Taking the ACT for the first time

<p>I'm a sophomore and taking the ACT for the first time this year in December, and was wondering what suggestions you guys had. Do you think I should take it without much preparation the first time, or do you reccomend getting a prep book like Kaplan, Barron, etc? Has anyone here got a really high score on their first time taking it? And how many times is it appropriate to take it to get a satisfying score?</p>

<p>No, I would definitely buy practice books. The ACT needs lots of practice so you can get the timing down (it is very time constrained). The two books I recommend are The REAL ACT Prep Guide (3 accurate tests) and the Princeton Review (has good strategies and tests). Usually 2-3 times is sufficient for a good score. I took it only twice. Got a 28 first time, 30 second time. And I think I will take it one more time. Good luck!</p>

<p>Thanks for your help. I'll probably buy either the Real ACT Prep Guide or the Princeton Review and study it continuously until I take the ACT in December.</p>

<p>My advice is to take it without much practice and see where you are at. I did that and liked where I was at, and saved my time and money by not wasting it on preparation.</p>

<p>I think I agree w/ notthatgood only because you're only a sophomore.</p>

<p>But notthatgood's advice won't save you time and money if you don't do as well as you want the first time, and you have to take it again. I'd suggest doing the same thing, but make a practice test your first test. Take one timed practice test (a real one, like from Real ACT Prep or the Preparing for the ACT booklet), in one session with realistic breaks, and see how you do on that.</p>

<p>That's probably what I'll do. I've already purchased a Real ACT Prep Guide book, and it has 3 complete practice tests. I'm going to take all of those tests as well as studying the whole book before taking it in December.</p>

<p>Anyone know about how many you can miss and still get a 33?</p>

<p>on any given section except science, between 3-5 questions.</p>

<p>On science (the curve is harsher) probably about 1-2, maybe 3.</p>

<p>So anywhere between 10 and 18 questions total.</p>

<p>Doesn't the ACT have quite a few questions per section, or is it around 35 questions or so?</p>

<p>My ACT Guide still hasn't showed up either...</p>

<p>English- 75 questions
Math- 60 questions
Reading- 40 questions
Science- 40 questions</p>

<p>Wow. No wonder everyone talks about how the time constraints on the ACT are half the battle. I'm guessing it would be a smart idea for me to practice with the same time limits they give you on the real deal. </p>

<p>And to answer sunshine's question, on the math, english, and reading sections you can miss up to 5 and still get a 33 but on the science you can only miss about 1 or 2 questions to get a 33.</p>