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Old 07-18-2012, 12:23 PM   #1
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Join Date: May 2012
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Speed

Okay so I am aiming for a 35/36 on the ACT(previous ACT at school: 31, 8/9 essay idk, no prep since i had the SAT the same week). I am well capable of hitting a 35 or 36 on the test except I run out of time on the Reading Section and Science Section. Any tips/strategies as to how to increase my speed? Because it's frustrating when you can hit a high score but not while finishing the test on time...

And another question, is it true that the Essay score is not calculated in your composite?
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Old 07-18-2012, 01:27 PM   #2
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And another question..sigh

Should I get Barron's ACT 6 Practice Tests or just the Barron's ACT book or both? I want something that will challenge me and is harder than the actual test. Which one is harder? (I already have Barron's ACT 36, PR 1296 Q's, PR ACT, and the Red Book)

better to be overprepared than underprepared since I'm aiming for the 35/36
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Old 07-18-2012, 04:13 PM   #3
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Increasing your speed on the ACT really comes down to practice. The more you practice, the faster you will become, hopefully. When I do practice tests, I read the ACT Reading passages in about three minutes and then do the questions. If you read the whole passage and digest it, the questions will become easier and you will be able to work through them faster. For science, I usually skim the passages and the graphs/charts/etc. so that I get an understanding of the experiments and then I answer the questions.

I found these guides to be very helpful:
ACT Tips to Succeed
Jeandevaches' Guide to the ACT

I have heard that Barron's 6 ACT Practice Tests is a very good practice book, but I have heard that Barron's ACT is not that good of a book. You already have many of the practice books that will help you in preparing, but if you run out of practice tests than buy Barron's 6 ACT Practice Tests. I don't know if the tests are harder, but they will still help you prepare. Make sure you go through Barron's ACT 36 because the book is designed to challenge people who want to score high.

Also, if you need additional practice tests, here are some links to official ACT practice tests that I found on the forum:

http://www.sdcoe.net/lret/avid/act/PreparingforACT.pdf

http://www.collegetidbits.com/tools/...or-the-act.pdf

http://www.unioto.k12.oh.us/ACTpreparing.pdf

http://www.ashland.kctcs.edu/Admissi...tice_Test.ashx

http://www.act.org/aap/pdf/preparing.pdf

Good luck in preparing for the ACT and I hope you reach a 35/36!
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Old 07-18-2012, 04:15 PM   #4
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^To find the ACT Tips to Succeed and Jeandevaches' Guide to the ACT, you will need to search the forum. I apologize, the links didn't appear as I thought they would.
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Old 07-18-2012, 04:19 PM   #5
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^Here are the links to the guides I was talking about:

ACT Tips to Succeed

Jeandevaches' Guide to the ACT
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Old 07-18-2012, 08:57 PM   #6
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thanks. I will say that I've not had much practice as I've only recently begun to take practice tests so hopefully you're right!
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Old 07-20-2012, 11:30 PM   #7
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Any other strategies?
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Old 07-23-2012, 05:15 AM   #8
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For science i suggest you not to read passages and go directly to questions.I have official online prep for act that have two tests that appeared previously on real act.When i first tried to read every single word in passages, i didnt have time to finish on time and even couldnt guessed some.After dont read advice i decided to take that other test timed and not reading this time.Guess what? I got 34 out of 36 and answered 1 question wrong because i examined the wrong table on that question.
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