<p>I just dont really understand how to get the full potential out of my book I guess. I have the red book and most of my scores have been about the same. I am only using it for the practice tests. I just think that since every test is different, how can you study if you dont really know what each individual test has?</p>
<p>Is there a certain way that I should use my practice tests so I get better scores?</p>
<p>What practice tests give you is a good sense of how long each test takes and how much time you can afford to spend on each question. Of course you can say “Well math is 60 minutes, 60 questions, so 1/minute”, but some are much harder and take more time, so you need to go faster on some of the earlier questions… This is generally why people advocate taking practice tests, so you have a better feel for timing.</p>
<p>I’ve also found that it helps you get a better feel for what the ACT questions mean. On English/Reading, I used to get confused a lot about which answer the ACT people thought was ‘better’. I’ve taken ~8 tests, and finally started to get a pretty good intuition of what answers are ‘good’ and which ones are ‘bad’. This isn’t really something–at least, I don’t think–that you can get by just reading guides. This may just be the way my brain is wired, though, so take this paragraph with a grain of salt. </p>
<p>Finally, practice tests can sort of show you what you’re good at/bad at. Like you said, each test is different… But on the other hand, each test is pretty similar. Every reading test is going to have a question where you have to evaluate the tone of the essay, or describe the narrator or something along those lines; every science test is going to have the little section where you have to compare/contrast two scientists opinions on something. If you consistently miss questions of a similar type, you can probably pinpoint what you’re bad at. </p>
<p>Hope that made sense. (:</p>