<p>My son received [after an appeal] extended time on the ACT. I tried to research as much as I could about that test, but did not realize the following:</p>
<p>1) the proctor does not tell the kids when to finish one part of the test [i.e. English, or Math] and continue on to the next part
2) the timing spent on the test is completely up to the student
3) if the student has five hours to take the test, unfortunately they may end up spending too much time on one section, and completely miss the last section.</p>
<h1>3 is what my son did. Reading sections are always hard for him, and as a result, he had only 10 minutes left for the science section, which is one of his stronger areas. As a result of this not knowing how to time each section, he did not do well on the test. It almost makes you wonder if he would have done better WITHOUT extended time, just so that his timing spent on each section would be LIMITED.</h1>
<p>Do any of you have any timing tips on how to do the ACT with extended time?</p>
<p>We have had him take practice exams, and have timed them, and will do an average over many of his practice exams to see what his norm is. Even so, we could use some tips from people who have been through this...</p>
<p>Try to calculate how much his time is being multiplied, then apply that multiplier to each section. You now have rough estimates for the pace he should be going.</p>
<p>Hi
I was just granted ex. time and was really curious about the test. The ACT does not make it clear anywhere how the extended time test format is.
I have a couple of questions for you and your son that I would really appreciate being answered (I’m anxious that I will be in for a surprise on test day).</p>
<p>Over the 5 hours (5 hours 45mins for the +writing section), it’s just you and the test?
The proctor does absolutely NOTHING, correct?
I can work on any section I want, for however long I want?
I can skip around and come back?
I can leave the room to go to the bathroom whenever I want or take a break?
But it all has to be done in under 5 hours, without ever stopping the clock from the start.
Is ALL of this correct? Thanks!</p>
<p>By the way, some advice for your son. How I’ve been practicing (based on how I believe it works), is to wear a watch with BOTH a “lap” time AND a “total” time. On the screen I see how long I’m taking on a specific section, and then how long I’ve taken on the entire test.
I multiplied each section by 1.5 (even though you have slightly more) and tried to make sure I used ONLY that for each section.
For example,
I used about 68 minutes for English, pressed the “lap” button, took a 1 minute break, pressed the “lap button,” and then worked through Math. Near the end of the math I saw I was at 80 minutes for math and 2 hours 29 minutes total (so I knew I was 50% done with my total time, and about 90% done with my Math section time).
I paced pretty well and ended up leaving only 25 minutes for the 45 minute (estimated) writing section because I took a couple of breaks, but overall the practice test went well.</p>
<p>Basically my advice is to wear a watch and practice your mental endurance (granted that all I said at the beginning is true about the test).
Hope this helped, I would love to hear back from you about your experience on test day and how it was formatted and proctored!</p>
<p>Whythankyou, I took the act with extended time earlier this year in april. I had 5 hours total to complete the test and was able to spend however long I wanted to on each section, however once you are ready to go to the next session you must let the proctor know and you CANNOT go back to previous sections. I was only allowed to take breaks in between sections. </p>
<p>This was my first act and I didn’t practice at all before the test and so just paced myself to about 1.25 hours for each section, this gave me enough time to look over my answers at least once before going onto the next section. </p>
<p>I would recommend trying not to take too long on any one question, that’s what I did on the english section and I just confused myself and ended with a 29 for that section. The other three sections I managed a 36. I didn’t take it with writing so I can’t speak to that. </p>
<p>So you have the entire test, and you raise your hand when you’re down with each section (take out/put away calculator if necessary), can then go take a break, and then come back and turn the booklet to the next section, and so on at entirely your own pace?</p>
<p>How many people are in a extended time room (or were in yours)? Is it distracting when everyone else is telling the proctor that they’re done with each section?</p>
<p>Not that it really matters, but just out of curiosity does extended time have the same test as the regular test?</p>
<p>Lastly, by any chance do you remember what time you got out of the test? (I have to be somewhere at 3 and figured a 6 hour test starting at 8 should be done by 2)</p>
<p>Sorry these questions may seem trivial, but they’ve been killing me and no one seems to have answers. I’ll just be at much greater peace of mind if I go into the test without any questions or anxiety.
Thanks again!!</p>
<p>Yes, that first part is right. I think there were five other people in the room with me, we were spaced pretty far apart and it wasn’t distracting at all having people telling the proctor they were done, it was done mostly silently and I couldn’t hear them. </p>
<p>The extended time test was a different test than my friends took who didn’t have extended time and it took me much longer time to recieve my scores than it did for them, I don’t know if that’s because of the extended time or the order that they grade the test forms. </p>
<p>I think I finished the science section, which was the last part for me, with around 30 minutes remaining, although once I finished the most of the others were still working. </p>
<p>Just remember to watch the clock closely and you should be able to manage your time fine. One thing I found really useful on the math and science sections is to put a check mark next to the questions you are certain on, that way you can use your time more effectively when reviewing your test.</p>
<p>I have a question about the suggestion to use a watch with a lap timer on it - I’m assuming you cannot have alarms set on the watch. That would be ideal for me, but probably distracting to everyone else. Can you confirm that alarms are NOT allowed - or make my day and tell me they are?</p>
<p>If you are taking the essay portion of the test, do you get it with the other portions of the test and have a total of 5:45, or do you get 5 hours to do the multiple choice sections and 45 minutes to do the essay?</p>