Hi! I am a junior in high school who took the ACT for the first time and scored perfects in english, reading and science. Unfortunately I scored a 32 in math (overall score: 35) I want to retake the test to try to improve to a 34 in math (which would result in a 36 overall on test) I have been told that a 35 is fine and I shouldn’t retake but because I want to go into a career in STEM and MIT is my top choice college I really want to boost my math score. I took the first test without studying at all (except for a few math practice tests but they didn’t help much) so I am looking for advice on how to study for ACT math. My math score is especially frustrating because I do enjoy math and do well in it at school (I skipped two years of math to take Calc Bc and I have an A in the class) so it is not that I don’t know how to do the problems, I just run out of time. Thanks for your advice!
That is the problem for most on the math. My DD had the same issue. Problems were not hard just never enough time. Her friend’s that wanted to boost math just did timed practice test over and over again. It really is time management. Good luck
Have you done your subject tests for MIT?
A 35 ACT is not a bad score at all. <— understatement right there!
If you haven’t knocked out acceptable subject test scores yet, finish those and come back to the ACT if you have time. My MIT applicant DD tested in the opposite order - subject tests then ACT. After prepping for Math level 2, the ACT math wasn’t hard at all.
I suspect the problem is that you skipped two years of math to take BC, so the ACT was testing you on concepts that would have been taught during those two years. Frustrating to be penalized for brilliance.
OP: Consider taking SAT II subject tests & AP tests as well as the SAT instead of potentially getting a lower score than 35 on the ACT.
Hey! I would recommend taking practice tests and taking the questions to an algebra/geometry teacher at your school. I was in BC when I took the ACT, and it really helped to go over easy stuff that makes the test less time consuming. Good luck!
Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but if you want to go to MIT you need to prove to them that you can do standardized math better. You don’t have to retake the ACT- they don’t expect one-time tests to be perfect. You have the skipping math classes into BC to prove it- that’s one thing to make up for it. I second taking Math 2 subject SAT and acing it to show the AO you got this in the bag. But I don’t recommend taking the regular SAT instead of retaking the ACT when you have such a fabulous score.