<p>Ok I really did start studying intensely the Barrons 36 book, Princeton Review and the Real ACT book for the last 3 days, but are these scores increases realistic or hast the ACT just been getting harder? or does studying really help this much? (I was expecting 29s-31s on all of em)</p>
<p>My september ACT: Comp: 29
Engl:31
Math:26
Reading:30
Science: 29</p>
<p>First practice test after studying:
Comp:31
English:28
Math:29
Reading:30
Science:35</p>
<p>Second practice test:
Comp:33
English:29(lol only thing that won't change)
Math:31
Reading:35
Science:35</p>
<p>Third Practice Test
Comp:33
English:29
Math:33
Reading:34
Science:35</p>
<p>I know that the Real ACT has 5 previously used tests but has the ACT been getting tougher or something? Because these increases don't seem very realistic (of course, I'd be beyond ecstatic to actually get them!)</p>
<p>I finish all sections within time
I only take a 5-10minute break between sections</p>
<p>Just trying to get some other people's thoughts on this haha</p>
<p>I can say, from having seen about 15 different ACT tests, that the tests have been getting harder as more people learn to game the system.</p>
<p>However, the difficulty level only applies to a small percentage of problems. If you scored a 34 under test-like conditions, I would say that you are capable of scoring of 31-35 on the actual exam.</p>
<p>It depends on the test. I took the ACT and got a 31 in June. I got 35’s and 34’s in everything but science, where I got a 27.
In November, I took it again and got a 34, but this time I got 35’s on everything but math, where I got a 30. The other people who had taken it several times said the math section was the hardest they’d ever seen.
So different sections get harder at different times, but if you take the test several times, you should have at least one that you do really well on.</p>
<p>yeah dude I had posted a thread on the exact same thing. The high scores on your practice tests are no longer accurate, even if you use the official practice tests. The test has gotten much harder and is no longer like that</p>
<p>I had been scoring around 31-33 on my practice tests before I took the October ACT so I was expecting around there too
I got a 29.</p>
<p>The Real ACT guide is no longer a good representation of the score that you are gonna get. If anything, I would recommend using Barrons Practice test for an estimate of your score because that is is how they have become.</p>
<p>It all depends on the tests, which are actually recycled every few years, which is why you are prohibited from discussing questions on non-released exams. I do not believe that ACT is intentionally making tests “harder.”</p>
<p>It can be all about luck sometimes – if you prepare for certain math topics that you are weak in, say, because all of them appeared in a practice test, and then none of those topics appear on the actual exam, but rather permutations thereof or new material that you haven’t encountered in practice yet, you may do poorly on that test. The only way to be sure you can handle every type of problem is to do lots of practice, and to be sure that that practice is efficient (i.e. being positive you UNDERSTAND why you got a question wrong so you will never get that same question wrong again.)</p>
<p>Also, lots of people have anxiety on test day, resulting in poorer-than-usual scores. Again, practicing entire tests in simulated, timed conditions helps in that regard.</p>
<p>I think if you know how to get the questions right instead of getting the right, you should be fine. By that I mean that you know how you got the answer and you didnt just guess and get lucky. If you get the basics, you can concur the harder ones by expanding your knowledge.</p>
<p>And the sections seem to be getting harder but so have the tests I have been taking. The curve is also more drastic than before where as missing like 6 questions in science would now be like a 32 and before it would be like a 27-28. Or at least thats what I have seen taking practice test from 2006-present.</p>