<p>Hi, I'm a freshman in high school and I was wondering: How soon is too soon for ACT/SAT prep? I took the Duke TIP ACT in 7th grade and got a 26 composite. I recently took an ACT practice and got a 30 composite. I want to do really well when the time for the actual thing comes, and I have a birthday in the next few months and plan on asking for ACT and SAT prep books to get ahead of the game... is this jumping the gun?</p>
<p>poor thing!! who asks for prep books for their birthday!!!</p>
<p>the earlier the better</p>
<p>Don’t let ANYONE tell you you’re too young to start studying. Age is relative.</p>
<p>I started studying 7th grade. If I started in high school like most students, I wouldn’t break 28 on the ACT. Now I score 32+.</p>
<p>In response to Mike Wozowski… haha, me. I’m a pretty nerdy person. I love taking tests of any and all variety, especially standardized ones. My family members think I’m weird. I am.</p>
<p>In response to NuclearPakistan1… some people have told me to not study. My nature is to study and prep. Your success is inspiring.</p>
<p>Do you guys have any study guides in mind? I’ve found a few that look promising, but I don’t have an experienced point of view.</p>
<p>I’ll give you my two cents.</p>
<p>English and Reading-- get princeton review’s cracking the ACT.
for Science and Math-- get Barron’s. With Barron’s, if you can understand the math they are explaining and the problems they do, you’ll do great on the test. oh, and just fyi, Barron’s is A LOT harder than the real thing so don’t freak out… i didn’t know that… haha</p>
<p>I do not see the need to study with a 30 ACT as a freshman. You still have two full years left, which will help more than any test course or book can.</p>
<p>I strongly recommend finding a quiz bowl or academic decathlon team to join instead.</p>
<p>@ hopeful2b_yank3e: Thanks! I had the cracking the act on my list one but not the other.</p>
<p>@toshimelonhead: I see what you mean. I’m basically going to prepare much more than is needed. I really wouldn’t do it if I didn’t find it so fun. and, haha… yeah. I’m on academic team. and math team. and swim team. and two newspapers. and in honors classes. and about a million other clubs… and I’m still not overloaded. Ah, well, it leaves me time for life :)</p>
<p>I wish i had studied in middle school and done really well on the ACT early on as a freshman or a sophomore. Right now I cant seem to break a 31 as a senior and its really frustration with 6 AP courses, subject tests, and college applications. So, my advice is to take it seriously now and get it over with. You’ll see so many people getting frustrated around junior and senior years, so its better to just get it over with.</p>
<p>Oh yeah and get the Princeton Review book and the Real ACT prep book. I only suggest the Barrons if u have a 33 and wish to get higher. Barrons is only useful when it gets really hard to improve a score for example from a 32-33 or a 35-36.</p>
<p>If you really enjoy taking practice tests, by all means go take as many as possible.</p>
<p>I honestly don’t think prepping years and years in advance helps too much. When you get older, you tend to get smarter naturally.</p>
<p>as long as you are old enought to have long term memory feel free to knock your self out over practice tests and books</p>
<p>if you really want an age i would say you cant go wrong if you are older then 4 and three quarters</p>
<p>um, it seems like you’re already gonna be pretty smart… so studying seems like a waste of otherwise useful (maybe?) time. honestly, i have friends who basically didn’t study and made 36’s. i on the other hand put studying off 'til 12th grade, took a class on it, and made a 34. idk, im not a good test taker, so not sure what that says. anyway, again: waste of time. but if it makes you happy, go for it!</p>