Anything I can do to improve my ACT score?

Test Preparation
1

<p>June '13 ACT
Composite 28
English 26 / Math 32 / Reading 24 / Science 31</p>

<p>I don't know how to further improve my ACT score. As you can see, the biggest problem is Reading and English sections…since English is not my first language. I think my grammar is OK but it seems that I still got many questions wrong. The "rhetorical skills" part is even worse. And, when I'm doing the Reading section, I keep running out of time (even if I try to read the questions first and then hunt for the answer), and I can't understand what I'm reading while reading quickly.</p>

<p>Indeed, I will take a bunch of practice tests in summer. But I wonder if there's something else I can do. I'm going to retake the test in September. I'm quite worried and anxious… Thanks for your help in advance!</p>

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<p>You can improve your English section just by reviewing grammar rules and taking many English practice tests. Trust me, it’s possible to raise that score. The first time I took the ACT, I got a 24 in English. However, after a lot of studying and practice tests, the second time around, I got a 34. </p>

<p>As for the reading section, you just have to keep doing practice tests. Keep doing the practice tests under timed conditions. What’s your approach to the reading section?</p>

3

<p>Thanks for your reply, FlyEagle17.</p>

<p>I also have learned a lot of the grammar stuff (I used Princeton Review’s Cracking the ACT), but it seems that at this point my score can’t raise any more. (Well, maybe I’m too pessimistic.)</p>

<p>For fiction passages, I read the passage first and then answer the questions. For other passages, I first read the questions then hunt for the answers. The problem is, on the real ACT, I still left 2 or 3 questions unanswered… (I did guess though)</p>

<p>Yes, I know keep doing practice tests will help. And they’ll fill my whole summer vacation… (Ahhh…)</p>

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<p>I know it definitely sucks studying in the summer, but the great thing is that you can raise your composite score potentially over a 30 with all the studying that your doing.</p>

<p>I can give you my approach that I used for the reading section. I would just read like the first two sentences in each paragraph quickly then go straight to the questions and start answering them. Also, remember during the reading section, you should ACTIVELY be reading. When you get bored of reading, it will most likely lead to passively reading instead of actively reading. So whatever the passage was about I made sure that I was actively reading it. </p>

<p>Trust me if you study grammar rules and you keep taking English practice tests, you can easily raise your score. </p>

<p>Also, your score isn’t like bad. are there schools that your targeting?</p>

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<p>Also, the Princeton Review was good in providing tips for each section. Also, use the Real Act Book for practice tests.</p>

6

<p>All right. Then I will review the grammar more thoroughly. It seems that I need to spend more time on it… And I’ll certainly try your reading method.</p>

<p>I think you’ve pointed my problem out—reading actively. This is troublesome to me. Almost every time when I’m reading an ACT passage, my mind starts to wander and I fail to concentrate (unless I’ve encountered something I’m interested in—this rarely happens though). (And even if I concentrate, I easily forget what I’ve read and waste much time.) Ah-ha, that’s it. I don’t really know what to do though…</p>

<p>I know my score doesn’t look bad, but I’m shooting for 32+. I’m aiming for those “top” ones—not necessarily the Ivies, but yes, those very selective colleges.</p>

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<p>If you do more practice tests with going through the answers and explanations, you will definitely improve your scores.</p>

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<p>In English, you should learn the test and its usual material very well. For reading, you should practice getting through passages as quickly and efficiently as possible, which means you should refine your reading and markup strategy. Passage maps are especially helpful if practice spotting topic sentences and other important material like author’s view, tone, etc. After I started to use them, I jumped from a 32 to a 36.</p>

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Hi… you guys all have the higher score than me… I got English 17 Math 29 Reading 18 Science 23 on my first ACT test without studying, but I went to Elite for the SAT tutoring and got 1560 on the real SAT… It’s the same score I get on ACT corresponds to the scale. What can I do to improve my grade? Am I hopeless right now? I came to US at my freshman year and I been here for almost three years, but my English is still really behind other people… can anyone teach me how can I help myself… I’m feeling so frustrated that I have to work harder than everyone else to get the normal result that meant for them. I feel like I am going to be a failure in this country… How can I stop making those grammar error and become really fluent in English?