Barron's ACT - Six Tests Difficulty

For reference, I’ve gotten a 36 on the English section of this test and average English scores of 33-35.

Decided to take the April test and picked up Barron’s books. I took my first practice test (English) today and scored a 28!?

I’ve been reading that Barron’s is harder (I hope), but I’m still flabbergasted as how I could let this happen.

I also noticed that when scoring (I missed 10 - yikes), the curve was exceptionally harsh for all four tests despite the difficulty? I wonder why this is.

I’ve taken the ACT multiple times, and I found Barron’s English section to be quite accurate. I don’t know how accurate their curves are, but the actual practice tests are pretty good from my experience.

This is probably because you’re not taking the practice exam seriously. When you take a practice test, you know it’s not going to be worth anything, so in the back of your mind, you take it too easily. However, when you get to the actual test, you’re gonna feel motivated to answer more questions correctly.

Possibly. I just know it has that reputation.

I’d definitely rather practice harder than easier to make for a more confident test day. However, this April 9th test…I don’t feel prepared at all and reading always scares me (hardest section by miles for me).