Official June 2012 ACT thread!

<p>For science the method I find to be the best by a longshot is just going straight to the questions and only read the passages if it’s 100% necessary to answer the questions. I’ve gotten no more than 3 wrong on all the passages in science (not counting conflicting viewpoints passage) using this method. My problem is the conflicting viewpoints section, sometimes I do really well on it and other times I get 3-5 wrong. I think it just depends on what the type of experiment or topic its discussing for me. What are your guys’ strategies for the conlficting viewpoints? I always take a glance at the questions to know what I’m looking for, then I’ll read the whole passage.</p>

<p>I think what’s helped me the most on the reading section is that I really do read all the time. Reading is (duh) practice at reading… Especially if you’re reading more complicated things with longer, more confusing sentences. That’s actually kinda helpful for the science test, too… Reading harder novels and such is just excellent practice at being able to read quickly and understand what was you just read, which is, I think, the key to the reading and science sections. More importantly, it’s just a nice skill to have in general.</p>

<p>Also, it gives you a much better intuition for the english rules and such. I have no idea why or when you use who or whom, but I can tell you when it sounds right… And I’ve scored a 31+ on the english every time (practice ACTs only, but all real tests). Learning the rules doesn’t hurt, of course.</p>

<p>I don’t feel like reading every single one of these post so I don’t know if anyone has suggested it yet, but here is a risky-but-effective tip for reading - Spend all your time on 3 of the 4 passages and make sure you get those correct, then blind guess the 4th passage, chances are you’ll get at least 3 of them right but on those other 3, you will get a lot more correct. Just a thought.</p>

<p>Goals for June ACT:
English: 30
Math: 36
Reading: 25
Science: 36</p>

<p>i got a 31 the first time and i really want a 33/34 this time, but i am not too confident since i havent really studied at all for either time (april and now) but i am so worried about science i have just enough time but i am worried i wont be able to do as well on my sections i scored high on as i did in april. is there any point in doing practice tests, or should i just wing it??</p>

<p>I’ve been consistently getting scores from the Red Book, Cracking, etc… in the low to mid thirties… For those of you who have already taken the ACT before, to what extent are practice tests accurate??
(I’ve asked this question before, but I have to reconfirm because I’m nervous… First Time)</p>

<p>^did you time yourself?</p>

<p>somewhat consistent I’d say.</p>

<p>So I’ve taken the act once in 7th grade-21 and once in 8th grade-24 and I’m taking it my third time, this time after sophomore year ;D. I’m hoping to get at least a 34, I took a practice test and got a 29 in english, 33 in math, and 36 in reading and science. I find that reading and science are really easy, you just have to go super fast. On those two sections I had to give myself almost 5 more minutes to finish the test, though i got all of them correct. </p>

<p>My tip on science is to read through the passages first, that way you actually understand what the data means, then read the questions, and refer to the charts and graphs to answer it. This way works best for me, and if I’m just a tad bit faster I could get a 36 hopefully. </p>

<p>On reading, i just read, and answer questions I guess XD, its my strong suit so i don’t know what to say. I guess you could practice vocab and finding meanings. </p>

<p>On english hopefully I could bring up my 29 to a 32 or 33, I wonder if their are any places online that could give easy grammar tips with examples? Most of the english is basically the reading so its not too hard especially the main idea and sentence placement, deletion questions.</p>

<p>On Math, like others have said, speed is the key. I managed to get through all of the questions besides 5 (i didn’t miss any that I answered). When I looked back I got 3 out of the 5 questions I missed. Hopefully i could get a 34 or 35 in math.</p>

<p>Does anyone know of free practice tests available online? i’ve taken some of the ones they provide every year but are their any others?</p>

<p>@Act34 – for me, i performed worse on the actual than I did on practices. I never received below a 33 on any practice… But I barely made 30 on the actual. I had a bad case of nerves…</p>

<p>@Noxing - check out march2success.com it has ACT/SAT flash cards along with 7 full practice tests and essays.</p>

<p>How close to the actual tests are the practice questions on march 2 success?</p>

<p>@kelio Yes. I usually finish with 1-5 minutes to spare on both English and Math without rushing, but I usually finish right on the money for Reading and Science…</p>

<p>@karate That may be a problem for me, but I have done several practice tests under timed conditions and can do more by game time… Will that help?</p>

<p>I just took a practice test this morning and made a 21. I’m so disappointed. That was low. My cousin who took the ACT said usually the real score would be lower because on the test day we would get nervous. I hope I can change that low score this saturday. Wish everyone luck.</p>

<p>@Act34 that would definitely help. I should probably do the same thing. Do you know where to find practice exams?</p>

<p>@act34ormore</p>

<p>I do that too during practice, however in real tests, time will feel more tight than usual, since it takes time to open the test booklet, some distractions etc.</p>

<p>Does anyone feel like the Princeton review practice tests are harder than the real ACT? Maybe it’s just me haha</p>

<p>I scored higher on Princeton review practices than on the actual if that says anything</p>

<p>Dreading the test on Saturday. I’ve attempted to study regularly for since last summer, but it just hasn’t worked out so well with all the other crap i’ve had to worry about with school. I’ve gotten through the Barron’s book, which is nothing short of overkill and I’ve been studying the the Kaplan Premier book since last week, which I actually find very helpful, especially for people who don’t have much time left. I’m shooting for a 27. It’s all I really need to be eligible for scholarships. People probably expect me to get something in the 30’s, considering I have a perfect GPA, but honestly I couldn’t care less. I’m not even gonna bother getting a really high score just for the sake of impressing people. I just wanna get the score i need and get this damn test out of my life.</p>

<p>My biggest question is on the math. I was looking at a really old Barron’s practice book and I found the math in it really weird. Its the math I haven’t done in years. Do you know if there are a lot of questions on circles (eg. inscribed angles, arcs, ratios of chords…)?</p>

<p>@karatekid I mostly just do tests out of the Real ACT book.</p>