Magoosh ACT Review (2020-2021)
Table of Contents
Magoosh is an online learning provider that helps students with score improvement across a wide range of standardized testing, including the GRE, SAT, and ACT tests. Magoosh is popular with students thanks to its modern design, good quality learning, and low prices, and is one of the best in its price range.
Magoosh offers self-paced courses, where you can work through all the resources at your own pace. This learning method is perfect for students who are motivated, determined, and good at holding themselves accountable.
Magoosh is an international company that supports students across the world with testing. They have an excellent user interface that is easy to use, initiative, and has a mobile app included.
While Magoosh ACT is a popular option and has a good range of learning resources, they are not the best ACT prep if you’re looking for high academic success. This is because the materials are pre-recorded and available on-demand, so you won’t get any teacher interaction like you would with Live Online instructor-led courses.
In this article, we’ll review the learning resources included in Magoosh ACT prep courses, and help you to decide if this test prep plan will be right for you. Also, Magoosh SAT prep courses are available, and if you’re choosing to take that exam instead, have a look at our SAT Magoosh review article.
Price Packages
Let’s take a look at the price packages offered by Magoosh ACT – the resources included in each are the same; it’s just the length of time that differs. Firstly, if your ACT exam is coming up soon, you can sign up for only one month of online learning, which is excellent for last-minute ACT prep or additional learning if you’re trying to get score improvement from a previous test.
For one month of Magoosh ACT learning, you’ll pay $79, which is quite reasonable. To make the most of this time, choose a month where you will have lots of capacity to study, and won’t be tied up with school or work.
Next up, you can purchase a 3-month pass to Magoosh ACT prep for $237, which works out at $79 per month. This is a great offer from Magoosh, and it’s clear in their pricing that they value students and are not charging more for one month of access.
However, by using discount codes, this cost can often be reduced to around $100! This takes the cost down to around $33 per month, which is a reasonable price for this learning. This price is ideal for busy students that want to complete test prep and see a score improvement on their math reading, English, and science scores.
By completing your study over a 3-month period, you’ll have more time to focus on each section of the ACT and get your best scores. If you have studied with Magoosh and scored lower than a previous ACT score, you can make use of the money-back guarantee, which we’ll explain below.
The most expensive option from Magoosh ACT prep is to purchase a 12-month pass for the course. This course package is perfect for students that need a longer amount of time to study or have a busy lifestyle and will struggle to fit in intense study.
Many students will start preparing for their ACT or SAT up to a year in advance of the test, so a 12-month study pass might be best for you. Once again, this price can be reduced by using discount codes and can be discounted to around $300, which makes it a great deal.
Magoosh is often offering discounts, so be sure not to pay more than $400 for a year of access to the program. This works out to be around $33 per month, a reasonable cost if you are using the learning to its limits.
Overall, Magoosh is one of the cheapest all-around ACT prep course providers, so if you’re low on budget and want to see a score improvement, consider choosing a Magoosh online ACT course.
Learning Resources
The key learning method in Magoosh ACT prep courses is through video lessons. The videos are pre-recorded and available on-demand for you to watch at any time, or work through according to your study plan.
There are 250 video lessons available that have been recorded by experienced teachers and watched by hundreds of students. These will teach you about every aspect of the ACT exam, including the knowledge required and strategies needed to answer questions to the best of your ability.
Magoosh offers a range of videos in their learning, most of them averaging about 10 minutes in length. These are bite-sized videos that help you to get an understanding of the topic being covered, and introduce you to further learning. You will often find a series of videos that are linked and are followed by 5 practice questions to complete on the topic.
Magoosh also allows you to pause, rewind, and repeat their ACT videos, which enables you to pick up your study from any point and continue working from wherever you are. There are ACT study plans that you can follow, but you may want to start with your weakest areas and develop these first.
Practice Questions and Tests
Across all 4 subject areas (Math reading, science, and English), Magoosh offers 1,300 practice questions, which is quite small compared to other providers, like the Princeton Review. The amount of practice problems in total works out to be around 200 practice questions per section, which is a minimal amount.
You may find that you’re answering the same questions repeatedly, especially if you’re taking the 12-month study course. These practice problems are often presented to you after a short course of videos, so they’re testing you on what you’ve just learned. They are rarely presented as a large block or a good representation of how the test will appear.
Furthermore, Magoosh offers at least 2 practice tests. However, the questions in the practice tests are taken from your bank of practice questions, so you don’t, in fact, have 1300 practice questions, because around 1/3 of these will be needed for your practice tests.
You’ll use around 200 questions for each practice test, which sets you back by 400 questions. This means you’ll only have 900 practice problems to complete, a mere 225 questions per section. When we break it down in this way, it is clear that Magoosh does not provide a comprehensive learning offer.
Magoosh is one of the only learning platforms that conducts practice tests in this way. Nearly all other learning platforms will give the students full-length official practice tests. If taking a full-length test is important to you, then we recommend considering a different ACT course to complete your study.
Score Improvement Guarantee
Magoosh is so confident in their learning materials that they offer a score improvement guarantee of 4 points of the overall 36 points available. To meet the Magoosh criteria, you need to have taken the score previously, and prove that you didn’t score more than 4 points increase in your next ACT exam.
If you don’t see a score improvement, they’ll refund your ACT course fees! Most students who use Magoosh will see a score improvement of at least 4 points, as it’s a good all-around prep course for ACT prep.
On average, students that complete a comprehensive ACT course and work hard will see an increase of at least 7 points in their overall score. Some other ACT prep courses will also provide a score guarantee, or a 7-day money-back offer if you’re not happy with the course so far, rights reserved.
Mobile App
Magoosh is fairly unique as it is one of the only learning providers to give students access to a Mobile App! Many other learning providers do not have the technology or desire to host their learning on a mobile app, or are restricted by streaming live lessons.
The app can be used for ACT test prep, to answer practice questions, watch short videos, and keep up with your learning on the go. This is a brilliant advantage to have if you’re a busy student squeezing in ACT prep between high school and work. You can be on the bus or walking to school and complete an extra bit of study prep using the online ACT app.
Score Prediction
A feature that is unique to Magoosh is the score prediction service, which is available for ACT courses. This is a tool that is driven by data and uses the answers you choose in the practice questions to predict the score you will get in each section.
It then collates this data and rolls it up to produce the score you could achieve across the whole ACT test. As you develop through the course and start to have more correct answers regularly, your score prediction will change and develop with you. You may see your score increase several points as you study through the program.
This is an excellent prediction service that is not offered by any other learning platforms and will help you understand the score you might achieve in the real ACT test. Magoosh’s technology in this space is a benefit of enrolling in their course, but should not be a driving factor.
7 Day Money-back Guarantee
Magoosh understands that their learning platform is not for everyone, and some students may start the ACT course and then understand that it is not a good fit for their learning style. That’s why they offer a 7-day money-back guarantee for students!
If this is the case for you, then you can email the team at Magoosh and get your money back. Be sure to do this within the first 7 days of your subscription to get a full refund on your ACT prep courses.
Having this option is a good fallback for students who aren’t sure what type of learning they are looking for and want to be able to test and investigate the course.
7 Day Free Trial
Furthermore, if you want to get a taster of what the Magoosh learning materials are like, you can sign up for a 7-day free trial. This will give you access to some video lessons and practice questions, and you’ll get a feel for the Magoosh learning interface.
By completing a free trial, you’ll have a better understanding of what the Magoosh ACT prep course is like, and whether this will suit your learning type. Once you’re happy that the course will be suitable for you, you can enroll in their self led learning program and start your ACT prep journey! If, however, you don’t think Magoosh is right for you, look at our Best ACT Prep Courses article to see the other available courses.
Cons
With each of our review articles, we believe in giving students a balanced view. This is why we review and assess each learning provider’s pros and cons, and there are a few cons we need to mention for Magoosh online ACT prep courses to help you make an informed choice about whether this course is right for your ACT prep.
Firstly, where Magoosh is a self-paced learning plan, there is little opportunity for interaction with the teaching staff of any kind. Other learning providers will offer Live Online classroom lessons, where a teacher is hosting the learning session.
There are opportunities for interaction, to ask questions, and to ask for clarification or recommendations for further study. Furthermore, some providers have coaching sessions or regular check-ins with a tutor included in their ACT learning plans.
This gives students an opportunity to discuss their progress and any problems they might be having. If you’re choosing to study with Magoosh, you will be alone in your study, which is best for students that are ambitious, disciplined, and determined to work hard without external support.
Furthermore, without live sessions from a teacher, you could miss out on ACT hints and tips along the way that come out of classroom conversation or from the teachers’ experience. They do offer customer service type support by email but don’t expect to receive educational advice.
If you’re the type of student that benefits from classroom interaction, nudges from a teacher, or emotional support, you may want to consider an ACT prep course with more support systems.
Finally, a major disadvantage of studying with Magoosh is the lack of practice tests available to students. Taking a practice test is a great way to ensure score improvement throughout your study, and Magoosh ACT prep course does not give students this opportunity.
Many learning providers give students access to at least 3 full-length ACT official practice tests to complete, which helps students to reflect on their score and ACT prep. Completing full-length practice tests also helps to reduce exam anxiety and gets students ready for test day.
If you’re the type of student that wants to experience the exam before test day, we recommend looking at a different provider. Alternatively, there are some practice tests available from ACT Inc, who run the ACT exam. They have a small selection of questions available for free on their website, and some practice papers available to purchase.
Summary
Overall, Magoosh provides a good base level option for other learning companies to work up from. They are an essential service that gives people with lower budgets an option for good quality learning.
The Magoosh platform is easy to use, well laid out, and has great ACT lesson content. If you have only got a few hundred dollars to spend, then studying with Magoosh is a brilliant option, that you should seriously consider.
However, the main area where they let their users down is by not providing ACT practice exams that are full-length or in the full ACT format. This puts course users at a disadvantage as they will not have a clear experience of what the ACT exam is like, and how they will perform on test day.
Magoosh also offers very few practice problems for people to complete, which may actually leave them unprepared for the realities of the ACT exam.
Magoosh is a popular choice with high schoolers for ACT study, as it’s an affordable learning program that gives comprehensive learning across the ACT exam. Many people find their course to be brilliant, but, as with any prep course, you should be aware of the pros and cons before you sign up.
That’s why in this review article, we have broken down and analyzed all areas of their learning program to help you make an informed decision about which course could be right for you. If you’d like to explore some different options, take a look at our Best ACT Prep Courses article, where we’ve looked at several of the best online courses. We hope we’ve saved you some time!
