<p>Hi. I took the sat last spring and received a 32. I believe 34 math, 31 reading, 31 sci, and 30 english or something.</p>
<p>Whats the best prep book to raise my score to a 35/36. Im taking the test in a couple weeks. will this be possible?</p>
<p>I think it will be hard to raise your score above a 32, but with a lot of effort, it’s certainly possible!</p>
<p>lol, okay, i mean, that wasnt entirely helpful.
Any suggestions about books, and is there any reason you think I cant raise my score above a 32. I mean Im not trying to be defensive, its just that I was looking for some warranted reason as to why it wont be possible.</p>
<p>Spending time trying to get your 32 to a 35 or 36 is a lot of wasted time that you could be using on your extracurricular activities and college essays, which are far more important than a 3 point increase on the ACT in your case. The difference between a 32 and a 35 isn’t much, but your essays and other parts of the application such as the extracurricular activities will tell colleges who you are and if you’re right for their school. A test score doesn’t provide the same thing. Even then, colleges weigh high school grades higher than an ACT/SAT score as high school grades are proven as better indicators for success in college. My advice is to focus on other things that are more important. A 32 is a great score, and although a 35 and 36 are better scores, they’re just numbers. As I said before, the time you spend studying to attempt getting a 3 point increase is time wasted from your extracurricular activities, forming better relationships with possible letter of recommendations, and other important aspects of the application.</p>
<p>In a joking matter, considering the lowest possible score on the SAT is a 200 getting a 32 should be very impressive to universities ;). </p>
<p>If you don’t get the joke, it’s referring to your typo in the first post.</p>
<p>okay, thanks for the feedback!
Well, i dont really need to improve EC’s or essays. Literally the 32 is my weakest point in my app for top schools. Trust me, for an Over rep. minority, a 32 will be a setback.</p>
<p>Well deciding what is a “good” score is biased, but it really depends on what colleges you want to enter.
For good books to use, definitely get the red book since it’s College Board. Princeton Review was also pretty helpful.</p>
<p>I don’t understand why you guys can’t just answer the OP’s question.</p>
<p>IMO, you should get “Cracking the ACT” and “The Red Book” at the least. Get PR’s “1296” if you need extra practice.</p>
<p>lol, markzillyway, thanks! Yea, I mean Im just looking at average scores at these schools, Im not arbitrarily arguing one score is sooo much better. and thanks again mark,for answerin my question.</p>
<p>I ended up gettign barrons 36, but ill read a little of cracking the act</p>
<p>
This is very incorrect. There exist a substantial difference between a 32 and a 35 especially when applying to top-tier schools. Think about it this way: a 35 corresponds to a 1560 (/1600) on the SAT while a 32 corresponds to a mere 1420. Are you saying the difference between a 1420 and 1560 “isn’t much”?</p>
<p>they are both 99 percentile</p>
<p>^ Doesn’t matter; a 35 is still significantly higher.</p>
<p>of course everyone wants a 35 over a 32, im just saying that once u go 32 and higher the reason why u were declined from a university was not your test score.</p>
<p>Parent here. I’m not sure why students ask questions like this. If you are smart enough to get a 32 on your first try, I’m sure you can figure out your deficiencies and correct them. Get review books and do the practice tests for timing purposes.</p>
<p>I retook a 33 and got a 35. 2180 vs 2330. Big difference to me</p>
<p>I completed PR 1296 untimed, then did the Red Book tests under normal test conditions.</p>
<p>^ Did the exact same prep: 1296 then the Red book.
Went from 32 to 34 to 35. The first time (when I got the 32) I hadn’t prepared at all.</p>
<p>Don’t even bother with prep books and strategies and what not. Just take plenty of practice tests to get used to the timing and check your mistakes so you learn that way. This is coming from somebody who went from 33 to 36. Trust me. ACT’s all about working under the time limit without getting distracted.</p>
<p>^I agree. I am (or was now) at the score you are: a 32. After I took a practice test today, I shot up to a 35.</p>
<p>I got a 31 and then a 35…</p>
<p>But the 31 was more of a fluke because all of practices I got 33 and 34s…but I used the real ACT book that you can get from the act.org site</p>
<p>I went 28–>31–>35 by taking practice tests from PR’s 1296 and the red book. And whoever said the difference between a 32 and 35 is insignificant is off base. There’s a big difference between the two, especially if you’re applying to top schools.</p>