I’m a junior aiming for top technical schools and I need to get my scores up to 34-36 (hopefully 35 or 36). I’m taking the ACT in February, and I’ve been using the Princeton Review 2017 book. After taking two practice exams, here are my results:
Exam 1:
English 30, Math 33, Reading 33, Science 31, Composite 32
Exam 2:
English 34, Math 30, Reading 31, Science 31, Composite 32
I’ve been reviewing my answers, so I understand the mistakes I’m making. The problem is that my scores vary dramatically depending on what version of the rest I take. Any suggestions on how I can consistently increase a few points? Is Princeton Review an accurate representation of the actual test?
I personally haven’t taken the ACT, but I know for a fact that going from a 32 to a 35 in a few weeks is very unrealistic. Practice makes perfect. Taking two practice tests is not going to do like anything. Finish the PR book and see how you do on the actual exam. Also, I’ve heard that Princeton Review is pretty accurate score wise. If you don’t get the score you want, then keep practicing, but at this point I don’t think advice off of CC is going to boost your score by three points.
Use the free official ACT tests. Make sure you are timing yourself accurately —get a silent watch you can use in actual test. S19 found the official practice tests to be best representation of the test. Also check out prepscholar’s free advice. Google “How to score a 36 on …” for each section. Taking a full length test in timed conditions is great but also fit in timed sections during the week. Figure out each wrong answer. Timing is very important on reading and science section. S19 went from practice tests with Kaplan 31/29/31 to scoring 34/35 on official practice tests and scoring a 36 in December. The jump from 31 to 34/35 on practice tests occurred over 3 weeks or so but he literally did something ACT related each day except for when he had EC commitments. Good luck!
@mountainmomof3 I completely agree, there is great advice on CC. The fact of the matter is that this person is taking the ACT in like two weeks. There is no way that CC advice is going to increase your score from a 32 to a 35 in two weeks, it’s just not going to happen. Your son’s situation is very uncommon and should not be relied on, although it is optimistic. I hope that you do end up getting that 34/35, but just don’t be surprised if it does not happen. Good luck!
I just took a practice test from the red book. I got a 33 composite (36 reading, 36 english, 32 math, 27 science). I thought I did really well on science too.
It seems the Princeton Review tests are harder than the tests from the red book; I just took a practice test yesterday and scored a 34C (36E, 30M, 36R, 35S). Very pleasantly surprised by the science score.
@ChezCurie To be honest, the best thing I did was start using official practice tests. Princeton Review is nothing like the real test. I didn’t really do anything different when taking the test. These are my strategies for each section:
English - know grammar rules and just pay really close attention to each question. This is the easiest section so you shouldn’t miss any questions unnecessarily. Generally you can just try saying the answer out loud to yourself to see if it makes sense.
Math - I always did well on math so it wasn’t too bad. Aim to do the first 30 in 20 minutes, and the first 40 in 30 minutes. You’ll need 30 minutes for the last 20 questions because they’re the hardest.
Reading - I think this section is one of the easier ones. I just read the whole passage quickly and then answer the questions that are easiest. Most of the questions are directly from the passage.
Science - this was always the hardest section for me on practice tests but it was surprisingly easy on the real test. Don’t look at the passages at all unless you really need to. Skip straight to the questions about graphs and do all of those first. On your second time, do the questions that require you to understand the experiment. Save the conflicting viewpoints questions for last.
@esperantist Congrats on awesome scores and thanks for the helpful hints!! Did you use the official ACT practice tests from PrepScholar or did you buy the official ACT prep book with the tests?
