<p>I took the ACT today not really knowing much about the test (I've been mostly prepping for the SAT, I took it last week for the first time and thought it was easy. I expect a pretty good score) and I thought the ACT was WAYYY harder.</p>
<p>My only issue was TIME. The questions were easy enough, but I worked way too slowly and didn't have time for at least 10 problems in most of the sections except for the first English section. O___O Yeah, that's pretty horrible.</p>
<p>If I take the test again, does anyone have any suggestions on pacing? I guess I'm used to the SAT's short times, so I was like "Oh, I have plenty of time!" but now that I think about it, 35 minutes for 40 reading questions on 4 rather large passages is pretty insane...</p>
<p>Any tips for when I take it again?</p>
<p>Also, ACT score reporting lets you choose one score to send, right? So a bad score on my record won't hurt me as long as I, you know, don't send it? :P</p>
<p>Indeed. The science section would've been so much easier if I just had 5-10 more minutes. It just took me longer to understand the passages/experiments this time.</p>
<p>My suggestions on the math would be to just blow through the first 40 or so questions as fast as you can. Don't second guess yourself or check your answers, because you need as much time as possible for the last 10-15 questions which are harder and take more time. Don't check answers because all it does is waste time, you chose the answer for a good reason I'm sure! I never checked an answer on the October math and got a 36.</p>
<p>For reading, gosh I hate this section so much. My advice is to read the passages as quickly and as thoroughly as possible. It's only 35 minutes of your life, pretend that what you're reading is of high importance and pretend it's the most interesting thing you've ever read in your life. Answer the questions that you know as quickly as possible after reading the passage and then use your memory to refer back to the passage to find other answers.</p>
<p>Science - don't read the passages, go straight to the questions and look at the charts. Only read the passage if it is imperative that you understand it or if you need to find an answer. For the most part, it's not even necessary to understand what's going on, you just need to be able to read charts and graphs. Today's ACT I believe required the ability to interpret and read charts, which is why it was significantly harder for me.</p>
<p>Regarding the score reports, nobody even has to know that you took the ACT today if you don't get the score you want. Just don't report it and nobody will know. Btw don't be discouraged by today's ACT. There will most likely be an exceptionally lenient curve on this one, but usually it's not this hard. October was a piece of cake compared to today.</p>
<p>^Thank you so much for the advice, I feel a lot better now. :)</p>
<p>It's nice to see most people thought this test was pretty hard. I know I can easily finish math next time, I just didn't realize how fast I needed to work. The ACT math section seems to be a lot easier and more straightforward than the SAT's (I hate those random "how many numbers have an odd digit...." types of questions on the SAT), but it also seems to require a lot more calculator number crunching. When the SAT says you don't need a calculator, they really mean it. But I think on the ACT it would be pretty dang hard without a calculator...I used mine the whole time. :P</p>
<p>So I think, for me, the ACT has the potential to be <em>easier</em> than the SAT, but I need to work faster.</p>
<p>I'm not gonna even talk about science, it was horrible. :P</p>
<p>English is about 9 minute per. passage (theres 5)</p>
<p>Reading about 8 minutes each (4 passages)</p>
<p>The Science one I believe has 7? I not too sure. but the idea is to divide up the time so you can answer the easier questions while skipping the harder ones. You cant afford to get stumped by 1 question and taking 3-4 minutes on it for .. say a science problem.</p>