<p>I took the ACT yesterday. At my school, it's not exactly common, and I was told that, especially with my SAT scores, I didn't need to take the test. Of course, I thought otherwise (CC users will think otherwise too). I signed up last minute and didn't really have any time to prep (my own fault, I know). I went in pretty cold. </p>
<p>On the English section, I finished strong, but it was all downhill from there. Everything I did, I thought I did well, but I wasn't used to the time limits and really screwed myself over. I didn't finish any section after the English section. I thought I was pretty strong with what I did do, but I feel like I omitted WAY too much (not because I couldn't handle it, just because of time). Even my essay... It was going really good, and I ran out of time on my conclusion. </p>
<p>In total, over all sections, I think I left about 25 questions blank. Did I totally screw up or can a decent score be salvaged?</p>
<p>I think the “trickiest” part of the ACT is meant to be the time management. From what I understand, the questions don’t try to trap you into selecting a wrong answer, the way the SAT tends to, but many people find the test difficult to finish in the alloted time. There is no guessing penalty, so you might have been a little better off making sure no bubbles were actually left blank, even if you had to just fill them in blindly.</p>
<p>You left 25 questions BLANK? Yeah, that’s not good… You know you can just guess right? There’s no penalty for wrong answers.</p>
<p>Don’t stress over it though. You can still take the SAT and ACT again this year. I actually found the ACT harder than the SAT the first time I took them. You just have to know how the test works and know how to pace yourself.</p>
<p>See, I didn’t know about the whole no guessing penalty thing. Haha. I guess deciding to go against my guidance counselor’s wishes the day before and going in standby isn’t exactly beneficial. Oh well. If it’s so terrible I’ll retake in October.</p>
<p>How much did standby cost? I think I might try that for October. My parents said they won’t pay again so I might go without them knowing and I need to know how much money to bring, lol.</p>