<p>that i can bring a stop watch to the ACT so as to check my time and just leave it on my desk</p>
<p>well at least not in New York. They see it is as some sort of cheeting device. </p>
<p>Just use a regular watch.</p>
<p>um...no. there's usually a clock on the wall anyway.
little tip...keep all reading/science section questions to 30 seconds a piece at the MOST. ^^ that way you'll be sure to have enough time. Don't sit there like some great philosopher mulling it over for more than that.</p>
<p>yeah i know
but at the place where i take it (have taken it every time there) they rarely have a clock in the room and if they do it's behind the wall, and i think i'll be losing precious time in science and reading</p>
<p>just get a regular watch for 5 dollars at your local gas station. the 7-11 by my house has those cheap ones for 3.60. the clasp breaks but it is good enough for 1 day.</p>
<p>Most proctors use wall clocks for timing. If they don't start a section at the precise moment when the minute hand jumped, they might cheat you out of up to 59 sec. on one section - for example, if you are told to start at 9:00:59 (it's still 9:00 on the wall clock) and stop at 10:00:00 (10:00 on the clock).</p>
<p>I use a digital watch with a VERY quiet beep which sounds when I start/stop/zero the stopwatch or switch modes.</p>
<p>At the beginning of each section I write down on the answer sheet the reading from my watch (say, 9:10:35) and the calculated finish time (10:10:35); when the proctor announces "time's up", I VERY quickly write down on the desk the reading from my watch and immediately put the pencil down.</p>
<p>There are different possible scenarios which might unfold if you tell the proctor about a timing mistake. Make sure you do that politely and preferably one on one. If the mistake is grave and you file a complain, all the tests in your room get invalidated and students are given a refund and/or permission to take the next test for free. It's been a long time since I've heard about this situation happen; the rules might have changed.</p>
<p>Never admit that you were using a stopwatch mode. I had a confrontation with a proctor on the January SAT when she cut one section 30 sec. short. She almost confiscated my watch. She also got very nasty and interrupted me three times on the next section.
On the other hand, on June ACT in a similar situation a proctor was very gracious and asked if she could borrow my watch for the rest of the test for precise timing. lol<br>
Now I carry the second watch just in case.</p>
<p>If you don't plan on butting heads with a proctor and want to use a stopwatch just for self-timing, be prepared to have one min. less on each section. And keep this in mind: you can be kicked out of the test for a single beep on your watch.</p>
<p>I would just use a little digital watch</p>
<p>To bring this thread up - it might prove helpful.
Once again: instead of using your digital watch in a stopwatch mode you can spend 2 seconds writing down your watch reading at the beginning of each section and memorize another one at the "pencils down" order.
Don't hesitate to be assertive in voicing your objection (up to a formal complain) if you get cheated out of 15+ seconds - they may be worth 10+ score points. A strong argument: "you'll never be a proctor again". Well, if the proctor is not one of your teachers. :(</p>
<p>A similar thread:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/460793-bringing-timer-watch-test-day.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/460793-bringing-timer-watch-test-day.html</a></p>