College Exam Academy

Using ACT sample tests or ACT practice tests to prepare for the ACT is one of the smartest things you can do to prepare for the ACT test. But where do you find the best tests? It is crucial that you practice with tests that are as close as possible to the real thing.

I know of only of three places where you can get access to real, authentic ACT tests. Two of them are free, the other will cost you just a little bit of money, but is well worth it.

The first place you can get authentic ACT sample tests is at the ACT website. They have a booklet available that has one test with the answer key so that you can see exactly what it looks like. The booklet also tells you which type of question each question is so that you can see if you have an area you need to concentrate on. The advantage of this ACT sample test is that it is free. The disadvantage of this ACT sample test resource is that there is no explanation of the answers. So if you are not sure why your answer is incorrect, you may be left to guess why. I found at least one answer that I didn’t think made sense at all. Click here to download this booklet.

The second place for you to find an authentic ACT sample tests is in the Real ACT Prep Guide. This book doesn’t cost a lot (about $20.00 including shipping from Amazon), but it is well worth that money. If you can improve your test scores by a few points, it may mean the difference between a scholarship or not. My son raised his score by 5 points using this book and some other resources. Is it worth $20.00 to get several thousand dollars in a scholarship? And the best part is that when you are done with it, you can sell it on Amazon and get part or your money back! The big advantages that this source of ACT sample tests has is that it has three actual ACT sample tests in it. Just like the booklet described above, this guide is also made by the makers of the ACT. But unlike the booklet, it has explanations for every answer to every problem. That’s a huge help. No other guide is made by the ACT test makers. This is the only one.

The third place for you to get real ACT sample tests to practice with is not as well known. If you have friends or brothers or sisters that are taking the ACT, see if they have paid the money (it’s only like $16) to get their test book and test score sheet back. If they have, then see if you can borrow it to prepare. That way you’ll have another actual ACT sample test to practice with. It will have the answers to the questions, but there won’t be any explanation of the answers, so you’ll be on your own. But this is another source of ACT sample tests that you might not be aware of.

If you know of any other legitimate sources of real authentic ACT sample tests please let me know!

The people that make the ACT test have lots of ways to try and trick you. If you know these tricks it is easy for you to watch out for them and not fall for them. That leads to more right answers and a higher test score. This especially helps if you can do this while you are getting ready using ACT practice tests.

One of the ways they try and trick you is to make partial answers one of the possible answers on the math portion. A partial answer is an answer to one of the steps of the problem, but it won’t be the correct answer if you do the problem all the way. If you stop the problem early, they hope that you’ll notice that one of the possible answers matches your partial answer. If you choose it, you’ll get the question wrong. This is particularly easy when you are in a rush and trying to get the problems done as fast as you can. Don’t be too much of a hurry to get the right anwers. Always make sure that you do each problem all the way.

Another common trick on the math test is to give the right numeric answer in the list of answers to a problem, but use the wrong units. For example, the question may ask for the answer to inches, but all the numbers you use to figure the problem out might be in feet. If you used feet in working the problem and forgot to convert to inches, you might get the problem wrong. For example, if the problem asked you to give the perimeter of a square that was 4 feet on each side and asked for the answer in inches, one of the answers might be 16 inches. The number is correct, but the unit is wrong. If you weren’t paying attention, you might not notice that there was also an answer of 16 feet, which would be the correct answer.

The English portion of the ACT test has tricks also. In general, less is best on the ACT English test, so if you have a choice between two answers and one of them is more verbose than the other, you will usually want to pick the answer that is not as verbose. For example, the correct answer is rarely an answer like “He was famed, renowned, and notable.” ‘Famed’, ‘renowned’, and ‘notable’ all mean basically the same thing. If there is an answer that expresses the same thought in less words,then it is probably the right answer.

Do you think you could do better on the ACT if you remembered these few tips? If so, think what you could do if you knew a lot of these types of tricks. The ACT Secrets Study Guide will give you many of the tips and tricks to help you do your very best on the ACT. You can’t afford not to know these. The sooner you learn and understand these tips, the betteryou can use ACT practice tests to prepare. And the better you prepare, the higher score you’ll get.

Preparing for the ACT by using ACT practice tests is one of the best things you can do. Make sure to use all your test taking strategies when take the practice tests. That way you’ll be comfortable with using those strategies on the real test.

One strategy you must use on the ACT test it to answer all the questions. There is no penalty for incorrect answers on the ACT (unlike the SAT which does penalize you). You can use this to your advantage three ways.

First, don’t leave any questions unanswered. Even if you just guess without even looking at the question, you have a 20% chance of being correct. If you don’t answer at all, you have a 0% chance of being correct. Which odds would you take? Answer all the questions.

Second, if you can can eliminate any of the answers and then guess from the rest, you have greatly improved your chances of guessing the right answer. Almost all questions have an answer that is obviously wrong. If you can quickly eliminate that answer and guess from the remaining answers, you increase your chance of guessing the right answer from 20% to 25% and if you can get it down to three, to 33%, and so on. Anything you can do increases your chance of getting a better score.

Third, always leave yourself 30 seconds at the end of the test to guess on any questions you skipped along the way. Any attempt to answer is better than no attempt. So as time winds down, leave time to guess.

When you are taking your ACT practice tests, particularly in a timed situation, make sure to practice this strategy, especially the part about eliminating obvious incorrect answers. It will help you get a better score. The very best set of practice tests to buy is the ACT Real Prep Guide. It is has real ACT tests right from the makers of the ACT test!

One of the best collections of ACT practice tests in “The Real ACT Prep Guide“. It includes 3 real ACT practice tests, along with answers with explanations for all the questions.

In addition, this guide includes ACT practice strategies and detailed information about the test (format, types of questions, instructions, etc.), including the new writing test.

It also is the ONLY guide that is written by the makers of the ACT, so it includes authentic ACT questions. You can’t get closer to the source than that!

When you take an ACT practice test, it is critical that you use one that is a true sample of questions. This guide provides that and lots more. If you want a book with practice tests, this is the one to get. Don’t waste any more time– get The Real ACT Prep Guide today.

One thing you can do to improve your score on the Math portion of the ACT is to learn how to double check your math answers. ACT practice tests are the perfect time to learn and practice how to do this. Since all the answers are given to you, with a careful double check of your answer, you should be able to get a lot of the math problems correct. Here are some tips to help ensure that you do this:

First, you need to decide whether to double check your work as you go along, or after you have answered all the questions. If you do it as you go along, make sure to pace yourself so that you have enough time to answer all the questions. If you do it at the end, you may want to put a mark by some questions that you really want to double check, and not worry about the ones that you know you got right.

The approach you use to double check your answer will depend on what type of problem it is. Use these tips as appropriate for the type of problem:

• Make sure that the answer you came up with is in the same units as the answer
• If you can plug numbers in to check your work, do that. This would apply to problems that have equations. If you can plug numbers in, it’s usually best if you can try a couple. Don’t pick the numbers 0, 1, or 2, since these all have special properties. 10 is also probably not a good number to pick. Pick one even and one odd that are not multiples of one another (don’t pick 3 and 6, for example). 3 and 4 would be good numbers to try.
• If you had to add or multiply a series of numbers when you answered the problem, redo the calculation, but do it in reverse order. For example, if the problem required that you add 7+15+18+22 when you did the problem, add the numbers in order 22+18+15+7 when you double check your work.
• Just take a look at the problem and see if your answer makes sense. You’ll have to identify something that is obvious about the question in order to do this. Don’t take too much time figuring something out, but if there is something obvious, then use it. For example, if you were calculating the average of a series of numbers, then the answer can’t be larger than the largest number or smaller than the smallest. It has to be somewhere in between.
• While geometry questions almost always say that the diagrams are not necessarily drawn to scale, in reality they are pretty close. If an angle looks like it is less than 90 degrees, it probably is. Use that as a means to double check your work.
• Ask yourself if there is another way to work the problem. There often is. If you can do it quickly, do so and see if your answers agree.

As with almost any tip or strategy, you must practice them in advance of the ACT test in order to be able to use them effectively. ACT practice tests are the very best way to do that. The ACT Study Secrets Guide is packed full of tips and strategies to help you get top scores on the ACT. Practice the tips and strategies you learn there on ACT practice tests and you’ll get that top score to help you get to the school of your choice.