<p>Hello all! I just wanted to create a thread where people can offer general tips/tricks that helped them while studying beforehand/during the exam.</p>
<p>I personally have never taken the ACT before, I've taken the SAT a bunch, and I have several "pre-test" tips which I can contribute to the "thread of knowledge."</p>
<p>Tip #1: Practice with a clock. Especially on the non-math sections where time can get tricky. Start off with 1 minute below what the actual time is, and gradually shorten the length of time between practice tests. Practice problems are nice, but when you step into that class, you aren't doing 5 or 10 problems, you're doing a test.</p>
<p>Tip #2: You know what they said about the night before - good rest, good dinner, wake up to breakfast? They weren't lying. I actually recommend that sleep pattern the entire week prior. Also, if your parents will let you, take the day off from school that friday. It really makes it easier for you to recall information when you don't have a bajillion tests the day before. If you can, I'd suggest going for a run/lifting/doing SOMETHING ACTIVE that Friday to get the blood circulating/brain working. Take a practice test which you scored very, very well on that day (2-3 points above your goal score for the ACT) and use it as a quick review/confidence builder, and naturally, review your mistakes AS WELL AS YOUR CORRECT ANSWERS. </p>
<p>The test is similar to the SAT in that it doesn't test your knowledge, it tests your discipline - did you make the time to prepare in advance? Those who don't probably wouldn't make the time in college. There are those who go into the test and drop 34's without studying, but they put in the time during the classroom. For those of us who slept during class, we have to study, at least, that's my humble opinion. :P</p>
<p>I didn’t study before, but these are some things I did right before and during the test and I am pretty happy with my scores.</p>
<p>Tip 1: Drink Red Bull.
OK maybe not a great idea, but by this I mean that you have to be AWAKE during the test, both physically and mentally. If you don’t wake up until the Reading portion, your scores will reflect it.</p>
<p>Tip 2: Read the passages
I know that many people say not to read them, and to that I say “To each his own.” I tried to go without reading them and it backfired on me. I ended up going back and reading everything through before answering the questions.</p>
<p>Tip 3: Relax
It is just another test. Too many people blow it out of proportion, you can always retake.</p>
<p>No, it doesn’t test whether you prepared in advance. Both are essentially aptitude tests. Yes, you can do better by preparing in advance. No, those who don’t study didn’t put in time in the classroom. They’re just good at multiple choice and/or intelligent. Very little of the material on the ACT is taught in high school classrooms. Nowadays, many students learn most (if not all) of the math before high school. The science section requires no prior knowledge (although paying enough attention to pass a few science classes will make things a bit easier). The reading and writing sections test basic skills that you’re not going to have in time for the test if you didn’t have them long before high school.</p>
<p>Most of us who go in and drop 36s without studying could have done that before high school, too. (Yes, I know you said 34, but if you can get that without studying, you can get a 36 without studying - the difference between 34, 35, and 36 is a combination of how you’re feeling that day and what test you got.)</p>
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<p>I’m going to disagree there. At most, skim the passages before starting the questions. By the time you’re done with the questions, you’ll have read as much as you need to read. Reading it beforehand is a waste of time, since you then have to reread. This is true for nearly every standardized test (with the notable exception of the LSAT, which is the only test I’ve ever read the passages on).</p>
<p>@RedSeven, I’m just saying what worked for me, i wasn’t able to answer the questions by just skimming, after reading the passage you have a general idea of where to look for answers. It also helped me to read the questions before hand, that way i could quickly answer the obvious ones.</p>