<p>i have the official act book and 1296 from princeton review. i got a 25 the first time. i am aiming at a 30ish grade. is that feasible? how many practice tests should i take and if you have any useful tips that would be helpful.</p>
<p>complete the book then complete the Real ACT Book. That should be enough if you look over your mistakes and UNDERSTAND them. I went up 2 points in 4 months doing that, but once you get to the high 30’s its tougher to gain points, so going from 25-30 is definitely possible.</p>
<p>Honestly, take as many as you can. Make sure to save some for the few days right before the test though.</p>
<p>as many as you can?</p>
<p>In February of 09, I took the ACT and got a 25. I only did three practice tests and didn’t learn much from my wrong answers. In September of this year, I took it again and got a 30. The reason for this five point jump was that I took a total of 10 different practice tests and I thoroughly evaluated my mistakes in each of them. I believe that raising your score is as simple as completing and learning from as many practice tests as possible. Here are my scores from the 10 practice tests: 26,28,28,29,31,29,31,30,31,31.
Another thing I learned is that the higher the scores get, the more effect one or two right answers have on your overall score. For example, If your scoring 30+ in English, two more right answers can bring this score up by two or three points. A three point increase in any area (English, Math, etc.) can bring your overall score up by one. Therefore, getting two more right answers in your strong area can mean the difference between a 29 and a 30 in your overall grade!
One vital component in getting a feel for how this works is the kind of scoring sheet your practice books provide. Some give you a scoring method that is only accurate in the 16-24 range; thus such a scoring method will say you got a 31 when you really only got a 29.
For accurate scoring, you must use the kind of scoring sheet provided in a practice book like The Real ACT Prep Guide or some other ACT endorsed book.
I used the scoring sheet from this book to score the tests from other books and found it to be consistent.</p>
<p>To conclude, the more you practice the higher your score will get if you make sure you learn from your incorrect answers. Also, don’t get discouraged if you don’t see your scores climb after the first couple of practice tests; eventually, they will go up.</p>
<p>I just want to emphasize that simply taking a bunch of practice tests may not improve your score. The ACT is designed to be fairly consistent, and for that reason, people who just retake the test over and over again may not see a significant improvement in their score.</p>
<p>The key to making the most of practice tests is learning from your mistakes. First, make sure you’re using a book that provides explanations for all of the answers. Then, after you finish taking a practice test (always try to take them in their entirety unless you’re focusing on one subject), check your answers and see what you got incorrect. Make note of your weak areas and review that material thoroughly. </p>
<p>Anyway, to answer your question, you should take as many practice tests as you can analyze and study. You’ll probably be better off taking 3 practice tests and picking apart your wrong answers than taking 6 practice tests and praying for an increase in score.</p>
<p>what are some good practice test for the act that i can do online that will actually HELP me improve my score?</p>
<p>Two I know about can be found on the ACT web site for free.</p>