Final tips for raising reading score from 29?

Test Preparation ACT Preparation
1

Last time I took the ACT in September, my Eng/math/sci scores were all 35+, but my reading was 29, dragging down my composite. My main problem seemed to be running out of time and rushing to fill in the questions for the last passage. I’ve done some practice since then and feel a bit better, but I was wondering if there were any tips I may not have heard yet for this Saturday.

2

Even if you “only” scored a 35 in E/M/S (I put only in quotation marks because that is incredibly impressive, lol) and a 29 in R then your composite is still in the 99th percentile, so I’m really not sure why you would want to take it again, BUT I’m not sure if this will be helpful, but it was definitely helpful to me:

– Read the entirety of the first paragraph
– Read the first and last sentence of all other paragraphs
– Read the entirety of the last paragraph

This gives you a general idea of how the story begins, the information provided in each paragraph, and how the story concludes. I rose ELEVEN points using this strategy (I went from a 21 to a 32) the first time I used it. Apparently, they tell you not to do this, but, hey, it worked for me, so I figured I might as well mention it.

I also:

– Did NOT really read the answer choices for the questions unless it was asking me a question about a specific something (i.e. “What does the author mean by [insert word] in line 34?”). I would actually cover up the choices and make my own interpretation of the answer to the question then pick the one that sounded closest to mine.
– After I finished reading, I looked through the questions rather quickly to see if there were any “In line 62, the author…” questions to which I needed to go back and underline/bracket/pay special attention.

I really hope this helps you! It’s all about trial and error.

3

As someone who raised my reading score to a 36 from a 33, I suggest: THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO NOT RELY ON YOUR MEMORY HERE.

  1. READ THE ENTIRE PASSAGE IN 3 MIN. Skimming and getting a general idea will only get you to the low 30-32s.
  2. Mark the questions that are detail questions and GO BACK TO THE PASSAGE.
  3. Speed and practice are everything. Spend 8 min exactly on each passage. 3.5 for passage, 4.5 for questions.