<p>Ok here's my problem... I have taken the ACT 4 times...
December 27
February 28
March 26
April 26</p>
<p>I don't understand at all I am a very good student, score well on all my practice tests. I just don't know. My parents are getting frustrated because they have spent so much money and haven't seen an improvement. I am disappointed in myself for getting a 26 and everyone around me is getting 34 and 35. I am going to take it in June AP classes are over and I will have time to study for ACT and SAT. I have 1 month after my AP tests to study for ACT. I'm going to start fresh, so how can I accomplish my goal of 33. I know I can do it because I score 30+ on my practice tests and to be honest I didn't really study as much as I would of liked. So what's the best plan? Or is this battle lost</p>
<p>Please anybody really need help</p>
<p>For writing, you need to brush up on grammar rules. If you look at Silver Turtle’s SAT guide, the grammar rules for writing ALL apply to the ACT. This section is the EASIEST section to get your score up in simply because everything is formulaic, even more so than the math section.</p>
<p>For math, you have to brush up on geometry. The algebra involved in the ACT is incredibly basic, and geometry (including trig applications) is the main subject tested on in the exam. I would focus on formulas for basic geometric structures and some of their derivatives (30-60-90 triangles, 45-45-90 triangles, Pythagoras’s Theorem, common right triangles such as 3-4-5, 5-12-13, etc.) These will be essential time savers for harder math problems such as the trig questions. For the trig questions be comfortable with the unit circle, SOH-CAH-TOA, sinusoidal graphs. If you are in calculus, I would be familiar with vectors, differentiation, and integration of common functions. These will be extreme time savers and you will have 20-30 min just to check your work. </p>
<p>For reading, refer my post here:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/act-preparation/1134577-reading-destroying-my-composite.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/act-preparation/1134577-reading-destroying-my-composite.html</a></p>
<p>For science, I suggest you entirely skip the passages, graphs, etc. and go to the questions. 90% of the questions ask you to refer back to a specific section of the information to find the answer anyway, so why bother reading it beforehand. Even with right time management, science will be a time crunch. I am usually left with 10-15 min in reading, 25-30 in math, and about 20 in writing. For science however, I have 2-5 minutes to look over some problems I am unsure about.</p>
<p>Good luck and hope you like my advice!</p>
<p>I think you’re burning yourself out by taking 5 tests in one year. If I were you I would wait until next school year (unless you’ve already signed up). Relax a bit a study in smaller more laid back schedules during the summer, rather than these 4 week crash courses. You wont see any real improvement if you’re taking it every month. Its like working a muscle. You may think that intense workouts all day everyday are the answer, but if you dont give your muscles adequate rest they will not grow stronger.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! Yea I know it’s alot, but my dad kept signing me up and I didn’t stop him because I thought I could do better.</p>
<p>Everyone around you is getting 34s and 35s? Those kind of scores are above average even at the Ivies. I can’t imagine there being a high school where a 28 isn’t a respectable score. I mean, really, maybe your parents should learn to accept the fact that not everyone can be the best. You could probably waste your life studying for the test and get a few points of improvement, or you could go out and enjoy life, and build up a good list of extracurriculars while you’re at it. It’s not like you’re not gonna get into a great school already with a 28.</p>
<p>@cooldude, how would integration and differentiation be helpful on the ACT? For what type of problems?</p>