crushingthetest.com

What It Is

Crushing The Test is an online ACT prep course built around two main selling points: a “6-week intensive study” format and using a high ACT score to pursue full-ride college scholarships. The course emphasizes reverse-engineering ACT question types, understanding how the test is designed, improving reading speed and answering efficiency, and connecting test prep with college selection, career goals, and scholarship pathways.

Core Curriculum and Teaching Format

The course structure is relatively clear. Week 1 is the College Prep Orientation, covering topics such as clarifying why you want to attend college, exploring ideal careers, creating your first résumé, selecting 6 target colleges, building a vision board, and taking a real ACT practice test to assess your current level. The remaining 5 weeks focus on training for each ACT section. The page explicitly states that there is “no need to attend Zoom at a fixed class time,” so the course appears closer to a self-paced, modular online program. However, it does not clearly state whether the lessons are pre-recorded, whether live Q&A is available, or whether 1-on-1 tutoring is included.

Instructor and Certification Background

The course was created by Valencia Belle. The page describes her as an ACT Certified Educator and lists credentials such as BS, BSN, MSFS, and PhDc, as well as her experience scoring a 36 on the ACT in high school. The site also says the course is based on Belle Method Test Prep and is ACT.org verified. However, the ACT® trademark belongs to ACT, Inc.; the page does not clarify whether the course has any formal authorized partnership with the official ACT organization, nor does it mention whether students receive a certificate upon completing the course.

Pricing and Service Transparency

The captured page does not disclose pricing, payment methods, refund policy, or installment options, which is the main gap when evaluating value for money. The course promotes a “5-10 point” score increase and a “Score improvement guaranteed,” but also states that “your effort is the guarantee,” which sounds more like a learning-outcome promise than a clear refund or make-up lesson guarantee. In terms of support services, the page does not specify whether teacher grading, a student community, Q&A support, learning supervision, or parent feedback mechanisms are provided.

Pros, Cons, and Best-Fit Users

Its main strength is a very clear goal: it is suitable for students who need a structured 6-week ACT sprint before the exam, especially those aiming for U.S. college scholarships, student-athlete eligibility, or improved reading speed. The downside is that the marketing tone is relatively strong, and the showcased results are mostly individual student cases rather than large-sample data. For Chinese students, the course is entirely in English, and ACT registration, test centers, score usage, and U.S. scholarship rules all need to be verified separately.

Access from China and Alternatives

The website’s accessibility from mainland China cannot be determined from the page text alone, so it should be considered unknown; payment methods are also not disclosed. If access or payment is inconvenient, alternatives include official ACT prep materials, international ACT courses from Kaplan, Princeton Review, or Magoosh, as well as domestic institutions that provide ACT or international standardized test training.