<p>I made a 28 on the April test but I took it again in June and it dropped to a 25... :( :( :(
I've got the red book and PR's cracking the act book but they didn't help much since my score dropped...
I would GREATLY appreciate any studying tips and/or suggestions to help me increase my score.
I'll even pay someone via paypal if the tips are good enough!!</p>
<p>April
C: 28
E: 32
M: 27
R: 28
S: 24</p>
<p>June
C: 25
E: 29
M: 24
R: 24
S: 24</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Um, it it makes you feel any better, my score dropped from a 28 to a 26. The next test some time later, I got a 32.</p>
<p>Not uncommon for scores to drop here and there. Happens to a lot of people.</p>
<p>It is pretty easy for a dedicated student to get a 30 composite score. You should use PR 1296 and the RB. To get 30+ you’re going to need to take a significant amount of times practice exams.</p>
<p>I went from 27 (first time) to 30 :D. I was so excited. Then I came here (CC) and found out 30 is nothing 
</p>
<p>Now I want a 31 or 32…but there is no way in hell that I’m taking that test again.</p>
<p>I heard PR 1,296 is a great book to help boost your score. Since you already have the Red Book and the PR: Cracking the ACT, I would recommend also getting Barrons: 36 book. They have some reeeaaaallllyyy good strategies and such.</p>
<p>Hey I sent you a very long PM, so go check that out if you haven’t already.</p>
<p>tofuisgood4u will u send me that pm as well? I am also looking for more tips!</p>
<p>Buying PR 1296 for sure.</p>
<p>hey tofuisgood4u, can you please pm me as well because i am also looking for tips
june score was a 24!!! i really need to increase that score
it was
r: 26
e: 26
m: 22
s: 21
w: 10</p>
<p>tofuisgood4u: Please send me some tips also. I did not do so well on it, and any advice would be great. Thanks.</p>
<p>This is much easier than responding to your individual PMs or checking this thread.</p>
<p>CRITICAL READING: Subscribe to Time magazine and read the articles. Doing this kills two birds with one stone: you gain experience in analyzing passages AND get some insight into the world around you, which is full of great examples that can be used on the essay. I suggest reading the article, writing out to yourself what you feel the subject of the article was, then sending it to a teacher or mentor to ask them to comment on whether you got the right idea or not. Newspapers are also great, especially the editorial sections. To improve vocabulary, constant reading is once again the key. The ACT doesn’t focus on vocabulary as much as the SAT does; however, to cover the vocabulary that may be used, I suggest finding a nice list of Greek and Latin roots and prefixes and memorizing that. By doing this, you are able to cover a greater variety of words with less effort than, say, memorizing a list of 3000 words that may or may not appear on the ACT.</p>
<p>WRITING: I’ll start off by covering the essay. The key here is to write as fast as you can while maintaining a coherent point. Many people tend to use examples from literature and history; however, I somewhat disagree because the over usage of these examples makes for extremely cliched statements. Start off by writing a general restatement of the prompt (leading in with a quote is always nice) and then state your position. Throughout the essay, unless you are using a personal example, DO NOT use the first person. Using the first person in essays like these is extremely weak, especially when you’re trying to prove a point. Don’t say “I think global warming greatly affects our lifestyles”, it implies uncertainty. Instead, be adamant about your opinion. “Global warming is having a detrimental affect on our lifestyles.” Statements are great, questions are not. Don’t overuse exclamation marks unless something is actually surprising. Three examples are not totally necessary; I used one example on my SAT essay and two examples on my ACT essay and scored 12s on both of them. Wrap up the essay with a restatement of your position on the subject, then extrapolate to consequences of the situation if it goes your way, as a way of summarizing your essay. As for the grammar portion, I suggest picking up the Barron’s SATII Writing guide. Yes, the SATII Writing section doesn’t exist anymore, but the concepts encompassed in that book cover everything you need to know about grammar for the ACT. Be sure to do all the examples from there, understand why the answers are that way, and you will get a great score.</p>
<p>MATH: Math is just number churning. If you don’t have a graphing calculator, get one. Those tend to be very useful, especially when you don’t remember how to do something and can solve it by throwing the numbers into your calculator. Go over some basic trigonometry (sin, cos, tan) and geometry. The algebra shouldn’t be a problem. Do the math questions in the Red Book, and if you don’t understand it, be sure to read the explanations in the back.</p>
<p>SCIENCE: The science section isn’t really science; it’s more of a way to cover lab procedures (analyzing data, coming to conclusions, predicting outcomes, etc.) I’m not really sure how to study for this besides doing the practice tests from the ACT red book. However, you should become familiar with reading graphs and analyzing data. I find that the answers are really obvious a lot of the time. There are key words to note in the questions, usually the names of things. Just hunt around in the “passage” for those key words and you can typically find the answers word for word.</p>
<p>Any questions? I’ll be watching this thread for the next couple of days, so I can get back to you guys ASAP.</p>
<p>Thanks Tofuisgood4u! (love the username btw, i like tofu too!) </p>
<p>Do you have any suggestions for English? (That’s my lowest section) </p>
<p>Also, i got a 34 in math but that was during the april ACT, is there a way for me to ensure that it stays that way when I take the ACT again in October or should I just keep reviewing 1296 and RB to make sure that the score holds? </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>For English, once again, go for the Barron’s SATII Writing text. </p>
<p>For your math, it really depends on how confident you feel about your math abilities. If you think it was just luck, then I would recommend doing constant practice to make sure it holds or goes even higher! However, if you think your math skills can stabilize around that level, then don’t waste your time going over what you know already instead of studying for weaker sections.</p>