<p>So I received a 25 on the April ACT. I am taking the ACT on June 14. I want to raise my score by 5 points to get it up to a 30. I will have a whole week of summer break before the actual ACT (June 7- June 13). If I study and do practice exams everyday for that week, will I have a good chance of raising my score 5 points? I have the Baron's ACT guide, the Real ACT Prep Guide, and practice ACT exams that I can access at my local library, where I plan to spend that whole week. My real question is, is this realistic? Thanks! Also sorry if this is the wrong section, I am new to this forum :P </p>
<p>Your ambition is more than admirable, but honestly, I’ve only ever heard of a significant “jump” in scores come from people that spent their ENTIRE summer studying for it… they gave up everything for it (no clue how they managed). Even then, it was only a few points, and they already had pretty good scores.
Moral of the story is, no, I don’t think it’s possible, let alone realistic. And hey, I’m sure it’s happened before, and I’m the first to admit that as a rising high school senior, I’m probably no more qualified than you are to answer this, but since you asked, my answer is no.</p>
<p>Not likely. A week is not a lot of time.</p>
<p>However, if you want to maximize your chances, dedicate at least 4 hours a day (6 would be a good amount if you can tolerate it) and try to take a practice test as often as you can. From my experience, you really shouldn’t be investing over a month of your life into standardized test prep (after all, that’s a month you could’ve invested into a real passion)- and if you find yourself having to waste your summer on the SAT/ACT, you’re probably doing it wrong. Just put in your best effort every single day. If you have to, go somewhere without Internet access or any source of entertainment.</p>
<p>Similar jumps have been made before, so I wouldn’t deem it impossible. Only thing for you to do is to put in your best effort and find out where it takes you. Don’t count on it.</p>
<p>And don’t worry about it if you don’t make the 30- test-scores are not the end-all of college admissions; people with relatively low scores get into Ivies every year, and high-scorers do get stuck with their safety schools too.</p>
<p>EDIT: It’s also not a matter of how much work you put into it as much as it’s a matter of how you work. You fell 5 points short of your goal for a set of reasons- find out what you’re missing, why you’re missing it, and what you can do to stop making the same mistakes over and over. Standardized tests are boring because they’re repetitive- i.e., predictable.</p>
<p>Without someone guiding you, it is probably very unlikely. If you had someone who was able to diagnose a specific problem with your test taking, then it’s possible - if you had a test taking problem. But if you don’t, studying alone will not get you there. The ACT or SAT is not something you ace by studying, it’s more a measure of your basic talent. I know no one wants to say it, as it’s currently unfashionable for many reasons, but it’s more of an IQ test than a test of knowledge.</p>
<p>@MrMom62: Thanks for the laugh. Have you taken both of them? Did you manage to break them?</p>
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<p>OP, you should be able to do this. If you find yourself having difficultly in this arena, look at the exam tips in your ACT guide books- find out which ones you’re disobeying. If you have to, do a question-by-question analysis for the ones you missed- I promise you it pays off, especially if you’ve got such an ambitious goal.</p>
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<p>That’s the silliest characterization of the SAT/ACT I’ve ever seen. Heck, it’s even offensive- smart people score low all the time. In fact, one of the best indicators of SAT/ACT score is race + family income. </p>
<p>If studying seems to be getting you nowhere, it’s not because you’re dumb. It’s because:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The SAT/ACT, especially in their reading sections, expect you to be aware of things- like what certain words mean or what tone a certain type of speech conveys- that certain demographic groups are exposed to way more often that other demographic groups.</p></li>
<li><p>Your school might be weak and taught on a plug-and-chug basis. This is a major issue when it comes to math sections, imho, because a lot of people are just told, “This is the Pythagorean theorem. Find a, b, and c. Now plug it in and magic stuff happens!” You need to understand math, and most American public schools apparently don’t teach math that way.</p></li>
<li><p>Similarly, you might just have a weak background with reading, writing, and basic scientific theory. You need to have a certain foundation before you can break these systems, and underprivileged groups- or people with weaker educational backgrounds- get low scores every year because of this.</p></li>
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<p>These tests follow patterns- the Writing sections test the same dozen rules, the Science section tests your understanding of the same graph types + theory, the Math section is geared toward a plug-and-chug strategy for the most part (but just twists things a little so people who think math = magic get screwed over), and Reading has vocab and interpretation questions that follow similar patterns of interpretation- and are often repeated. You just have to get used to the way the tests are made, and that’s why virtually every high-scorer I know recommends practice tests as the best strategy.</p>
<p>Thanks @dividerofzero, I really want this to happen</p>
<p>@dabulls22 No problem! Tell me if you encounter any problems.</p>
<p>The answer to your question really depends on how much you studied for the april test</p>