UrAverageAzn

So I've seen a couple of these threads lying around but not quite straight and direct and honestly I'm quite curious to see how people do compared to their practice tests. How did your practice test scores compare to your actual ACT scores? Did you get lower or higher? What factors made you do worse/better? (BTW the tests can be from the official ACT book or any other book- just make sure you list which one you used).

ACT practice test score(s):

ACT real test score:

cantstopwontstop

McGraw Hill--a couple points higher than what I made on the actual ACT.

averageguy

Official ACT Practice Test - 31 (well, 30.5)
Actual Test - 32

I took the practice test the day before the actual test.

choirfarm

First week I had him take the first test out of the Real Act prep guide. He scored:
Engl. 31, Math 27, Reading 29, Science 27. His composite was 28.

The next few weeks I had him go through a section a week in ACT 36 by Barrons. So for example, he would read through the English section of the ACT 36, do the practice problems in that book and then do the section on the second test of the REal ACT. So at the end of 4 weeks the cumulative scores of that 2nd test were: English 32, Math 30, Reading 32, and science 26. Composite 30.

After that we had 1 week left until the exam, so he took another practice exam:
English 32, Math 30, and Reading 34. We found the online science prep

ACT Test Prep - Science - YouTube

about halfway through that week and so he watched those videos rather than take the science test over a couple of days. I really wish we had found them earlier!!!

Here are the results from the ACT exam he took in December: English 35, Reading 34, Math 34 and science 31. His composite was 34.

I think if he had been able to watch all the science videos and practice a few more exams, he would have done better in science, but overall we were thrilled.

I hope that helps.

UrAverageAzn

So most people are scoring higher? That's a good sign! Any more guys?

UrAverageAzn

So yea, I thought I might bump this thread up seeing as how the feb act scores just came in.

Official practice test (highest): 34
-> average: 32-33
REAL: 35

imokayman

Practice: 33-34
Real: 31-32

andreaval

UrAverageAzn, I'm curious. What did you use to study for the ACT?

jimmypod

I've been getting consistent 36s on my practice tests but I got a 35 on the real one.

I guess it all depends on the atmosphere in which you work.

On test days (for some odd reason) I always tend to sleep little (anxiety), eat little (i literally cannot eat without throwing up), and have diarrhea (no idea why).

To study for this test, I went to barnes and nobles one day and read through some of Princeton Review's 2012 ACT. The book is very colloquial and tends to be an actual page-turner (maybe I'm just weird). I ended up purchasing it and did their english exercises/science. At first I thought science would be testing actual scientific facts, but I quickly realized that it was just data analysis. Then I purchased the RED BOOK and did some practice tests. At first I made many stupid mistakes, but quickly corrected them by my second completed test. Overall studying time was probably less than 12 hours. I mainly studied the SAT concepts (750 reading 790 writing 720 math **** this math score) for the ACT (34 English 36 Math 33 Reading 36 Science)

Coconutso

I used the real ACT guide. I consistently got 32 on my practice tests, but I got a 33 on the real thing.

UrAverageAzn

@andreaval
Honestly I did not study too much for this test vs the SAT. For the ACT I studied for maybe 4 weeks before it, taking all 5 practice tests in the red act book. Whenever I completed a section or test, I would not correct the tests myself and I would get my mom or dad to correct them. That way, I could go over what I got wrong and try and correct the questions on my own without knowing the answer. After correcting the mistakes, I would go over the answer key, look over all the questions that I was unsure of /guess during the test (whether right or wrong) and then I would look up my corrections and look up the answer explanations for them as well. This strategy was actually one I found on CC haha...

@jimmypod
That's still helllla good man. And yah, like you I mostly studied for the SAT, but did not do so well on it (2040... CR sucks). And lol at the diarrhea

Frisbee

Two practice tests: 29
ACT test: 30

slnich

I haved score 3 points higher. This time only one point higher!! And VERY ticked off about it... (Sadface)

academicone

Mostly all my practice tests were from the Princeton Review, which are known to be harder than the actual ACT. The highest I got on these was a 29.

But on the actual ACT (Feb 2012), I got a 32.

macve004

Thought I'd bump this up. There seems to be a lot of anxiety for the December ACT and these score comparisons may help ease the tension!