So I’ve been taking a practice test for a specific section each day and I’ve been receiving pretty high scores, however, I am worried that they won’t be near the same thing for the actual ACT.
If they’re from the red book by the ACT company then they should be pretty accurate, MAYBE a little higher
That’s what I figured. Thank you!
The Red Book by section:
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English: pretty accurate, but not 100% because the test keeps evolving gradually.
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Math: much too easy compared to recent tests.
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Reading: Single Passages pretty accurate. But…
Double Passages not accurate at all. The Red Book doesn’t have any Double Passages. So if you’re not aware that one DP will be on the test, you will be blindsided on test day. You’ll waste time trying to figure out what the heck is going on, where did this come from, you didn’t know there were Double Passages, is this a cruel joke, blah, blah, blah. Before you know it, time is up, and you just got killed in Reading. And that negativity and frustration will linger into the next section, Science, affecting your score.
Science: too easy.
Essay: pretty accurate… for now. The Essay format is changing dramatically (translation: harder because more work will be involved) in the Fall. Look on the ACT website for a sample. But no specific date is given yet when the new Essay format goes live. Check the ACT website for updates.
It would be nice to have a new edition of the Red Book, one that reflects the recent changes and upcoming changes. But don’t expect one until 2016, per Peterson’s, the publisher.
Thank you that was very insightful! By double passage do you mean two passages for a series of questions?
Yes, two shorter passages with 10 questions. 3-4 questions for Passage A, 3-4 questions for Passage B. The remaining 2-3 questions are about both.
The Double Passages are generally easier.
Also, try to take the entire test in one sitting. It is not easy to do the entire test at one go. Often students do better if they do one section at a time. And of course use the official ACT tests as much as you can.
My son took practice tests on his Kaplan program (old dvd-based prep guide). Those tests were shorter than the real thing, and he didn’t do them all at once. On his actual ACT, he scored the same on one section, and 1-2 points better on each of the other three.
He also took an old ACT (one we found online and printed out). He took it on a Saturday, all at once, trying to emulate the real thing. It was a good practice and a great predictor. He scored .75 higher on the real thing (one point higher composite).