As strange as it may sound, for experienced test prep tutors, taking a new SAT or ACT can actually be fun. I can move through an SAT verbal section in under ten minutes and usually score near-perfect results. Scoring that section feels even better—question after question marked correct, each one reinforcing confidence.
Math, however, is a completely different experience.
If verbal questions are cookies, math questions are lima beans.
I don’t get every math question right. Some problems require real effort. Others make me uneasy—especially trigonometry, which I never studied in high school. Grading math sections still makes me nervous, and getting a question wrong stings.
What’s true for tutors is even more true for students.
Every student has strengths and weaknesses across SAT and ACT sections. When completing homework or practice tests, students almost always:
Start with the sections they enjoy
Save the harder topics for last
Sometimes skip the hardest material entirely
Why? Because strong areas give positive feedback, while weak areas bring frustration, doubt, and stress. Since test prep doesn’t involve grades, weaker sections often don’t get the attention they need.
On test day, there is no rule that says you must answer questions in order.
In fact, the smartest ACT and SAT test-taking strategy is:
Answer easy and medium questions first
Secure points you’re likely to earn
Leave difficult questions for the end
If you run out of time, it’s far better to miss questions you were unlikely to answer correctly anyway. Even if time isn’t an issue, this strategy reduces stress and keeps you focused—because you already have points “in the bank.”
Here’s the paradox.
What works on test day does not work during preparation.
You’re already good at the material you like. That means there aren’t many new points hiding there. Your weaker sections, on the other hand, are filled with missed opportunities—by definition.
Every skill you improve in a weak area unlocks:
New points
Better timing
Higher consistency
This is where real score gains come from.
The essence of effective SAT and ACT prep is choosing the path of greatest resistance.
To raise your score, you must:
Identify the questions that give you the worst feedback
Spend time on topics you’d rather avoid
Face the discomfort head-on
It’s like walking into a room full of people who don’t like you and figuring out how to make friends. That’s uncomfortable—but it’s also how growth happens.
Here’s the good news:
Your practice test score doesn’t matter.
It has:
No impact on your future
No audience
No permanent consequences
You don’t even need to look at the final score.
In fact, obsessing over practice test results often makes improvement harder. When students fixate on the score, they retreat to their comfort zones and avoid risk. Ironically, letting go of the score is what allows the score to improve.
Practice tests are meant to be:
Experimental
Risk-friendly
Strategy-driven
Trying new approaches will feel uncomfortable at first—but those moments are exactly where new points are created.
This is where ScoreSmart becomes essential.
ScoreSmart score reports show you:
Where you are losing points
Where you are losing time
Which question types need the most attention
The Drill Banks then deliver exactly what you least want to practice—and most need to practice.
That’s where your time should go.
I hate to say it, but your mom was right.
You have to eat your vegetables before dessert.
In SAT and ACT prep, those “vegetables” are the hard questions, weak topics, and uncomfortable strategies. Master those—and the score increase will follow.
That’s the path of most resistance. And that’s how scores change.
Preparing for the ACT isn’t just about answering questions—it’s about practicing under conditions that closely mirror the real exam. When it comes to ACT prep, authenticity matters, and nothing replicates the real test better than official ACT practice tests created by the test makers themselves.
Crafting a statistically valid ACT question—or an entire test section—is incredibly difficult. It requires:
Massive data sets
Years of experience with scoring rubrics
Extensive validation to ensure consistency and fairness
Despite recent advances, AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini can’t replicate this level of accuracy. Solo tutors can’t do it. Many tutoring companies can’t do it. Even popular guidebooks on bookstore shelves are often hit-or-miss at best.
That’s why experienced ACT tutors consistently recommend using real, published materials from ACT itself whenever possible. There is simply no substitute for official content.
Most ACT tutoring packages include the Official ACT Prep Guide—often called the “big red book.” Published by ACT, this guide now includes updated material aligned with the Enhanced ACT.
For students preparing for the paper-based ACT, this guide is a no-brainer:
Around $30 on Amazon
Includes 4 full-length official ACT practice tests
ACT’s website offers one additional official practice test in downloadable PDF format
That’s five real ACT exams, straight from the source.
While the content of the ACT remains consistent, the testing modality matters.
If you’re taking the digital ACT, you must practice digitally.
If you’re taking the paper-and-pencil ACT, practicing in the traditional format is still perfectly valid—and preferred by many students in the U.S.
Practicing in the same format you’ll test in helps eliminate surprises on test day and builds confidence.
Let’s get strategic.
Only a full-length ACT taken in one sitting, under realistic testing conditions, can:
Give you an accurate snapshot of your score
Provide a reliable measure of progress over time
Importantly, only official ACT practice tests have trustworthy score conversion scales. These conversions—from raw score to the 1–36 ACT scale—cannot be reliably recreated by third-party publishers.
While most students need targeted practice to improve weak areas, official ACT tests should not be used as drill material. They’re too valuable.
Instead:
Use third-party practice materials for skill-building
Save official ACT tests for full-length diagnostics and progress checks
As valuable as they are, official ACT practice tests have a major downside:
They offer almost no analytics.
You get:
A raw score
A conversion chart to the 1–36 scale
You don’t get:
Performance breakdowns by topic (algebra vs. geometry)
Question-type analysis (punctuation, grammar rules, inference skills)
Clear insight into recurring weaknesses
All that information is technically there—but extracting it requires hours of manual work, spreadsheets, and often an experienced tutor.
This is where ScoreSmart fills the gap.
With ScoreSmart, you can:
Take an official ACT practice test
Record answers on a traditional bubble sheet
Upload the bubble sheet to your ScoreSmart account
ScoreSmart transforms official ACT tests into powerful diagnostic tools by providing:
Instant scoring
Full ScoreSmart score reports
Detailed category and question-type analysis for every section
Clear identification of strengths and weaknesses
If you complete all five official ACT practice tests, ScoreSmart tracks your:
Score progression over time
Section-level improvements
Persistent problem areas
All in one easy-to-read dashboard.
Let’s be honest:
A full-length ACT takes nearly three hours from start to finish—and “fun” isn’t usually how students describe it.
If you’re investing that kind of time (and you should), it only makes sense to extract as much actionable data as possible from every test.
ScoreSmart ensures that no official ACT practice test goes to waste—turning each one into a detailed roadmap for improvement.
Official ACT practice tests are the most accurate reflection of test day. ScoreSmart makes them even more powerful by adding the analytics students actually need to improve.
Practice like it’s test day—and learn like a pro.
ScoreSmart © 2026
ACT©️ is the registered trademark of ACT, Inc. ACT is not affiliated with or a sponsor of the publisher or authors of these tests or testing content.
SAT©️ is a registered trademark of the College Board, which neither sponsors nor is affiliated in any way with this product.
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