<p>I am wondering what is the best way to prepare for the ACT. What materials did you use and how much of a change was there in your score. Also, in the reading particulary what is the best way to improve.</p>
<p>By "studying" for a knowledge test, you are ruining the system...It is meant to see where you are at compared the rest of the country, and people like you try to screw up the results by trying to overachieve on the ACT!!
:)</p>
<p>jclay2,
The Real ACT Prep guide is very good. My d said it came very close to the real test. The PR book was very good for strategies esp. for the Reading section. She got a 35 on the Reading-first time as a sophomore. She also took the practice test on the ACT website.
Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Silly btb846. The "system" works in our favor. If you have a problem with it, talk to ACT. They seem to think that the "system" works just fine.</p>
<p>good for them. if they think that it is fair for people to "buy" themselves a good score ($ spent on prep), then so be it. I don't think it is fair, but I am happy iwth my score. I'm just trying to defend people like you.</p>
<p>How are you defending me?</p>
<p>You said you werent happy with your score. If people didnt buy a better ACT score, yours would not look so "bad" in your eyes.</p>
<p>Well I guess your right; however, I am not happy with a 25, so I am going to retake it regardless. I am a firm believer that practice makes perfect and that good scores are not "bought" but rather earned through hard work and patience.</p>
<p>That is true. I would say it's a little bit of both (though one could argue the hard work aspect is priceless : ) ). Good luck to you</p>
<p>Well thank you. Good luck to you too! </p>
<p><3</p>
<p>Most local libraries should carry many if not all of the ACT prep books that people generally refer to as "the best", meaning you can check them out and study from them for free.</p>
<p>So, it's less about "buying a score" than it is about making the effort and taking the patience to work hard in order to improve the score. </p>
<p>Plus, the ACT is less about 'intelligence' than it is about knowledge of subject material. (at least compared to the SAT from what i've heard) How is studying for the ACT any different than reviewing material before a test in high school?</p>
<p>I like you mo24; I believe that you are 100% correct!</p>
<p><3</p>
<p>Um...it doesn't make any sense <em>not</em> to prepare. I didn't do nearly as much prep as a lot of folks on this site say that they have, but I went from a 30 with no practice to a 32 by simply taking a couple of practice tests out of one of those books. </p>
<p>Those two little points, by the way, earned me a full ride to my school...so I'm thinking that a bit of prep is definitely desirable.</p>
<p>the best way to prepare for the act ,and you definitely should prepare, is to get the books and take as many practice tests as you can. the questions are all written similarly, so you can figure out at least what types of questions you will see and you can study the things that you really need.</p>
<p>i don't prepare.</p>
<p>Buy (or check out, or whatever) The Real ACT Prep Guide, read through it carefully, make annontations, and take the practice tests, as they resemble what the actual ACT is like. Practice, practice, practice. Sleep, and then practice some more. If you have a problem with a specific section, do a lot of review for that section (I'm not too great at math, and I used PR's four review chapters and did MUCH better on the test). If you need to improve reading, do it with past or practice ACT passages -- develop a "plan of attack" so you can knock out questions fast and accurately.</p>
<p>I only took the ACT once, but that stuff definitely worked.</p>
<p>the only thing u can do is prep yourself for different situations and test taking techniques like timing issues and how long you spend on a certain question, skipping questions you're unsure of and goin back to them at the end, and stuff. </p>
<p>I took some practice tests, AND LET'S SAY THEY DON'T HELP YOU AT ALL WITH STUDYING, LIKE I SAID, ALL THEY HELP IS WITH TEST TAKING STRATEGIES, WHICH IS SOMETHING. </p>
<p>Keep an eye on the science portion of the ACT's. That's always the part I had trouble with in terms of timing. Cause it's so many thinking questions and they really don't give u enough time for the Science Portion. </p>
<p>Also, the Reading portion can give people trouble too. I perfected the art of Reading quickly and answering the questions on time, but if it's not perfected, U HAVE A TOUGH TIME FINISHING ALL 40 QUESTIONS ON THAT SECTION. </p>
<p>All those ACT Books they have are all overrated and anyone who buys them are idiots. They don't help, they don't make you smarter, they don't make u any more knowledgable.</p>
<p>practicing doesn't make you know more. </p>
<p>You probably knew enough, you just panicked thinking, oh my god, this is gonna be so hard for you. </p>
<p>You probably would've done about the same without the hrs. of practicing.</p>
<p>i practiced at first, got a 26 on my 2nd try, then stopped practicing cause i thought it was no use and got a 25 the 3rd time I took it. </p>
<p>I jus said **** it cause even the PLAN tests I took my sophomore yr. told me I'd get between a 22-26 score. </p>
<p>The best way to go is getting a tutor, it'll probably improve ur score a lot. I didn't have one, but had I had a tutor, I'm sure I could've had a 29 or 30.</p>
<p>"All those ACT Books they have are all overrated and anyone who buys them are idiots."</p>
<p>My English score the first time I took the ACT was a 29. I took a few English sections out of an ACT book to get a feel of what they were looking for and raised my score to a 35. I also took a few Science sections to find a good pace and went from a 28 to a 33. Sorry, but I'm not seeing how buying that book makes me an idiot.</p>