<p>I am a newbie with ACT. I have focused on SAT and apparently I am not doing so well with it. I am thinking about switching to ACT. My official SAT score is 2000 (CR: 630, M:710, WR:660). Oh, I am an international student, just so you guys know.</p>
<p>Do you guys think one month is enough to prepare for ACT to get a decent score like 32 ? I have not studied SAT since last December. I want to start thinking about standardized tests again after APs. Note: I am currently a senior who get rejected at basically every college that I applied to.</p>
<p>What is considered a competitive ACT score ? I know for SAT, it is around 2200 and above.</p>
<p>Well, the natl. average is a 21, which is not really acceptable by any good universities. I’d say a 28 and up are the competitive scores. 34-36 on ACT will get you into a lot of schools</p>
<p>well a 2000 is around a 30, but it will depend on which test you find easier. definitely get the Real Act book, it has 3 actual tests by the ACT. take a practice and see, you should be able to jump a few points higher than that score with a month of studying.</p>
<p>Right, that’s true. I have just bought the Real ACT book. I have also seen Kaplan, Barron, Princeton Review, McGraw Hill, and Gruber’s. Which ones should I get ?</p>
<p>If your converted score is near a 30, you should definitely get Barron’s ACT 36. And, if you have time, Princeton Review’s: Cracking The ACT. Those two, plus the Real ACT Prep Guide, are more than enough.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestion. My SAT score is 1340 for CR+M or 2000/2400 so I think it is 30 right ? It was my score back in December. I have not studied SAT since then so I don’t know if my score will drop or not.</p>
<p>So I am hesitating to take the June ACT. I have just bought the book last night and start studying for ACT. Do you guys think I should wait till October to have a better preparation ?</p>
<p>It won’t hurt you to take it in June and October.</p>
<p>And I recommend Barron’s prep books. They are a bit harder than the test, but teach and review a lot of material. Just don’t let yourself get too worried if you don’t do well on their tests. (I got a 30 on their test and a 32 on the real thing.) Good luck!</p>
<p>Should I get the normal Barron’s or the Barron’s ACT 36 ?</p>
<p>The thing is I am afraid that I am still unfamiliar with ACT and have not had too much time to prepare for June and I will get a low score. Right now, I am aiming for 33.</p>
<p>I would start with the regular book if you are unfamiliar with the ACT. The “Aiming for the Perfect Score” one is a short supplement. At midnight tonight I’ll know if it was worth it. (I used the regular book the first time I took it and the “Perfect Score” one this last time.)</p>
<p>I did the English part of a full ACT practice test today and got only 27. Is it a bad start ? There were at least 3 mistakes I could have avoided and were 50-50 choices.</p>
<p>That isn’t a bad start, because you are still getting accustomed to the format/timing/types of questions on the test. There is room for improvement, though. Be sure to look at what you got wrong and how similar questions may pop up in the future.</p>
<p>English actually just follows a few rules, if you think about it. Remember to keep sentences and paragraphs in the same tense, use concise word choice, and set off appositives with commas. That takes care of the majority of the problems. Work through the others to see what else causes you to stumble.</p>
<p>And even the best test takers may have a few questions that they’re unsure of. Just try to choose the best answer choice, even when multiple seem to work.</p>
<p>There are a couple of new types of questions that threw me off because SAT does not have them. For example, those questions about choosing a similar sentence to replace a current sentence. I notice that it is tough to get a good score since there are a lot of room for mistakes. I am usually tricked by questions about meaning of sentences. I got most of the grammatical questions.</p>
<p>Most people do about the same on both tests. The ACT isn’t necessarily a get out ticket if you aren’t liking your SAT score as many would suggest. If you have specific troubles like vocabulary and the such, then you might do better on the ACT. (32 is a 2130, which could be 130 points above your SAT score).</p>
<p>Thanks for your suggestion. Yeah, I don’t plan to get out of SAT. I am probably gonna do both. I am just thinking that ACT might be different enough that I can do better on it. Personally, I like neither of the tests since I don’t believe in standardized testing. However, I am playing the game of college admission so I have to yield to its rules.</p>
<p>Any other suggestions or comments will be greatly appreciated</p>