<p>I'm a junior. I took the test in April and registered for the June one before I received my scores. I now know I won't be ready for that, so I'll have to take in it september as well.</p>
<p>But I really, really don't understand how I got this score. I'm a honors/AP student, getting straight A's without trying much. I know I'm not an idiot. I'm in the top quarter of my class...call me arrogant, even conceited, but I don't think I'm a candidate for a 17. Honestly I've NEVER even heard of one that low.</p>
<p>I know people that are stupider than me that have gotten higher SAT score than me. (I got a 143 on the psat, also rubbish, but I omitted 17 questions.)</p>
<p>I thought going to the ACT would be better since I didn't have to omit, guess not.</p>
<p>English: 20
Math: 19
Reading: 17
Science 10 (this I didn't try on, I wasn't feeling well the day of the test)</p>
<p>This is devastating, I feel so stupid and pathetic. I was expecting around a 25, I NEED at LEAST a 25 to get into the schools I want to go to.. preferably a 28...</p>
<p>How do I get at least a 25 by september? I don't have the money to spend thousands on prep classes...my school offers nothing...what do I do.</p>
<p>uconn & penn state are my top choices.
But I know I can’t get into them with a score like this, even if I do have everything else for them. I doubt I could even get into a my state schools with this.</p>
<p>And community college is out of the question…</p>
<p>To be honest, no I haven’t. Even though I have around 6 books for the SAT/ACT.
I guess I felt pretty confident I’d get my 25, but I got my harsh reality check.</p>
<p>I’ll look into tutors.
over the summer I’ll try to take around 3 a week…but is it possible to go up 8-11 points? :/</p>
<p>I’m realizing as I look through these books that the types of questions repeat themselves quite frequently.</p>
<p>if your looking at UCONN and Penn State- you don’t need ACTs no?
Honestly-- unless your looking South/West or something-- just concentrate on the SAT. You dont need to submit both unless you are told to do so- but I have yet to hear of a college to make you submit ACT scores in conjunction with SAT. </p>
<p>Maybe the ACT isn’t your thing. Personally I think it’s a harder. My friends all differ in opinions though. Have you only taken the PSAT? Are you signed up for the May SAT?</p>
<p>And yah, feeling terribly the day of the test definitely sucks. I had a concussion when I took the SAT in November, and I decided to take it anyways, just for practice :(</p>
<p>i’m pretty jealous you got your scores however… I have yet to receive mine. Were they online? Mine weren’t. Idk if they send it via mail?</p>
<p>You don’t need a tutor; you just need to put in some time. If you practice with the books and sample questions so that you can at least complete all sections, then your score can improve quite a bit.</p>
<p>You have good grades, but you also said “without trying much” and I think that’s the problem.</p>
<p>And get a good night’s sleep before your next test. Punting the whole science section makes a 25 pretty much impossible.</p>
<p>No, I’m not signed up for the may SAT. The sat gives me more anxiety because of the lost of points for wrong answers/omitting. :/</p>
<p>They were online at 6am yesterday for me. But I know someone who still hasn’t gotten them! That really stinks! :/</p>
<p>I know that the science section is awful. But I’m disregarding <em>slightly</em> because I didn’t try to answer one single question and filled in random answers on my sheet.
I should have circled all C.
But I thought a tasteful variety of mixing would be
better. Guess not!</p>
<p>I hope that my scores will
shoot up. They really need
to, or I’ll have myself in a bigger, more stressful problem…</p>
<p>Was your PSAT 143 CR and Math or total score out of 240? </p>
<p>If this is your total PSAT, it is consistant with your ACT, and you have some serious work to do cracking the tests. Get out those 6 books you have and start taking practice tests, reading strategies about the different sections, etc. Time to do vocab practice, math practice etc.</p>
<p>Yes, total PSAT. Actually, ACT is unfortunately a little lower. I would get about a 20 if it was consistent according to most conversion charts I’ve seen.</p>
<p>I hope so. But I’m starting to contemplate if it’s even worth it. I’m never going to get a 25-28, so I might as well settle on community college where idiots like me go.</p>
<p>Hey buddy,
my first score was a 20. I bombed the science section like you did. I didn’t give up!!!
I went through 4 practice books and I just got my score back – 30 COMPOSITE!</p>
<p>dreamdream, that’s very inspiring!
I got a 25 on the practice. 18 on math and 20 on science, which was very disappointing, but I also guessed the last halves of those tests.
I take the real thing tomorrow, and while i’m not 100% confident, I know I will have the June, September, and November tests to really really really study hard for. I hope to raise it to a 28-30. anything is possible.
Pleasehelp01, keep studying for the next one. Even get a tutor or some classes, which is what i’ll do this summer.</p>
<p>Honestly, to do better on the English and Reading Sections, you’ve got to read like crazy. Nothing else gets you quite the same grasp on grammatical structure and literary analysis. Over the summer I suggest you pick about ten modern books (from adult lit to lighter YA stuff) and five classics/modern classics (from Dickinson to Vonnegut) and power through as many as you can. If you don’t like plot/characters, just switch to another-- it’s about understanding the syntax and mechanics more than the actual meat of the story. </p>
<p>Best of luck. With practice, I’m sure you can raise that.</p>
<p>Thank you all!
Dreamdream - seriously?! That’s a very inspiring story indeed! How long did it take you (please don’t say 5 years )</p>
<p>I definitely will be trying my best to cram after APs/rest of my finals. I know I probably won’t see improvement in the June one I signed up for, but perhaps in September (and October if I need to take them for a 4th time)</p>
<p>Yes - I’m a college interviewer. If you - like some of the students I tutor on the side (not applying to my alma mater) have practice books and they are gathering dust - you’re not ready for college. Even community college.</p>
<p>And if you just circle in answers without attempting to solve the problems - you’re not ready. The math is simpler than it looks. Stop avoiding it and read the questions before you read the experiment pages. There are some clues about how much stuff is included in those texts that you don’t need to answer the questions. It’s a test of character, my dear, and a test of your ability to pull data out of all that noise. It doesn’t care if you know what the science means - only if you can read a graph and chart, and know how to put results in the proper order.</p>
<p>You’ve gotten great advice here and yet you are kind of defeatist.</p>
<p>My daughter struggled on a test because the format is different - a lot different - than the state exams she’d been prepped for. Only took a dinner and an hour of tutoring from a classmate and her scores went up because she realized she was using the wrong approach (and doing long-form math when she didn’t need to - thus running out of time).</p>
<p>These tests are as much about strategy and knowing what they are asking for, as they are about your knowledge. You only have a minute to answer each question (give or take) so they’re not looking for Einstein’s theory - they’re testing to see if you understand concepts and can apply them</p>
<p>Practice won’t make perfect, but it will get your score up. Only you have the ability to open those books - actually READ the introductions that walk you through the philosophy of the test and give examples - then take the test under real timed conditions.</p>
<p>Heck - even the PSAT form you got back has a code to allow you to go online and see what you missed and take the questions again as practice.</p>
<p>College readiness means ability to assess the problem, then attack it using the advice you’re given. It also means not giving up before the battle is fought.</p>
<p>I did pretty bad my first time too man… The ACT doesn’t test your knowledge at all. But unfortunately it’s something that you need to do decent on. I also took it in April and got my score up four total points from the last time. The first time I took it I had no idea what the test was about, it’s format, or what they were looking for in the english, (because the english section is not cool).</p>
<p>What I did was took a practice test every week, 4-5 weeks leading up to the test. Time yourself and everything. Trust me, it will help. Also I took a class on sunday nights. It helped a lot, especially with strategy. Lucky for me, the guy who taught those sunday night classes also taught at my school. He offered a prep class during our seminar period. I went every day, paid attention and did all the work he assigned.</p>
<p>As a result, I got my english up 9 points, (19 to a 28), my math up 2 points, reading up 4, and unfortunately science stayed the same because I was worried through half of it that I had filled in my bubble sheet wrong.</p>
<p>Don’t worry man. It’s not the end of the world. You can take the ACT up to TWELVE times! Plus, you probably had a different version than I did, but this previous test was the hardest ACT I have seen. (Counting the one in February and various practice tests I took).</p>
<p>So don’t feel bad. If it makes you feel any better, one of my good friends at school received a 14 his first time. So a 17 isn’t the worst score in the world. </p>
<p>Oh and don’t listen to the people who post their scores on here… Only 4% of the people that take the ACT get a 30 or above. Not everyone gets a 36. If so, the national average would not be a 20.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Apply to worse schools</p></li>
<li><p>Realize that , HEY maybe im dumb?!?</p></li>
<li><p>???</p></li>
<li><p>Profit?</p></li>
<li><p>loljk there is no profit because ur stupid</p></li>
<li><p>Or answer more questions right…rather than wrong</p></li>
</ol>
