<p>D took her ACT a week late due to snow, got her scores today:
English 34
Math 34
Reading 34
Science 35
Composite 34 !! Up 2 points from October :)</p>
<p>I’m stating to get really annoyed with this. This is when you start to think that you misprinted something on the answer form!</p>
<p>S took his test in Connecticut on the 14th and nothing yet! Very annoying! Anyone else in the US waiting?</p>
<p>Still waiting from Michigan. Most of my friends haven’t gotten theirs either. We all took it at the same location so we’re starting to think there was a test center irregularity or something.</p>
<p>Some people are getting scores in Missouri, more aren’t though. this is so frustrating!! not having my scores is hurting my application process!!</p>
<p>30 composite
30 English
27 Math (This was a tad bit irritating… I guess that’s what happens when you don’t finish)
31 Reading
32 Science</p>
<p>I GOT A 31!!!
Really happy about my score
English- 29
Math- 34
Reading- 30
Science- 29</p>
<p>Does anyone know whether gruber’s act math will help me raise my score or is it unnecessarily hard?</p>
<p>And also any essay advice? Like what exactly are they looking for? Any tips?</p>
<p>After three 29s, finally reached my goal of the big 3-0. But to my surprise I got a 31! So if you feel you’ve reached your max score, keep trying! Perseverance and hard work finally prevailed! Im done with stalking this website. Love how all the people who get 34/35s complain!!!probably asians 
</p>
<p>I went in only doing 1 practice test. If you keep getting the same score, then I advise not doing loads of practice tests the same week as the test. If youve already done a lot of them for the prior tests, then there is no need to do more because you clearly know how the test questions work. The night before I suggest just going over math formulas and concepts such as logs and matrices. Try doing 1 practice test the week of. Here is my breakdown of books I used:</p>
<p>Real ACT: Overall good book. Prepares well for English and Reading. Gets you aquainted with Math and Science, but they seemed easier than real tests.</p>
<p>Princeton 1296 Practice Questions: VERY good for Science- The tests are pretty hard, but they help you realize the pattern for trends and questions. Good for every section to be honest. It’s cut up into sections at one point to where there are I think 3 consecutive tests for just one section(Math, Science, etc). THis really helps if you need to just focus on your weak subject. In my opinion, maximizing your best subjects is key. Not trying to raise just that one weak subject(cough Science cough)</p>
<p>Manual for the ACT(Princeton): Borrowed from a friend who took the prep course this book was used in. I found it useful for summarizing the English grammar (had begun vs began, etc) and Math concepts that were essential to understand. Not really a fan of this book’s Reading section because I dont prefer the strategy of “mapping out” the questions.</p>
<p>Umm…Always (try to) get a good nights rest, take a jog in the morning if you can to wake up your brain, finish each section even if that means guessing, dont get set on that one question that can ruin your timing, and drink lots of water the day before and the day of to stay hydrated! For me, I think testing at a center where none of your friends are helps you stay on track. Less distractions, more focus, and bigger desks in my case. If anyone has questions feel free to ask!</p>
<p>VaishS, I heard that you must address the opposition in your essay, or else the highest score you can get is like a 6 or 8. The graders also seem partial towards the traditional 5 paragraph format, although I have heard of 4-paragraph essays recieving 10’s and 11’s. Another piece of advice I’ve heard is don’t be afraid to make up evidence. Making up quotes and attributing them to obscure people or saying that “A recent study shows” something will likely fly under the radar. While staring down hundreds of essays, graders are unlikely to be checking your facts.</p>
<p>@Jtn8723 thank you, very helpful break down of the books!</p>
<p>@PavlovsDog19 ok thank you! I didn’t address opposition and mine was only 4 paragraphs (I spent too much time trying to think of facts and stuff) using these tips I could definitely bring my score up a lot (I got an 8)</p>
<p>@VaishS i made a 36 on math and an 11 on essay so I may be able to give you a few pointers. For math I found that finsishing the first 20 questions in 10 minutes gave me a cushion of time that helped during harder questions. Also skip hard questions and come back to them. I had skipped 3 questions during the period of the test and with that 10 minute cushion was able to finish them. For the essay I filled up the entire essay space which may have been helpful. I also write really small and go indepth on my opinion. This was my first time taking the ACT and I will probably put more time to work at it and try to get a higher score. I am junior BTW.</p>
<p>@VaishS a few of my friends studied math using Gruber’s practice book and each made around a 32. So if you are looking for around a 32 I would reccomend it.</p>
<p>Personally, I’ve never written a 5 paragraph essay for the ACT or SAT–I always use 4. For the December test, I got a 10, having written only 4 paragraphs, and also utilizing the entire space (as PSATPERSON did). I really think the scorers acknowledge quality over quantity, though!</p>
<p>Thanks @PSATperson and @cassidys I have trouble writing fast (how are you able to fill all the pages) and I don’t know how to improve that 
I’m probably going to stick to the 4 paragraphs and go as in depth as I can (making up some facts) as for math I already having a low 30 score and am looking at how to cover the final gap (4-5 points) I guess I’ll do the gruber’s act and just other random practice questions. Thank you so much for your advice!</p>
<p>In my paper I talked about students tutoring other students
My paragraphs were:
Intro
Body paragraphs cant remember the order
- Students understanding each other better
- Teacher’s having limited time to help every student
- If teacher’s do work overtime after to tutor they get paid overtime which is difficult to manage for poorer schools
- The added benefit of student tutors getting Community service while helping others (basically win-win situation).
- Restrictions on who can be student tutors based on grades and performance
- Explained that student tutors are not perfect but a great source of help
Conclusion</p>
<p>Essentially my paper was 8 paragraphs if you want to look at it from that viewpoint. I tried to cover every position possible from a student-student approach.</p>
<p>One thing I like to do is just write whatever comes to my mind rather than plan before writing. I always have a few general ideas on what my essay will look like but I will develop them as I write and make my essay flow by adding sub-points for transitions.</p>