<p>This is my ACT advice. I got a 36 so trust me. To be honest this isn't exactly what I did; this is what I should have done. I skimmed through a lot of this but if I had spent more time on it, I wouldn't have had to worry about it as much and would have had ALL MY BASES COVERED.</p>
<p>I spent tons of times on forums and things and found this to be the perfect combination of books and advice. So without further ado:</p>
<ol>
<li>Read the following guides. They aren't too long and you don't have to absorb everything word for word. Just skim through and look closer at the things you don't know how to do. </li>
</ol>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/act-preparation/1071765-jeandevaches-guide-act.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/act-preparation/1071765-jeandevaches-guide-act.html</a></p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/act-preparation/1325529-act-tips-succeed.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/act-preparation/1325529-act-tips-succeed.html</a></p>
<ol>
<li><p>Take practice test(s) from The Real Act (red book). It contains official ACT's released and is the best bet to predict your scores and practice from.*</p></li>
<li><p>Read the Barron's ACT 36 book. It focuses on the higher scores and offers helpful advice, instead of making you wade through pages and pages of useless stuff and having one or two helpful facts like most prep books. I found the English sections especially helpful and if you don't have time, read just those parts.</p></li>
<li><p>Read the math sections of the Gruber's ACT book and do practice problems from there. It has a pretty solid math section and covers the important things you need to know.</p></li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li>Note: It is a good idea to intermingle tests in between these steps. Try taking tests after each step and seeing how you improve. Try your best to take the full test in one sitting without many breaks, even if you have to build up to this goal. If you don't, the scores you get will probably not be accurate. Take as many practice tests as you can, its the single best way to improve your score. But always REVIEW your results.<br></li>
</ul>
<p>A lot of test taking comes down to natural talent. Some people are good at certain tests and some people aren't. I'm sure you have heard this B.S. before. A lot of the testing covered by the ACT is easy for some people because they have been learning the same type of stuff in class from day 1. They are able to take a few practice tests and luck into a high score. But to virtually ensure a high score, in the 33+ range, you can follow these steps. I assure you they will work and you will be satisfied. Money back guarantee :)</p>
<p>Congrats on the score, thanks for the tips man. Any suggestions for essay, though?</p>
<p>Congrats! There is a way to get a high score without doing that much. It may not be a 36 but about 33+. Make sure to focus on a section that you have a chance improving. My D. has spent i hour / day for 5 days right before exam, doing only math section. She reviewed all secitons and got familiar with format. After that she concluded that she needed customised approach. Her plan was based on her specific abilities:
1 cannot improve reading and do not want to change the way of reading because it works in school classes. This was expected to be lowest score and it was.
2 English was no point to spend any time becuase it was very easy (for her), basically “common sense”. It was her highest score. I heard that many score very well in English section
3 Science section is not really science, it is a slower paced reading section. It was no point to spend any time as “slower” is D’s way of reading
4. Math. Improve as much as possible by taking practice timed tests every day. Go over every incorrect answer, make sure to nail all concepts. More applicable to advanced kids. ACT Math is primarily middle school math. Advanced kids who ended up taking Calc, need to re-fresh old math facts. D’s goal was to compensate low reading score by high Math score.</p>
<p>Everybody has strenths and weaknesses. If you assess your own, you will spend your time efficiently preparing for test. No classes, no threads, no textbooks in D’s case. The decent score of 33 was enough to get where she wanted. 36 is much better, but not everybody has time to spend preparing for it. 5 hours was all that D. could afford.</p>
<p>Congrats! Btw, do you happen to know if ACT is actually less preferred than SAT for certain schools in the west side? Would it affect my chances?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Did you have any favorite websites in particular?</p>
<p>With the ACT, you get to send each score to 4 colleges for free. Each additional college is $11. If you take the test a second time, the colleges you send the second scores to do not see the first scores. You have to pay another $11 per college to send each score report to each college. </p>
<p>This is different from the SAT. If you send a later SAT test score to colleges, they also see your earlier scores, unless you specifically tell College Board not to send the earlier scores. Therefore, you can pick different colleges for your second test date and you don’t have to pay additional money for those colleges to receive your first test score. </p>
<p>If you are applying to 8 or 10 colleges, this can add up to a sum of cash. It also is important because most colleges pick your highest scores from various test dates for admissions purposes.</p>
<p>I only got an 8 so I don’t have much advice on the essay juliwang. Try and take timed one’s as practice to get used to the timing. Always leave a body paragraph for the counterargument, or at least remember to address it throughout the essay. It is crucial you point out the counterarguments and find the flaws in them or why they might not work. Also write as neat and as much as you can. This isn’t “officially” looked at but graders are humans after all and the neater and longer the essay is, the higher score they tend to subconsciously give. First impressions are key. Generally filling more than half the pages (i think 3 of the 5?) is thought to give you a 10+ and filling all the pages is for sure a 12 quality essay, as long as 4 of the 5 aren’t filler. But these are general guidelines and not hardfast rules. </p>
<p>This is for the SAT essay but it is very similar to the ACT. Read this for better advice than I can give:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/645763-how-write-12-essay-just-10-days.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/645763-how-write-12-essay-just-10-days.html</a></p>
<p>Do you know what book or books help with the specific sections the best? I score a 35 in math but english, reading, and science are 27s for me.</p>
<p>I have the red book right now along wit Barrons ACT and ACT for brainiacs. I used barrons 36 on my last test and scored a 29 composite</p>
<p>MiamiDAP-- Definitely, my advice is more for people who have enough time and are willing to put in the effort to get a top notch score. A lot of people don’t need to do all of this and can pick and choose or just simply don’t have the time to do all of this I just wanted to present what I feel is as close to a fool proof preparation plan I could think of. </p>
<p>CoStudent-- I’d leave it up to you on that one…I’ve heard things from both sides of the argument. I’d recommend taking both unless you score exceptionally well on one and feel like your score on the other one will never be able to match. Some people find one test a lot easier than the other (I personally find the ACT a lot easier but will probably end up taking both). Plus, I think you need to take the SAT if you get National Merit Semifinalist so you might want to wait until then to decide.</p>
<p>dzzzallday-- I really didn’t use any websites in particular for the ACT, I know freerice.com is supposed to be a fun way to help with SAT vocab though. Also browse around some of the other forums on here you might find some good links and advice that I missed.</p>
<p>happyboym247-- Math = Gruber’s ACT
Reading and English = Barron’s ACT 36 (not the regular Barron’s book)
Science = books don’t really help its just a practice thing; for me I took<br>
practice tests from The Real ACT (red book)
I think I stated as such in my original post but it might not have been laid out as well and could have been confusing.</p>
<p>queso100-- Thanks! Glad to know I could have helped!</p>
<p>happyboym247-- </p>
<p>Math = Gruber’s ACT </p>
<p>Reading and English = Barron’s ACT 36 (not the regular Barron’s book)</p>
<p>Science = books don’t really help its just a practice thing; for me I took practice tests from The Real ACT (red book)</p>
<p>I think I stated as such in my original post but it might not have been laid out as well and could have been confusing.</p>
<p>queso100-- Thanks! Glad to know I could have helped!</p>