My score from the June ACT was a 33. I got a 30 in English, 35 Math, 33 Reading, and a 33 Science. I’ve taken four practice tests and I’ve always gotten 6~7 questions wrong on the English section. I’m always chased by time with only 10 minutes left when I’m still stuck on ~Q.62. Everyone else I know finishes with time to spare. What can I do to raise my English score?
This is honestly a better problem than what most people face. Instead of taking practice tests, you should take solely the english section until your score is what you want. This will continue to keep your score down and you will not be able to get anything higher until you address this problem. I would recommend taking the practice sections timed, but when your time runs out you stop the timer but still finish your problems. See how much more time you would have needed and what questions took you so long. See what you got wrong, why you got it wrong, and why the questions that took you so long are so hard for you. Good Luck
I’ll try that, thanks!
I use to score 30-31 on the English and that’s what I scored on the June ACT. I started taking English practice tests and it finally clicked with me. I hardly miss a question now. I recommend doing the same. Be brutal with your mistakes and really try to understand why you are making them. There’s so many opinions on the “best” strageties. You need to find what works for you. But if you want to know my approach, here it is:
- I read through the passages quickly, answering questions as efficiently as possible. You don't need a thorough understanding of the passage like Reading. You just need the basic idea. For me, I skim through parts I deem unimportant and read more in depth when there's a specific rhetorical question. If I need to go back and read again, I do that, but then I circle the question, so I can come back a 2nd time to check.
- For use and mechanic questions I always just pick the most concise, precise, and overall best sounding answer. Also, the answer will always be in the active voice. If you need to review comma rules or other nit picky grammar rules, do that.
- For the trickier rhetorical questions I normally will eliminate 3 answer choices instead of choosing one.
- I move quickly through this section, but not so fast that I'm going to make careless mistakes. I used to finish 25 minutes left, but that was too fast. I made too many mistakes. I set the goal to finish with 15 minutes left and to go through the whole test again, but I don't read the passages this time. I just gloss over to make sure I had the right answer on most questions. Then, I spend the majority of my time going back to the questions I skipped/was unsure about.
- For questions I'm unsure about, I eliminate answer choices before moving on. At least one or two. It helps when I come back to the question. However, I have found that when I start eliminating answer choices it doesn't take long before I get an answer.
Like I said before, having these things in mind helps me, but you really need to figure out what helps you. I never had the issue with time. I always had too much time and I learned to slow down. Just take an English practice test, review your mistakes, try to understand why you made mistakes, and then handwrite your strageties for the next one. Then, repeat until you get a perfect score. 
Just wanted to say that after all these tips, I did indeed score a 35 composite!! Thanks.