<p>I’ve never taken the ACT before, and I’m due to take it around September-ish. I’m eager to hear what everyone on CC has to say about it!</p>
<p>Hmm… I don’t think I have any regrets on the ACT. I took it at the end of my sophomore year (I’m going to be a junior) and scored pretty well, but I’m going to take it again in September too. As for experiences, when I did take it, in the middle of the math test it started thundering outside, and the windows were open so we all had to close them. Then like 2 minutes later while we were still taking it some lady busted in the room and said there was a thunderstorm warning and everyone had to go to the basement. So every kid taking the ACT all had to go downstairs and wait for like 40 minutes because of the storms. When we finally did get to finish the math test, we got two extra minutes to take it courtesy of ACT lol. As for advice…
-always take out punctuation, never add it in
-in the English section, always pick the simplest answer
-for the reading section, read the question first and underline the key words in the passage as you read along
-also in the reading section, read along with your finger like little kids do. it sounds silly, but it increases your reading speed (try it, it totally works)
- In the science section, do the passages with the least questions first
That’s all I got, good luck in September!</p>
<p>I liked it a lot better than the SAT. It was more of a test of knowledge and comprehension than how to outsmart the test like the SAT. I took the SAT 2x and my highest score was a 2070 (superscore 2080). My guidance counselor told me to take the ACT for the heck of it. I hadn’t seen a single ACT question before taking the ACT and I scored a 34 on my first try.</p>
<p>The only bad thing about the ACT is that there are very few released tests, so if you decide you want to keep trying the ACT it will be very hard to practice for it. With the SAT, there are probably at least 20 practice tests out there (that I’m just too lazy to do :P). I think it’s reasonably doable to score very high on the SAT if you want to put hours and hours into it. The ACT is generally an easier test for many of the “straight A” people but if you’re like me and are just pressed for time a bit (I didn’t even finish the reading section), you can’t really find enough practice tests to use just shave the time off.</p>
<p>Well I took it for the the first time in June and I was thrown off by the timings a little bit (did not do any prior practice). So the timing is a lot shorter than the SAT’s. I got a 32 Math, 33 Science, 32 Reading and 27 English, 11 Essay. The english section hda a lot mo0re punctuation than I thought so I will review some punctuation and take it once or twice more (if need be) in Sept and Oct. The math is straightforward no dumb tricks. Reading is kinda tricky, you have to be able to read fast but the questions are simple. Science is extremely easy, just work fast and read graphs.</p>
<p>I took it for the first time as well in June. Here are my thoughts.
English (33)- By far the easiest section, though it can have a tough curve.
Math (30)- Fairly straightforward, though be careful not to make stupid mistakes. Every question can cost you a point drop from 36. (The same applies to every section.)
Reading (30) - Read FAST!
Science (28) - I found this section very difficult. I figured after I took it that my score could’ve been as low as a 22 and as high as a 28. Looks like I got lucky.</p>
<p>Oh and if you care about my individual sections (since most seem to be listing them)…
English 35 (32 Composite… Darn essay)
Math 35
Reading 33
Science 34
Essay 9</p>
<p>I wish I took my time more with math. I rushed and got a 31 on the actual test (with no studying), now with some practice, I’m consistently getting 35-36 on practice tests by not rushing through it too much.</p>
<p>@maddie7943, i used some different strategies, just throwing them out here for the OP</p>
<p>for the reading, I don’t even look at the questions until after I read, bcuz you dont really remember the questions, you have to reread them anyway. I just go through each passage as quickly as possible, then the questions come a lot easier. got a 35 with that</p>
<p>for science, i never skipped passages or planned which ones were easier; i felt that would waste crucial time that i always needed. But DO go straight to the questions, not bothering to read the passages(other than the paragraphs comparing different opinions of students, etc.) got a 36 doing that</p>
<p>for english, doing a few practice sessions helps a lot. the same questions come up constantly. Sometimes, just by reading the sentence in the passage, you can predict the question and answer that’s going to come up. Really, you don’t see any new questions on the english ever.</p>
<p>just keep taking it. over the span of a few years i took it a maximum number of times but eventually hit my sweet spot getting a 35 composite and a perfect 36 superscore. You never know what test you’ll be able to destroy and it’s not really a waste of time taking it again once every two months</p>
<p>The writing on mine was bad, I wasn’t exactly in a writing mood that day.
And I regret not studying for the math section at all, I didn’t remember any of the geometry formulas, fail.</p>
<p>Took it once and got a 34, so no regrets.</p>