<p>So someone who is consistently getting perfect scores in reading and science but -4’s and -5’s in math and English should go for PR and red book? or Barron’s and red book?</p>
<p>I hated using books. Its like reading the dictionary. I’d use greatvocab.com for the vocab/reading section. It’s cheaper and it measures your progress so it knows what you need to work on.</p>
<p>^Once again, your advertising is rendered useless, considering that the ACT doesn’t test you on vocabulary.</p>
<p>Seeing that all these books have practice tests with them, are those practice tests the same difficulty as the actual test. I have just purchased the RED book, so will my results on that practice test be similar to the ACT, or is the real test harder?</p>
<p>“greatvocab” is a scam</p>
<p>
On the second practice test I got: 34 reading, 34 science, 33 english, 35 math (haven’t taken the third, did worse on the first). On the real test I got 35 math, 34 english, 34 science, 31 reading. It is fairly accurate and similar.</p>
<p>Once again, its been a while since I took SAT/ACTs. Seems I got them confused. I know vocab killed me on the SAT and wanted to tell others about a new resource I wish I had when I took it. Maybe that’s why I did better on the ACT.</p>
<p>Although vocabulary is not directly tested on the ACT a good vocabulary will probably help your reading comprehension, although I doubt it is worth the effort to memorize a bunch of words before the test. Even for the SAT which tests vocabulary more directly, you can usually use context clues to make educated guesses on most of the words.</p>
<p>I found that the most efficient use of test preparation time is to practice with real tests after spending a little bit of time reviewing essential background material and learning a few good strategies. This link makes it easy to find real practice tests officially released by the ACT:</p>
<p>[Free</a> Real ACT Tests by Rajiv Raju and Silpa Raju](<a href=“http://freeacttest.blogspot.com/]Free”>http://freeacttest.blogspot.com/)</p>
<p>I recommend ONLY using the red “Real ACT” book for preparation. </p>
<p>If you are in need of additional practice tests, I recommend you use Kaplan and then SparkNotes, but not actually read the “preparation” portions of the books–just do the tests.</p>
<p>^You’re so wrong. By studying the PR, I’ve increased my scores on Practice tests by at least 3 points.</p>
<p>Princeton Review is atleast worthless for the science section and reading. I think the english might be slightly useful though.</p>
<p>In my opinion that is in spite of, not because of, using that book. All of the ACT books I have found have been useless aside from the practice tests. If you’re aiming for a 34+, you can’t really use the “gimmicks” in these books. The story might be different for other scores, however. Here is my advice in a nutshell:</p>
<p>English section:
Read the entire English section in the red book (it’s quite short). Then take practice tests, and look at the ones you got wrong / guessed correctly until you understand why you got them wrong. The English section really comes down to two things:</p>
<p>1) (For mechanics questions): Be cheap with your words. If you are presented with the choice between a long sentence and a short sentence that do not differ in meaning, the short sentence is ALWAYS correct.
2) (For usage questions): Each time you read an English passage, keep the answer to the following question in mind: “In one sentence, what is this about?” If they ask you anything else, the answer is usually given in the question - or heavily hinted at. Just use your instincts, this section usually is not about being tricky, but rather just following rules.</p>
<p>Mathematics:</p>
<p>There are no tricks for mathematics. The trick is to learn math well. I didn’t prepare for this section because I am have studied some advanced mathematics. </p>
<p>Tips: (1) Take the hardest math classes your school offers (or that you have access to period).
(2) Take the AMC/AIME/USAMO. They will make this look easier. And from my experience, that’s always a good thing. :)</p>
<p>Reading: I find a “disorganized” approach to be best here. Go through the passages one-by-one. (I do it in the order presented. Do it in another if you like.)</p>
<p>You have about eight minutes per passage (and then three left over to bubble, erase, use for hard questions, etc.) I recommend using about 4 minutes to fully read the passage. After each paragraph, ask yourself “In one sentence, WHAT IS THIS ABOUT?” (Just like my advice for the English section, but in each paragraph, not just once for the whole essay). Then go to the questions. If you can’t answer a question in about 20 seconds, skip to the next one, then come back to it later (but before you move on to the next passage). Any time you have not used up your 20 second allotment per question but think you have answered it, go into the text to find evidence for your answer.</p>
<p>Science: Don’t read anything you don’t have to. Skip directly to the questions. If you don’t understand what a question is asking, read anything that looks relevant until you understand the question. This section is just about reading graphs and using common sense in science. </p>
<p>Essay: Write as much as you can, as long as you are using good lexicon. Also, note the one difference from the SAT: address both sides of the issue (by rebutting arguments the other side might make, and don’t stress over vocabulary… too much.)</p>
<p>I hope this helped. Let me know if you have questions.</p>
<p>xjudokax, do you mind to share your score,</p>
<p></p>
<p>I received a 36/35 on all the sections other than reading. I retook the ACT in Feb, and will hopefully have a similar Reading score when I see my new scores. 
So I mean, ignore my Reading advice if you are so inclined.</p>
<p>Exact scores:</p>
<p>Math 36, English (with Writing) 35, Science 35.</p>
<p>mtv22,</p>
<p>Doing any practice will help your ACT score. However, IMO practicing with real ACT tests will help your score more.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/act-preparation/227403-list-best-act-prep-books.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/act-preparation/227403-list-best-act-prep-books.html</a></p>
<p>I agree that real tests are the best. If you already have a good score, what you need is practice, and using actual ACTs will give you the best feel for the exam.</p>
<p>I found this: [Free</a> Real ACT Tests by Rajiv Raju and Silpa Raju](<a href=“http://freeacttest.blogspot.com/]Free”>http://freeacttest.blogspot.com/)</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Btw, my scores: 32 english, 36 reading, 34 math, 34 science, 8 essay.</p>
<p>Can anyone give me some advice for the english (how to practice, which books to use) and the essay?</p>
<p>i’d recommend working through the writing sections of The Official Study Guide for the SAT. the errors tested are very similar, and really you just want to train your brain to find the errors. patterns!</p>
<p>I highly disagree that the PR reading section is useless. It really helped me practice my reading strategies.</p>