creekland Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 Based upon this thread about the most recent ACT (at the time of this posting): http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=369870 I thought I'd spin off a thread suggesting Barrons for ACT prep for a little while. We've always used and loved Barrons for all sorts of standardized testing as they are notoriously harder and considered more difficult than the actual test. My reasoning for using them is that if my kids are over-prepared, they do well (and so far, it's worked). Others dislike Barrons because it can discourage kids needlessly (true). However, IF the ACT is, indeed, ramping up their test, using other traditional books, including past real tests, is underpreparing for the new tests. With just one test there's no way to know if they are ramping up or if this test was just an outlier, but... for this past test, those who used Barrons likely (no proof) had better chances. It will be interesting to see how the curve turns out. College confidential has an ACT forum that likely has threads about that test for any who care to read them. I have not - yet - haven't had the time and didn't have a test taker... If I get extra time, curiosity will likely send me over there. I will have my youngest taking the test this fall (and possibly some of his friends who are prepping a little at my house). Right now I have them using Kaplan. We'll switch to Barrons this summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbeltmom Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 ...It will be interesting to see how the curve turns out. College confidential has an ACT forum that likely has threads about that test for any who care to read them. I have not - yet - haven't had the time and didn't have a test taker... If I get extra time, curiosity will likely send me over there... . The vast majority of the kids on College Confidential are saying that the science section was much more difficult. One of the posters commented that he took the ACT this Feb. and thought the science was extremely easy (he got a 35 in science on that test). He went on to say in his post that the science on April's test was a nightmare. It will be interesting to see the curve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in MA Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 My dd also commented that the science was tough. We've been using Princeton Review but maybe we'll try Barron's this summer. We did like the Barron's Flash Cards as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted April 18, 2012 Author Share Posted April 18, 2012 When do scores come out for this test? Then we'll start getting a handle on the curve. CC kids are always willing to share top scores. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjbucks1 Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 My ds is taking the ACT in June. He took it last June (end of 8th grade) and scored the worst on the science section (a 24, I think). Everyone said how much harder the science section was in June compared to the April exam (even the kids on CC). Ds scored a 35 on the English section. I am worried that it might be harder this June than last :tongue_smilie:. We will see. It seems there is always one section that is way more difficult than the others. Also, I had heard Princeton was a great test prep book. Now I will have to look at Barrons :D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romeacademy Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 I believe scores will be available after April 30th for students who did not take the writing. Add two weeks if you took writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 DD will be using the Barron's book, especially since we have exhausted the real ACT resources - there is nothing left to study. She needs to increase her speed on the science portion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 Last time, all my boys did better in the science than the math sections. All of them said the math on the April test was much harder than last time, but they felt the science was about the same difficulty. They have all scored 34 or better on the language section without much effort. I don't bother with the written portion of the test. None of the colleges we have looked at require it. My boys have a writing component to the CLEPs they take (the university adds a writing component to the CLEP exam) and the APs, I think that issue is already sufficiently covered. YMMV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in CA Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 I thought I'd spin off a thread suggesting Barrons for ACT prep for a little while. We've always used and loved Barrons for all sorts of standardized testing as they are notoriously harder and considered more difficult than the actual test. Creekland, is this the "ACT 36" book? The vast majority of the kids on College Confidential are saying that the science section was much more difficult. One of the posters commented that he took the ACT this Feb. and thought the science was extremely easy (he got a 35 in science on that test). He went on to say in his post that the science on April's test was a nightmare. Thanks for posting -- I'll tell my son, whose first ACT was in Feb. (and he did pretty well, considering no prep :glare: ... he did have a part-time job plus lots of schoolwork at the time ...); he *did* prep for April's test and thought the science part was harder. At first I attributed it to his actually *knowing* the test isn't as easy as he thought in Feb., but this is encouraging -- I'll show him your post! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cindylee Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Based upon this thread about the most recent ACT (at the time of this posting): http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=369870 I thought I'd spin off a thread suggesting Barrons for ACT prep for a little while. We've always used and loved Barrons for all sorts of standardized testing as they are notoriously harder and considered more difficult than the actual test. My reasoning for using them is that if my kids are over-prepared, they do well (and so far, it's worked). Others dislike Barrons because it can discourage kids needlessly (true). However, IF the ACT is, indeed, ramping up their test, using other traditional books, including past real tests, is underpreparing for the new tests. With just one test there's no way to know if they are ramping up or if this test was just an outlier, but... for this past test, those who used Barrons likely (no proof) had better chances. It will be interesting to see how the curve turns out. College confidential has an ACT forum that likely has threads about that test for any who care to read them. I have not - yet - haven't had the time and didn't have a test taker... If I get extra time, curiosity will likely send me over there. I will have my youngest taking the test this fall (and possibly some of his friends who are prepping a little at my house). Right now I have them using Kaplan. We'll switch to Barrons this summer. Thank you for this suggestion. Oh, I'm trying so hard not to be worried about those scores!!:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted April 19, 2012 Author Share Posted April 19, 2012 Creekland, is this the "ACT 36" book? Barron's makes a regular ACT Prep book too. My guy said that one is his overall favorite (we got ours from the library). Then I bought the 36 book. He said that one was good for some strategies for those who already know a bit. We also have Kaplan (his least favorite as he said it only "teaches" to get "better than average" scores. I looked at it and it is mostly strategy (not so great IMO) and not so much "meat." I use it now only for the practice tests it has. He also looked at McGraw Hill (too easy with their practice tests, but good for teaching actual info) and Princeton Review (probably a second favorite after Barrons). This is all his opinion. He was chasing a perfect score across all subsections. He never made it with all of them, but did quite well - certainly good enough. I believe on his last test he only missed 5 questions total. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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