<p>Took a practice test yesterday..when time was up, I had an entire passage left to read and answer questions about. I gave myself an extra minute or two to do the rest (just to see what I would have gotten), and did not factor those into my score.</p>
<p>I got all the ones I did correct, and I also got those last passage questions correct. If I had only 2 more minutes I would have gotten a perfect score in reading.</p>
<p>It made a huge difference..leaving those blank/randomly filling them out in 10 seconds would have given me a Reading score of 29...vs 36. </p>
<p>So any tips so this does not happen on the real test? I'm afraid that if I rush too much, I will miss questions out of carelessness. How can I increase my speed by about 2-3 minutes? Thank you.</p>
<p>PS: Same with science, I had one or two entire passages left when time was up, but I got most of my attempted ones right (except 2-3). </p>
<p>AND, same with Math (I only got to question 40 or something), for that matter. AND the essay (lol).</p>
<p>sounds like you need to increase your speed as a whole. unfortunately, that’s what ACT is all about. maybe consider taking the SAT, where everything is more intelligence based (ish) and time is less of an issue.</p>
<p>but i also had timing issues in the beginning. it really just takes practice. just force yourself to go fast. find the right pacing for yourself in the given constraints. you will definitely get more questions wrong than before, but that’s the point. if you practice going at that fast speed enough, you are going to get more wrong, but over time, you will get more right and at the correct time limits.</p>
<p>that being said, forcing yourself to go fast can be bad if it makes you jittery and nervous. so try to relax while pushing the pedal. it’s not always an easy thing to do, but no one said standardized testing is easy.</p>
<p>I would also like to hear some good answers to this question. </p>
<p>From what I understand, learning how to finish the ACT – being able to think through every problem without completely guessing – is extremely important. </p>
<p>One strategy I heard on CC for the reading section was to pick your two favorite passage types (Prose Fiction, Social Science, Humanities, and Natural Science) and do one at the very first, and the other at the very last. You should allot 8 minutes per passage, 3 minutes for bubbling in answers and never spend too much time on a single question. </p>
<p>I think that most importantly you should develop a strategy that works for you, not one that worked for someone else.</p>
<p>my biggest time saving tip is to bubble in bulk. that means circle the answers on the actual booklet until you have two pages done (a passage) and then bubble them all in at once. it saves the time it takes your hand to move back and forth between papers and for your eyes to find your last spot on your answer sheet, etc. it’s not a BIG time saver but the ACT is ONLY challenging because of time constraints, so every little bit helps.</p>
<p>you can do it. I got a perfect reading score with a minute to check over my answers. you just have to zip through the parts that are obvious and easy so you can use more time on the tricky parts.</p>
<p>i just feel like i will bubble something incorrectly by accident if i do mass bubbling. i dont think that risk is worth taking on this kind of test where one question mis-bubbled could make or break your score, potentially.</p>
<p>personally, it wouldn’t save me much time anyway. maybe it would for some of you “bubble perfectionists” out there. i kind of just scribble around in the circle quickly.</p>
Agreed. I circled every question in the question booklet, then at the end of the passage I would bubble them into the answer booklet. Overall, I think you should think about reading books outside of prep in order to increase your eye speed. Also, if you don’t understand a passage, don’t freak out. I was able to misunderstand a whole passage, skip it, then answer the rest of the passages, then come back to the first one once I was in reading mode and answer the questions easily. It should only take you two to three minutes to read the passage and take notes; you should use the rest of the time to answer questions. I hope this helps</p>
<p>I bubble by every passage… this avoids unnecessary page flipping. </p>
<p>Also, reading is hard. It’s the only section I didn’t get a 35 on (33). I think the way to approach the section is to time each passage separatly. Leaving some time for bubbling, you have pretty much exactly 8 min/passage. I’d give myself 2.5-3 minutes to SKIM the passage, and spend 5-5.5 minutes to answer the questions. Your goal in skimming is NOT to understand the passage, it is to know the organization of the passage, so that you can refer back to those sections when asked on the questions (you will have to do this either way). With this, I was able to go from a five minute deficit to having 3 minutes extra (after bubbling to check my answers).</p>
<p>Reading can be hard but the answers are always there too. I got a 36 with plenty of time on the April test.<br>
I like to pace myself at a little under 8 minutes/passage. Usually the first couple questions are about the passage as a whole. I quickly skim the questions looking for line numbers so that I know when I’m getting to one of the referenced questions. Then I read straight through. Although it takes more time, I haven’t run out yet so I suggest it because it really gives you the overall feel. However, you have to be really good at remembering your facts because you can’t go over and over the passages.
As far as bubbling goes, I always circle my answers then bubble at the end of each passage. If you’re careful then you won’t have any trouble correctly bubbling the answer sheet, and the time you save could make or break your score in much the same sense. In your final passage, though you may want to do every couple questions just to be safe.</p>
I got a perfect reading score with a minute to check over my answers. you just have to zip through the parts that are obvious and easy so you can use more time on the tricky parts.</p>