Got a 26 on my ACT. :( Need some help regarding college admission.

<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>So I live in Texas as a junior in high school and I'am planning to attend Texas A&M university at College Station. Currently i'm in top 12% of my class but i'm really hoping (fingers crossed) that I might be able to make top 10% by my senior year. If I'm in top 10% then I can get a auto admission to A&M but just in case if I don't (I hope not), a 26 on my ACT with writing scored not available yet any good?
I got a 19 in English, I know it sucks >;(
29 in Maths
29 in Reading
25 in Science
I also gave the writing test but the scores for that are not available yet. I thought I did good and was hoping for a 28-32 score range but I guess that I was wrong. I will apply for Engineering major btw.
Any advice or suggestions are appreciated, my score really made me angry and sad but I'm still trying my hardest to try and get into Texas A&M.</p>

<p>Thank you all in advance.</p>

<p>I assume you will want to retake the ACT. If your goal is a 28-32, you seem fine in most of the other subjects, but you need to work on English. What kind of preparation did you do before this test?</p>

<p>Do you know exactly what concepts on English you most struggled with? Do not worry about the writing tests. It’s only purpose is for some colleges that require it, and even then, they ignore the score. I doubt Texas A&M will care about the writing score, whatever it is, so do not worry too much about that part.</p>

<p>Good luck, and it may be a good idea to try very hard in your academics to get into that top 10%. </p>

<p>@Ctesiphon‌ I didn’t had any preperation before the test I am thinking about taking it again. English was always my weakest part because I lived in South Asia most of my life and I recently moved here so my English, especially vocab and grammar is not that good.</p>

<p>Well, vocabulary isn’t that heavily tested on the ACT. Either way, that is a pretty good score for someone who has not studied. When you were going through the test, did you feel like you were putting right answers down, and getting them wrong, or did you know for sure that you were putting wrong answers down? </p>

<p>There are many different practice materials you can get for the ACT. If you can bring your English score up a few points with those, and possibly even get a little bit higher on the other sections, a 28 is definitely in reach.</p>

<p>I took the ACT the first time a week ago and I had gotten PR’s Cracking the Act book and 1296 questions. You may like the Cracking Act because it really goes through everything that is tested on the English section and plenty of devices you can use to score better in general. However, from my experience, the actual practice tests PR offers are significantly difficult than what I saw on the ACT. I’ve only taken the test once so I may not be that accurate of a sample, but from looking around, I’ve noticed that many people find the book to be more difficult than the actual test. I was consistently demoralized when I was not scoring as high as I had liked on those practice tests.</p>

<p>Good luck in the future, this is a great place for help, there are a lot of experienced kids who have taken the ACT many times and can really give you some valuable info, and I have learned a lot since I joined this community.</p>

<p>@Ctesiphon‌ Um I mean i’m always optimistic about every answer I put down and think that it’s right because thinking that a certain answer I put down might be wrong could decrease my confidence level and then I won’t be sure about all the other answers.
I will definitely look into that and hopefully I can reach a 30 next time.</p>

<p>And yes, this is a great place to learn and know about new things and how people are doing on their tests, school and just in general. I’ve also learned plenty since I’ve joined this forum.</p>

<p>Good luck to you as well and take care!</p>

<p>Are you seriously complaining about a 26 act? Please give me your smarts</p>

<p>@jeankingston Um idk about you but I think a 26 falls in a “average” ACT ball park. I’m trying to get into Texas A&M which at least requires a 30 if i’m not a auto-admit.</p>

<p>A 26 on the ACT is a very good score; it places you on the top 84 percentile. Your English score may hold you back, but you can raise that score in no time! I would just recommend reviewing practice English tests and the test prep book Barron’s ACT 36. The book does wonders. Using this book I went from a 24 on the English to a 32! If I can do it then surely someone as bright as you can too! Work hard to be in the top 10% in your class and I’m sure you’ll get in to Texas a&m university. Good luck!</p>

<p>@HomoZapien24‌ Thanks a lot for the advice and encouragement. It really boosts up my morale and confidence, I will try my best.</p>

<p>If you take these four ACT practice tests and go over them, I’m pretty sure your English score will go up by a lot: <a href=“http://bestactprep.org/preparing-for-the-act”>http://bestactprep.org/preparing-for-the-act&lt;/a&gt;. The same types of questions show up regularly, so once you’re used to them, you’ll get more of them right.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>