<p>Just go in and take the test. If you think you're going to do well, you will.</p>
<p>I did the practice test from the ACT website, and I did half a practice test from the official prep book, but other than that I did no prep. I got a 32 my first time. The reality seems to be that some people are better at timed tests than others. My friend, for example, who makes the same grades as me in school, got a 25 the first time. He retook it and got a 27; he took it a third time and got another 25. I think it would be absurd to claim I'm somehow smarter than him just because I got a 32 on the ACT when I can't do any better than him in school.</p>
<p>I blasted 3 solid days of studying the weekdays before the test. Went through the whole Cracking the ACT book and took 3 practice exams. Got a 31, good enough to get to the mid-top tier schools. I don't really want to go to one of those ivies cause I see no point in a degree from Stanford following ungodly hours of studying.</p>
<p>Oh, the only thing that matters when getting into college is your test scores. My bro had 4.0 GPA 4.7 Weighted, Valedictorian, and "bad" (relative term) SAT scores and didn't get into any top-tier schools.</p>
<p>Well, NervesOfJelly, that's just one school. I want to go to Dartmouth, and Dartmouth is pretty laid back.</p>
<p>Anyway, I'm doing my first full practice test right now. I'm not going to take a practice writing test. So far, I think I'm doing pretty well. I made a 34 on English, 35 on Math, and a 33 on Reading. I have to take the Science and I'm taking a break now because I forgot to after math.</p>
<p>I just got a 34, but the mistakes were all stupid mistakes, which upsets me. I could have nailed this practice test, but oh well.</p>
<p>I am just using the The Real ACT Prep Guide. I will be taking the ACT for the first time on June 9th.</p>
<p>That's all i'm using. I just hope I can bang it out on the first try.</p>
<p>I can only advise on reading and english, simply because I've never gotten much improvements (in the good way) on the other two.
For English, do practice tests. It doesn't matter if it's SAT or ACT, or even PSAT Writing portion. Know why you get the questions wrong and keep those in your mind when you do the next practice. After around 20 practices of the writing parts, your English score should be at least 32.
For reading, I have to repeat what so many people have said before me: READ! My own case is a perfect example. I came to America 3 years ago and sucked at reading. I took the ACT two years ago and got a 24 on Reading. After taking AP US History and AP European History, I got a 36 on the April one. Some people think all they need is to read the test prep books to get good scores on AP. I can't refute that idea, but I do think reading the textbooks, especially the college-level AP ones, can help you A LOT on standardized tests.</p>
<p>Umm I'm taking the ACT in a week so if I took some practice tests will I have enough time to adequately preform?</p>
<p>Chris C, could you send me an old ACT?</p>