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Hi, I'm a Chinese student. I'll take the ACT on oct.26, any suggestions for the test prep?
I found it difficult to complete the reading part within the time limit, how can I improve that? Do you Americans can always finish them?

I practiced the "Getting into the test" and got a much higher score than I did on the other books' practice sections.If you have took the ACT before, do you think that the Barron's and Peterson's book more difficult than the real thing?
Thank you!

By Kk02 (Kk02) on Sunday, October 20, 2002 - 04:59 pm: Edit

Hey I'm taking the ACT on 26th. I'm from India. Yeah, the Peterson's book is more difficult than the real thing, though I'll see the real thing on the 26th. What was your score on the Practice ACT?

By Highlander2000 (Highlander2000) on Monday, October 21, 2002 - 12:38 pm: Edit

Hi denise! I have some answers to your questions.

for general test prep suggestion, i recommend buying a self-study guide for the ACT. I recommend the ARCO books - they are big and yellow, but the text is easy to read and understand (i think so anyway).

On the reading section my suggestion is this: take a look at the questions first (but not the answers), then read the passage quickly, then answer the questions by deduction. I have trouble finishing the reading sections, mainly because i'm so intent on being sure of my answer. So don't worry denise, just keep calm and follow your strategy for each section.

And yes, by the way, i think that most guides for the SAT/ACT are harder than the real test. I used practice ACT guide and my score was 30. I took the real ACT and got 32 as a sophomore.

The math and english sections are about as hard as you see in the practice guides, however. Make sure you know math and english basics well.

The reading section and science section, i thought, were much easier on the real thing. I just did not use my time wisely on the reading section. I got a 29 in reading but every question that i answered i answered correctly.

Good luck denise and kko2