<p>About me:I went from a 21 Composite (16,25,19,25) to a 31.25 Composite (34,34,29,28) -> (1 Q away from a 32...).</p>
<p>Hours studying: 100 hours. Ignore people who say they only studied for XX hours and got XX score. It takes some time to obtain the accumulated knowledge necessary for the ACT test and at the same time be able to access it at relatively quick tempos. (Speed chess?)</p>
<p>8th grade explore:14/25 (39 percentile,75 percentile, 16 percentile, 60 percentile)</p>
<p>I probably should have taken the SAT route (Did really well on practice with minimal studying compared to the ACT) but I didn't know anything about it until it was too late.</p>
<p>Personal statement:If you know you are "good" at school and others are beating you by a large factor (3-4 composites), assuming you aren't over confident, then it is your quest to get up there! Either through the SAT or the ACT, do it!</p>
<p>English:
[quote]
One of my worst sections, went from an 18 to a 30 to finally a 34.
Secret:No more knowledge loss. This is an art. You have to learn how to not pick answers without reasoning. Usually the reason is right in front of you in clear view, so train to 'hunt' for that solution.
Read context before answering questions. You will need to do this.
Learn your tenses carefully (learn all the basic types and perhaps learn verb forms)
Idioms - Try thinking of the phrase in a different (not too different) context.
Learn grammar - Really easy to learn and very useful. No need to read Barron's, just get a concise understanding of each concept and practice.
Can't understand an answer? - This may happen. If it does, your best bet would be to ask multiple people how they thought through it.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Math:
[quote]
Underline the important information in each question. This will increase focus tremendously.
Study the topics you don't do well on. (This is common sense, but don't take entire practice tests if you have 18/18/16 subscores. Just study the lowest)
Don't know an answer? Use your innate number sense skills!
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Reading:
Improved from a 21 to a 29. For those of you who just can't perform in this section, I'm one of them, instead of wasting valuable time reading for a standardized test, use the ingenious Puzzle Method! I learned about this method the week before the ACT.</p>
<p>
[quote]
macve004:
For a different strategy to try on practice tests before Saturday, try this (it's my personal strategy for the reading sections and it's always netted me 34-36 on the reading section of the ACT):</p>
<p>Prose: Read the entirety, but only to attain the gist: what is the subject? who are the characters? what are their attitudes toward the subject and toward each other? If you can decipher the answers to these questions in a short time, you will have an important foundation in answering all the subsequent ACT questions asked. As this passage involves a fair bit of irony, metaphor, and other stylistic devices, it is the most intense. Prepare to spend the most time here.</p>
<p>For the other three, use what I call the "Puzzle strategy":</p>
<p>Read the first paragraph to cop a feel for the essay as a whole, but then go immediately to the questions and refer back to the text. Most of these questions are very specific to the text (they give you the paragraph and in most cases the lines where the information is located). I call these "puzzle pieces." They usually net you the specific answers, but with only one or two, you won't be able to visualize the picture as a whole, and thus you may lapse when it comes to general questions of authorial intention, attitude, etc. How do you answers those? Well, you simply kill two birds with one stone. Remember your strategy with specific questions? Just add to that: make sure to read surrounding sentences when answering them. By the end of the specific questions, you will have so many "puzzle pieces" that you'll be able to analyze how each piece contributes to the whole with relatively little brainpower. This is because you've spent time answering the specific questions, which in turn has created a sort of short-term memory storage (at least with me). With all these puzzle pieces, you can establish the big picture of the passage with only minor referencing. Again, reading sentences surrounding the specifics (even if they haven't much to do with the specific question at hand) is a must for this strategy to work.</p>
<p>When a section lacks line reference, you will have to refer to the text. The only way to compensate for the time crunch is to avoid looking in places where you know the answers won't be (i.e. the places where you've already found information that answers the specific questions, but wouldn't help you answer the one that isn't referencing the text).</p>
<p>If you're referring to questions like those found in natural science sections (e.g. "Which of the following is something the author DOES NOT use to describe African Climates?"), the answer is usually a triple description within a paragraph (it's really a specific question disguised as a general one). No, you don't have to scour the entire text to find the three things the author does describe the climate with, but you will have to refer to the paragraph which concerns the subject, and discern the three things he/she does describe. Since the descriptions are condensed in a paragraph, this should not take you too much time.</p>
<p>I know it's a lot more difficult than i've just described, but with more practice you'll get these strategies down.</p>
<p>Good luck! </p>
<p>When and if it addresses a specific paragraph, you should refer to that paragraph. SupberbBlast's concern was those questions that didn't refer to paragraphs.</p>
<p>Via the puzzle strategy and questions that do reference lines, especially in the Natural/Social Science passages: (1) read the lines first and (2) read surrounding material in the paragraph where the lines are. This surrounding material will not only confirm the meaning of the lines referenced and help you better answer the specifric question, but it will also provide additional material to illustrate the paragraph (or the puzzle-piece).</p>
<p>Better understanding of individual paragraphs will always generate a greater understanding of the entire essay. This is a given. But the great thing about the "puzzle strategy" I outlined above is that because you're answering questions while at the same time analyzing the paragraphs, line references, or whatever, you better retain the information (as opposed to, say, just reading the passage in its entirety and forgetting 50% of its content--as readers normally do). This increased retainment makes it easier to answer the "general questions" with little to no referencing. Thus, it reduces time costs and maximizes accuracy.</p>
<p>Of course, you can supplement that retainer through the often-cited strategy of note-taking, where you scribble one or two words to capture the idea of the essay. This will cost you time. You'd be cutting it close to the 35min. mark, but the benefits could prove to outweigh that cost.</p>
<p>More specifically to the Natural and Social Sciences: Often times the question asks you to refer to one of the scientists written about in the text. For example, a passage I recently read concerning Ancient Roman Arcitecture had two or three scientists offering data as to origins and accuracy of our modern interpretations of that Arcitecture (this case being the Coliseum). Nearly half the questions referred to scientist 1, 2, or 3 and his or her work. If you can quickly find the scientist's name in the essay, you will quickly answer the question. These questions I consider godsends for their relative ease, and by knowing the results of the experiments (which, unlike the conflicting viewpoints passage in the science section, are always related and complimentary), you can quickly figure out the main points of the essay to answer the general questions as to authorial purpose, attitude, etc.</p>
<p>Hope this helps! </p>
<p>Try it out and see how it works!
macve004 is offline Add to macve004's Reputation
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Side note on puzzle method:
[quote]
"Just to be sure, please use my strategy only if it fits to your character. If, after 2-4 practice exams it doesn't fit and hasn't netted you higher scores, DON'T use it. This seems obvious, but I know many people who try to force strategies that simply don't fit to their test-taking instincts. Trust yourself. By doing so, you benefit yourself, and also deflect any complaints I may otherwise find waiting in my inbox come Saturday!"
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Science:
[quote]
I always bragged about how good I was at this. I got a 100% on this for the ACT Plan test (not a good predictor).
However I made the mistake of not practicing for the ACT Science (the last time I did was 6 months before my 31Comp). Just take a few practice tests to get used to the format. There are many methods out there, but in the end you just choose 2 in my opinion.
*Read the information first
*Read the questions first
You should NOT base this off of your reading strategies, as the science passages may be more comprehend-able to some.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Writing:
[quote]
You have to know how to write to the ACT's standards.
I got a 9 (a 4 and an 5 lol?) on my first one only taking honors English. The next two times I received 8s lol. Colleges in particular don't really care about this section, but if you have the time, practice for this section and try to get a 10-12.
Make sure to plan out your thoughts!
[/quote]
</p>
<p><em>Study all sections</em>
You need to practice for each section before taking you next ACT. It's to your advantage to get some prior preparation before you next test. Just like how cramming 5 minutes before a vocabulary test will help you, taking a practice ACT sections (even if split by day) will help.</p>
<p><em>Picking an answer</em>
And this is the #1 tip if you want to get past 30. Never pick an answer that is not supported. The reason is that by law each answer MUST be supported by the passage reasonably, or else the ACT could receive law suits.</p>
<p><em>Third times a chance</em>
Self explanatory.
C:21, C:29, C:31</p>
<p>Major tips for Freshman:
*The ACT Reuses past exams!
If you are a freshman, make sure to try out the ACT at least once (October??) Who knows, you might win the lottery and see a replica of the test you took.</p>
<p>*Take good classes and learn well. You don't want to leave your standardized scores on a gamble.</p>
<p>Delete old ACT Scores. You can send a letter to Collegeboard requesting for a deletion of an old ACT score (not very ethical and you might be able to get caught...)</p>
<p>Finally:
Don't get embittered if you don't get your goal score. If you have some practice tests with higher scores than your real test, then you obviously have the potential knowledge to perform that well on test day (ignoring luck).</p>