. 

Since 1999, Manhattan Review has been helping students master the ACT, and we offer a variety of different prep options, delivered in ways that best suit you and at times that are most convenient for your ongoing schedule. We encourage you to contact us today to learn more about which option is right for you. If you enjoy learning in the company of others and find questions and comments from peers both insightful and inspiring when it comes to learning, we offer classroom-style group courses. For those students who require more scheduling flexibility, we offer interactive online instruction, allowing you to prepare for the ACT at times that are most convenient for you. And for those who know they learn best through customized instruction and personalized feedback that takes their unique learning strengths and areas of growth into account, we offer private tutoring where you set the pace, focusing on the content and test-taking strategies most relevant to you and your particular test-related needs. Our prep course options are available during daytime, evening, or weekend hours and are offered in-person, as well as online to ensure there is always an option for preparing for the ACT that works for you. Regardless of if you have already been preparing for the ACT for a while or if you have only just started thinking about preparing, we will meet you where your study has taken you and support you in going further than you ever imagined. Whatever support you need, you can find it at Manhattan Review. 

The ACT is intended to reflect what students learned during high school and is composed of four multiple-choice tests—English, mathematics, reading, and science—as well as an optional writing portion. The English section requires a student to revise and edit a provided text; in addition, short essays in various genres offer rhetorical situations that must be considered before appropriate responses are selected. The mathematics section of the ACT assesses a student's knowledge of basic formulas and computational skills. The reading section is designed to measure a student's ability to closely read a passage, engage in logical reasoning about the passage using evidence, and combine information from multiple sources to produce specific answers. Skills such as locating and interpreting details, understanding the sequence of events, determining the meaning of context-dependent words, and analyzing claims and arguments are all assessed. 

The science section of the ACT measures skills required to understand and work in the natural sciences, including interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and problem-solving, to name a few. The score range for each of the four required tests is 1 to 36. A composite score is created by taking the average of the four test scores and rounding it to the nearest whole number. In general, a "good" ACT score is any score falling at or above the 75^th percentile, which equates to a composite score of 24. It must be stated that a "good" score is not nearly strong enough to gain admittance into a leading college or university, and among the most selective institutions of higher education, incoming students routinely obtain a composite score in the range of 33 to 35. In order to be considered a competitive applicant among the leading colleges, it is imperative to demonstrate a strong performance on the ACT. 

At Manhattan Review, we understand that the ACT is an established part of applying to undergraduate programs, and we offer prep course options designed to help you master the ACT so you can submit your college applications with confidence. Our instructors have firsthand experience with the ACT, having obtained their own impressive standardized test scores, but we do not only hire exceptional test-takers…we hire exceptional instructors with strong backgrounds in teaching and learning theory. Our instructors are eager to assist you in achieving your own success, and they will ensure that you have every opportunity to become familiar with the content of the ACT while also improving your knowledge of the most effective and efficient test-taking strategies and techniques. Our students consistently obtain the highest ACT scores and are regularly admitted to the most competitive colleges and universities, including CalTech, MIT, Harvard University, Yale University, New York University, Columbia University, the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Southern California, Northwestern University, the University of Pennsylvania, Oxford University, Stanford University, the University of Cambridge, Johns Hopkins University, Dartmouth College, Princeton University, and elsewhere. If you hope to attend a prestigious college, it is necessary to obtain an impressive score on the ACT, and our comprehensive and cutting-edge programs will supply you with everything motivated students need to score in the highest percentiles on this exam. 

Berkeley-area students know how competitive the college application process is, and there are always more applications submitted than there are available spots in a given freshman class. Don't leave anything up to chance when it comes to crafting your own application, as a high ACT score is one of the best ways to ensure your college application stands out to members of the Admissions Committee. Make use of the brightest and most respected minds in the industry and allow our instructors and tutors to help you the same way they've helped countless students in the Bay Area. We are proud to offer Berkeley's most flexible, results-driven, and student-friendly resource for ACT prep. Whatever your learning style and whatever your test-taking needs, there's a place for you at Manhattan Review, and together we will design a study program that is specific to your particular academic needs and collegiate goals. Contact us today and learn more about boosting your ACT score before submitting those all-important college applications.

Meet a Berkeley ACT Tutor: Ronald D.

Ronald D. grew up in Dublin and moved to Baltimore, Maryland, when his mother was offered a new position in the company she worked for. "I wasn't happy about moving, but as long as there were still places to buy books, I decided it wouldn't be that terrible," recalls Ronald. An avid reader from an early age, Ronald loved books and he was always quick to spot grammatical errors, plot holes, or other mistakes that took him out of the story. "I didn't grow up thinking I'd become an editor," he admits, "but once I knew there was a job that basically involved reading books all day, I had no doubt that was the job for me." Ronald's friends, aware of his impressive grasp of the intricacies of writing, frequently asked him to proofread their essays, searching for spelling errors or sentences that didn't make sense, and before he knew it, Ronald found himself in the role of a writing tutor. "I actually started my own little business in high school," he recalls with a smile. "I helped students come up with topics for papers, showed them the difference between a first, second, and final draft, and taught them how to organize paragraphs with hooks to catch a reader's interest." Ronald also offered editing and proofreading services that his friends and their siblings were happy to sign up for. 

Once Ronald decided to become a professional book editor, he wanted to obtain the best education possible in preparation of helping others bring their literary projects to life and into the hands of readers. After taking practice versions of the ACT and the SAT, Ronald realized he performed significantly better on the ACT. He decided to take a group prep course to prepare for the ACT, ensuring his pacing was strong and that he knew what strategies to apply to which types of questions. "I loved working with a professional test instructor," he shares. "Learning how to answer questions is a lot like editing…you have to pay attention to the details and see where they take you, but you also can't lose sight of the big picture." Ronald's hard work was rewarded when he scored in the 98^th percentile on the ACT. His score, in addition to his impressive high school grades and extensive extracurricular involvement, helped him gain acceptance to the University of California at Los Angeles. "People always think of New York City when they think of book publishing, but thanks to technological advances, publishing is expanding and there's a lot more flexibility on where editors can live and work." After graduating, Ronald accepted a position with a West Coast publishing house and relocated to Berkeley, where he began working his way up through the editorial ranks, starting as an intern and moving up to the position of assistant editor before finally becoming a full-fledged editor. 

While Ronald loved collaborating with publishers and authors and helping books transform from drafts to completed manuscripts, he also missed the work he had done with students during high school and college. He eventually developed a few online ACT workshops to help students prepare for this exam by polishing their knowledge of grammar and writing while also teaching them how to break down tricky word problems. We at Manhattan Review were so impressive by his ambition, as well as his dedication to helping others, that he quickly joined the team as an ACT instructor. His methodical approach to complex problems never fails to inspire confidence in students, and there is regularly a wait list for his group prep courses. When Ronald isn't guiding future college students to their own success, he can be found visiting local indie bookstores, playing the guitar, and enjoying picnics overlooking the San Francisco Bay with his wife and friends.