<p>I'm right now a freshman in high school and I am consistently receiving 30-33 on the practice Reading Tests (the section that I'm focusing on) from the Real Act Prep Book. In the Princeton Review book, however, I am getting around a 24ish, which is really bad. To make matters worse, its been hovering around that score for about a year now, despite hours of practice and learning concepts from multiple books. </p>
<p>Can someone with a good ACT Reading Score please tell me how I should go about preparing, so that I can receive a 35/36? Other threads haven't really helped, so I thought that I'd finally make my own.</p>
<p>Because you have so much time (since you are a freshman), I think the best way to go about this is to register and take a real ACT test and order a copy of the questions with YOUR answers so that you can see your mistakes. That will let you know where your weaknesses are so that you are not shooting in the dark. Since you’ve been doing hours of practice, it’s time to take a real one - especially since the ACT seems to be getting harder. Great job starting early to prepare, but keep in mind that ACT is more curriculum-based, so your best preparation will be working hard in your high school classes and learning all you can there.</p>
<p>Wow, that’s awesome for a freshman. I didn’t do anything test-related and got like a 20 on the plan test reading (lol) at the beginning of sophomore year and then a 32 on the ACT reading with like no prep at the end of junior year (34 composite). I took it again and idk what those scores are yet, but I’m expecting a little higher on reading. My advice is to relax and go with what the red book says, since those are accurate representations of what the real test will be. You could take a real test, like knightdawg suggested, but I think that if you read a lot and work on gradually increasing your reading speed and comprehension in general over the next two years, your score will naturally go up (mine naturally did, like 10+ points from Sophomore to Junior year, haha maybe because I wasn’t prepared for the plan test at all). I have no doubt that you’ll be getting 35’s an 36’s as a junior. Good luck!</p>
<p>I took the ACT as a freshman and somehow managed a 36. The only thing I can think of that prepared me is basically reading. Once you explore various literary works, you kind of develop a sense of how writing works and that makes interpreting the ACT reading section so much easier. Like Knightdawg said, and several of my teachers also mentioned, the more classes you take in high school also indirectly exposes you to reading strategies.</p>
<p>Ok, thanks for all of your replies. I’ve tried the following over the last 11 months, but it seems that all has been futile. Anyway, here is a brief list:</p>
<p>1) Read required novels for school (i.e. Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, Alchemist, etc.)
2) Read newspapers, articles, etc.
3) Read the strategy and material from at least 4 diff. books (all the same stuff)
4) Taken multiple practice tests (15ish) and looked over corrections
5) Read many essays and books on essays</p>
<p>Does anyone have any ideas of how to improve, because all of the above things seem to be failing, and I do not understand why.</p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t think you should worry about this so much! You’re a freshman, and you’ll probably naturally improve without trying! What you’re doing is really great, just keep practicing a little bit at a time. Getting a 30-33 instead of a 36 isn’t something you should worry about too much as a freshman, because it’s something that could happen to even the best reader. Getting a 30-33 in the red book in 9th grade is def not “failing”. Just focus on why you’re getting questions wrong, and what the writers of the ACT think about when they write these questions. But also, go have fun!</p>