<p>I just took my first ever diagnostic ACT test out of the Barron's book and got:
English-29
Math-27
Reading-25
Science-25
with a composite of 27.
Is that a good starting point? Also how does that correspond to the actual ACT and what should i do from here on?</p>
<p>The barrons ACT is known for being a lot harder than the actual ACT… We can’t really use barrons as an indicator of how good a score on the barrons test is, but I guess it helps to practice harder questions.
If you feel like the Barrons tests help you then keep taking them because they are also good for time management.</p>
<p>^ hopefully that ends up being true. I just finished the Barron’s diagnostic test with the following scores:</p>
<p>English-32
Math-28
Reading-23
Science-26</p>
<p>In my opinion, the English passages seemed to be formatted strangely (although this is the first time I’ve taken any ACT practice test) while the math was okay (just need a quick refresher). The Reading and Science sections, on the other hand, were filled with presumptive, subjective, and/or overly-involved questions the likes of which I don’t think could ever make it onto the actual ACT exam.</p>
<p>What I’m probably going to do is follow the advice from the diagnostic exam in regards to which particular subject areas I should review, and then just take the practice tests provided in the red book.</p>
<p>I have the barrons 6 ACT practice tests book and i find the english and reading passages harder than the red act book</p>
<p>when i take a practice test in the barrons book, my english score is between 26-28 and the reading is between 23-29</p>
<p>When i took a test in the red book, the english section i usually got between 29-32 and the reading between 28-30 (reading is my worst section)</p>
<p>So overall, for barrons, i find the math and science quite similar to the real act, but english and reading, not really 
the reading passages in the red book were more interesting and fun to read :PP</p>
<p>i messed up really bad the first time i took the act…i hope barrons work 
good luck!</p>
<p>I’ve never used Barron’s but most other prep books are usually at about the same level as the actual tests (maybe slightly harder or easier, but not significantly). Also, it’s difficult to actually measure how much harder or easier the prep book is, because you’d need a larger sample of students to test from.</p>