<p>So I am an incoming junior and I plan on taking the ACT in December and February or April (will do a third test in June if I need to). The ACT is not the most popular at my school and I have no idea what I should do for prep. I purchased the Barron's ACT flashcards and have been going through those (I have learned that I find the science section the easiest) and the prep book 1296 questions and am slowly doing the practice tests in it, as well as the prep on number2.com. Basically am I doing enough? Are there any specific books or sites that you think will help? I am trying to get at least a 30 (which is sort of low for where I want to go).</p>
<p>Make sure you time yourself when you are doing practice tests and make sure to scrutinize the questions you get wrong.</p>
<p>Take a practice test to see how you do. If you’re not where you want to be, continue studying (and try to focus on your weakest area). Also, know that often time practice tests can be harder than the actual exams (for example, the first time I took a practice test I got a 30, however on my first ACT I got a 32. My friend was in a similar situation where he got 30 on a practice and 33 on the actual test). Just out of curiosity, what schools are you looking at? </p>
<p>You can always take an ACT as a sort of diagnostic test and then work from there. Just know that a lot of people end up doing just about the same on later forms of the test (in my state we have to take an ACT in March, and most people I know either stayed at the same score or improved by a point. Some even dropped a few >.<)</p>
<p>For me, I used the Real ACT Book put out by the ACT organization and I got a 35. I began with taking individual sections and reviewing them, I tried doing two per week. As the test approached I began doing full tests to practice the endurance aspect.</p>
<p>The only book I can really recommend is the one mentioned above because it has past tests that will show you every type of question you will encounter. I don’t always understand the books that “guarantee” higher scores because like the old saying goes: practice makes perfect. Just keep taking practice tests and review your answers, I can assure you that you’ve likely learned 95% of the material covered on the test in your schooling career thus far.</p>
<p>Just don’t stress out too much as a junior!</p>