Totally Oblivious..

Test Preparation ACT Preparation
1

<p>I'm about to be a junior and I have not the slightest clue as to what the ACT's all about. I'm currently preparing for the SAT, I'm giving it in October. I've decided to do my SAT II's in May, or perhaps June. Seeing as this is an ACT forum where people who know about the ACT come, I wanted to ask some questions.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>When should I take the ACT? </p></li>
<li><p>My cousin scored a 36, using Barron's 36, but she's really smart, so I don't know if there's a better book that Barron's 36.</p></li>
<li><p>Should I do extra reading to prepare for it? (As I am doing for the SAT)</p></li>
<li><p>Who makes it? Collegeboard?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Any advice would be really helpful!</p>

2

<p>hello again haha</p>

<ol>
<li><p>When should I take the ACT?
I did mine junior year in september/october. Junior year is the perfect time to do it…don’t wait till senior year otherwise everything is gonna be really hectic</p></li>
<li><p>My cousin scored a 36, using Barron’s 36, but she’s really smart, so I don’t know if there’s a better book that Barron’s 36.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I only recommend barron’s if you already feel comfortable with the test. Therefore, if you are just starting to get familiarized with the ACT, try getting the princeton review books as well as the red book (real ACT prep guide) before getting into barron’s. Barron’s really helps you out in that its tests are harder than the real one; however, it can be very frustrating to use because of this reason.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Should I do extra reading to prepare for it? (As I am doing for the SAT)
SAT reading should already be enough to prepare you for ACT reading. The ACT reading section is comprised of, in my opinion, shorter passages and the questions require much less analyzing than SAT. If you can do well on SAT reading, you should have no trouble doing ACT reading. The one thing that you may want to practice for ACT reading is speed. The time limit on this section is very tight.</p></li>
<li><p>Who makes it? Collegeboard?
not collegeboard. ACT Inc. does =P
here is their official website and also where you go to register for the actual test should you decide to take it
[ACT:</a> Resources for Education and Workplace Success](<a href=“http://www.act.org/]ACT:”>http://www.act.org/)</p></li>
</ol>

<p>feel free to pm me with questions</p>

3

<p>Bloog: Thanks so much! That really clears up a lot! Did you take your SAT before your ACT?</p>

4

<p>sure no problem</p>

<p>yea actually I did; however, I took the SAT end of freshman year for a program that required it…not for college and I bombed lol</p>

<p>took ACT last fall (junior year) for college and did quite well </p>

<p>although I do know a lot of people who take both SAT and ACT to see which one they score higher on and that’s perfectly fine as well</p>

5

<p>Lol, yeah, I’m planning on both. ACT seems to be a better choice, just because it has science and stuff. But congrats! You’re all done and stuff, must be a great position to be in! Lol, can’t wait till SAT/ACT/AP/College stuff is all over!</p>

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<p>Yes, a lot of people will find one easier than the other. I found the ACT easier, but I know some people who liked the SAT better. Try both and see which works for you best. =)</p>

<p>I recommend Princeton Review and Real ACT for practice books. Barron’s is known to be a bit more difficult.</p>

7

<ol>
<li>When should I take the ACT?</li>
</ol>

<p>My Answer: I’d say december myself. September will probably be too early since you are preparing for the SAT in october, which would also rule out october. You would then still have plenty of chances to take the ACT after that, and not a whole lot goes on in december because of the semester ending.</p>

<ol>
<li>My cousin scored a 36, using Barron’s 36, but she’s really smart, so I don’t know if there’s a better book that Barron’s 36.</li>
</ol>

<p>Ok, I read Barron’s 36 all the way through, and I think that it will help you a lot more if you are ready for it (don’t use it until after your first ACT, even if you know that you can get 30+). You should use Cracking the ACT and the real ACT prep guide, for starters. If you want to move onto more advanced stuff after that, do 1296 real ACT questions. If you need to hone down you math skills, use Kaplan (even though it has many errors). If you want to do EVEN MORE prep, than move on to Barron’s workbooks. Than, use Barron’s ACT 2009. Then, and only then should you use Barron’s 36.</p>

<ol>
<li>Should I do extra reading to prepare for it? (As I am doing for the SAT)</li>
</ol>

<p>Definitely. I took the ACT in June and got a 23 in reading (lowest score and big disappointment). The thing is, I never read. This summer, however, I have been reading a ton for five prep courses. I took a practice test recently and got a 30. ACT reading is so much easy to me now that I have started having an active reading life. It is not as important as Critical reading on the SAT, but reading more is still a big plus.</p>

<ol>
<li>Who makes it? Collegeboard?</li>
</ol>

<p>Martians.</p>

<p>No, just kidding, Bloog told you correctly.</p>

8

<p>On 3., I should have put “much more easy” (grammar mistake, sorry)</p>

9

<p>@Rixs: Yeah, I’m hoping it’ll be a bit easier for me!</p>

<p>@Egbert Souse, thanks so much that really helps! Now I’m thinking of December, it could work out then. Thanks for all the advice!</p>

10

<p>Yeah, you could have some of october, november, and some of december to prepare.</p>