<p>is not carefully reading the questions and answer choices. I missed about 7 or 8 on the practice test because of these "stupid" mistakes. Anyone else have this problem?</p>
<p>Any suggestions on how to fix this problem?</p>
<p>yeah..... this is me... except on all of the sections..... any tips?</p>
<p>Yea same here. I took 3 practice tests over the weekend and was getting very irritated.</p>
<p>tip #1: Read carefully.</p>
<p>oh let me guess tip #2: Don't rush</p>
<p>Today I was taking a practice math test and I realized that I was running low on time. After that, I started to halfway panic and I got the remainer of them wrong. I need to learn how to rush while remaining calm. lol</p>
<p>The two tips work really well if you apply it. This is coming from someone who got Ds on her math tests because she didn't read carefully and rushed. You tell yourself you'll read the entire thing every time, but think about it, do you? I finally smacked my head and started actually taking my time and I used my pencil to underline while I read. My math tests went to As, so I guess I did something right.</p>
<p>I do - all the time!</p>
<p>I've forced myself to finish reading the entire question before jumping to the answers (especially in Math - even though I've done a similar problem 457x before). Like Kaplan says, "Take time to save time."</p>
<p>Yeah but what if your time is kinda close to the edge here. Like for English section, I only have like 3 or 4 mins. left while I barely have enough time for Reading and Science(Math is fine for me). I just feel like I need to pace myself, but how do you get the accuracy while pacing yourself?</p>
<p>ChiHF9009, skipping around might help.</p>
<p>In reading and science, I always go for the easy passages, since they're all worth the same points. For example, I have a problem with the prose fiction in the reading passage (since it takes a while for me to understand it), so I always do my reading in this order: social sciences, humanities, prose, natural science. For the science portion, I have the hardest time with the experiment passages, so I always go charts/graphs, compare and contrast scientists, and then experiments.</p>
<p>I rarely run out of time because I don't feel rushed. I get the easy questions out of the way, and since they're easy, they take less time. So I have the rest of my time to devote to the harder ones. How your mind is really effects how much time you "have." Once I get through with the easy questions, I don't go back and check because I know I read the entire thing and probably got all the questions right. The harder ones I can tackle, and I don't feel a lot of pressure to get them right because I know getting the easy questions right will help my score. So that way, you're not spending a long time on harder questions you might not even get right and less time on easy questions you're going to get right. Does that make sense? I'm not the best explain-er.</p>
<p>As for English, it might help if you don't fill in the bubbles while you're reading. What I do is read the passages as a whole, and make quick notes as to what is wrong and how to fix it. For example, I'm reading and see "your" used incorrectly. I just add an "e" to the end and continue reading. When you're just reading the passage and not stopping every two sentences to read the questions, I find it's easier to detect where the passage breaks from its flow, which is usually where there's a mistake. Then after, say, a paragraph or a page, I stop and go back and answer questions.</p>
<p>Don't try this out on the real test, haha, because some methods work for some and the same methods don't work for others. If you have some extra practice tests, try some different methods and see what works for you. Good luck on the test!</p>
<p>arduouspallor: how do you manage to keep yourself reading for the science stuff.. They're so dry and boring that I can barely keep myself awake.</p>
<p>To ChiHF9009A: I agree that reading carefully will help. And sometimes if the stuff is boring, or hard to understand, make notes. I don't think you should feel very rushed for time. Being anxious makes it harder to concentrate.</p>
<p>which practice book do you have? </p>
<p>kaplan is notorious for making there problems tricky and easy to make mistakes on.
the actual test, however, is more straightfoward.
i could never score more than a 26 comp. on kaplan tests. on the real one i scored a 29.</p>
<p>hopeful_gtb: I tell myself that since my SAT score sucks, I need a good ACT score to get into college.</p>
<p>It's a matter of will, really. There are a few strategies here and there, but at the end of the day, the best way to get better is to keep practicing and focus every particle of your mind on reading the questions and answer choices thoroughly. Underline any really specific detail that you could possibly see tripping you up.</p>
<p>I found that a lot of the time, these mistakes happened because I would read the question, see the little details, but then forget those details over the course of the 30-60 seconds or so it took me to come up with the answer. This problem was easily solved by just quickly sweeping back over each question after I marked down an answer choice.</p>
<p>I've found that having my own watch helps me. When I first get the test, you get that feeling of oh my gosh, this is timed and I need to hurry!! Having a watch to look at helps slow me down and allows me to pace myself and check every once and awhile to see how I am during for time, and adjust the pace at which I am working accordingly.</p>