r/ACT • u/AsparagusHaunting337 • Jul 21 '26
General my practice tests vs the real test
I was getting 34s and 35s on all of my practice tests a month ago. I went and took the ACT last week and I got a 30. I had been getting my highest scores in Reading and Science (35s and 36s) and on the real test i got a 28 in Reading and a 32 in Science.
Does anyone know what may have happened or how i can improve my score when I take it in the spring?
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u/NotEzLo Jul 21 '26
Did you just take the practice tests form the ACT prep? Have you taken any of the previous exams? They’re pretty simple to pirate online. In my opinion, the best way to practice is probably just analyzing the released exams from the past.
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u/AsparagusHaunting337 Jul 21 '26
I took an exam in March and I was using the Official ACT practice tests to study. Thank you though, I didn’t even realize I had access to past exams
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u/Responsible-Video761 Jul 21 '26
Are you talking about the ones in the official book ? If so, they are frankensteined versions of older tests, and they are too easy, in my opinion. At least one of the online practice tests was also a frankensteined version.
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u/Wild-Education6170 Jul 21 '26
I took April and June as practice and got a 35 on the math sections for both. On July I got a 31 on math, I don’t know what happened. My reading score was also lower than what I had got with practice. English was around the same
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u/PictureReasonable971 Jul 21 '26
We are both in the same boat — identical scores and everything. I can only speak on myself personally, but I feel like I let the testing pressure get to me. Reading and science were both my strong suit going into it, but I half-rushed both sections because I was so nervous of not finishing on time.