Just tried science section for first time - analysis please

<p>Okay, I just did a science questions from ACT</a> Sample Questions : Science Set 7. </p>

<p>^there are exactly 40 questions and 7 passages. I scored a 36/40, with 2 of them being silly because I did not read the "based on figure 1" which I now know to watch out for. I did this at approximately the rate of 35 min per the 40 questions, and I'll eventually work on speeding myself up. How are those sample questions compared to the real test? I understand that they are random passages; is that how it is on the SAT? Because there's no increasing difficulty on the ACT so.. </p>

<p>Basically, were those 40 questions a good mirror of a real ACT science section in difficulty, question type, and such?</p>

<p>What would a 36/40 get? 38/40?</p>

<p>Thanks. I'm still new to the ACT.</p>

<p>Also - while browsing this forum I heard of some technique in science that saves you time where you “skip” the intro paragrpah? Is that recommended?</p>

<p>If you have time, by all means read everything you can. But the thing is that most people can’t read everything presented and still finish, so the general rule is to skip the irrelevant info.</p>

<p>bumpppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp</p>

<p>The practice that is on the ACT website is really similar to the test.</p>

<p>So what would I have gotten with a 36/40 and 38/40?</p>

<p>prolly a 32.
but it’s a lot to do with luck. Depending on what science courses u’ve taken and what labs you’ve done, the passages can be a breeze or can be incomprehensible.
plus, pressure takes over on act day. </p>

<p>I’d say your range would fall 28-33 in science. what actually happens is based on your luck.</p>

<p>every single passage was “new information” for me except the rH value one… </p>

<p>the 4 I got wrong were all in the passages… darn ok thanks man I think I’ll practice the ACT and abandon the SAT or do both conjunctively over the summer.</p>

<p>Since you seem knowledgeable on the ACT, can you contrast the ACT with the SAT?<br>
I’ve heard ACT math is harder, and ACT reading is easier. What about english vs. writing?</p>

<p>I’m aiming for an ideal score of 35/36 composite, so how hard is it to get 35/36^ (because “hard” is subjective, it depends on what you are trying to aim for). </p>

<p>oh and also my SAT math is like 750-800 (careless) and SAT writing like 700. CR… 590 lol. please give me some analysis… I’d really appreciate it.</p>

<p>I was just like you. SAT critical reading was not my thing.
ACT is for people who are inclined towards math and science. </p>

<p>Math is harder, reading is easier, english on ACT is a bit harder
I’ve taken the SAT, and although I got an 800 in math, my critical reading still lay in the mid 600 range. That’s why I went for the ACT.</p>

<p>English is harder on the ACT? Yikes. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>My physics teacher did a brief “How to take the science ACT” and gave a few tips. A lot of people try reading the whole intro and feel physically ill when they feel they don’t understand it. The thing is thought that most of the questions can be taken from the graph. When I personally took the ACT it was straight to the graphs with all of them. I was familiar with some stuff about Genes that I had learned last year in Biology but overall it was new info.</p>

<p>I received a 33 on the science and found that one question I missed was because of a sentence at the end of the paragraph that stated “All numbers are based on 20 revolutions” when I looked at a graph and multiplied by 20. Overall it’s a mixture. Most can be found just my skipping to the questions and graphs but there is a few crucial sentences in the paragraphs you might want to skim for.</p>

<p>That’s my 2cents. Someone might come in and completely demolish my way of thinking yet that’s fine. I’m a science and math lover though and I enjoy the analytical thinking it requires.</p>

<p>That is completely true. 37 of the questions may be just from the graphs and the charts. But if you want those last 3 to secure yourself the 36, then you need to read. If not, then go ahead straight to the charts. </p>

<p>This topic is extremely similar to Xiggi’s SAT prep thread. He says that Princeton Review classes are bad because they try to find tricks to the test(in math), helping you to get a better score but not the best score.
In the end, a perfect scorer needs to actually know how to do the entire test, not take any shortcuts. </p>

<p>I suggest you should skim through the reading. Understand the gist of it and underline anything that seems important. Then go to the graphs and charts, and determine a relationship between variables. After this, go to the questions.
To be on time to finish all questions, take 1 less minute on each section(7 sections) than the number of questions.(This doesnt mean take 50 sec per question. This means take 2-3 minutes understanding the passage and graphs, and then attack the questions. They will be a breeze) This will guarantee you a finish in 33/34 minutes. Try this method a few times so you can adjust accordingly.</p>