I took the ACT for the first time without any prep or classes and got a 26 I’m concerned because the colleges I’m looking at require a 32 and up. Is this score ok for my first time? I’ll be taking it again after taking a prep class I just want to know if raising it to a 32 is a realistic goal
It all depends.
What grade are you in, frosh, soph, jr, senior?
Did you do any timed practice tests and scored higher?
Were there 1 or 2 sections on which you did really poorly that brought you down, or were all sections in the mid-20 range?
Did you run out of time?
Did you miss a bunch of “easy” questions because of carelessness, or were your mistakes in the medium to hard groups?
In the math section, were there question where you were just at a loss because you have not learned/understand the concept behind the question?
You need to analyze what caused your lower than desired score in order to have a game plan to improve.
Finally, take a timed practice SAT and see if you are one of those who does better on the SAT vs the ACT.
What grade are you in? If you’re a sophomore/junior, you definitely can raise it.
Junior
Junior. I got a 30 on reading and a 24 on everything else. I didn’t run out of time but I may have not gone over everything as carefully as I should have
@toppingpfc15 You definitely have time, then. ACT should have a score report uploaded on your account soon, which can help you evaluate which specific areas of each section you’ll need to work on. Then , take some official practice tests that are found online in a timed setting, and go over the answers you got wrong and determine why you got them wrong. Definitely don’t stress, if you set aside time each day to go over your weaker areas in each section, you should see yourself improve. There are a plethora of resources online, and I recommend the official ACT prep guide too.
Also not running out of time isn’t always a strong indicator you did well–it could mean you were rushing, depending on how much time you had left.
@Classicgirl17 I figure that I might’ve been rushing. Thanks for the tips. I know I struggle with grammar rules and I think I have an idea of what I need to work on for my other sections
It is a horrible idea to take reportable tests with no prep. As you see your score is no reassurance at all, as you expected to do better with no prep, and that piles on the pressure for the next test.