I currently have a 31-32 and would love to raise it to the 33-34 range. For those of you who did it, how did you do it? I find myself making petty mistakes, and I would love to prevent that. I’ve been practicing for months.
bump
How exactly are you practicing?
@violingirl15 I do multiple practice sections on the parts that I struggle in and review the answers, and I also occasionally do an entire practice test at once
What are your scores on each subsection? Do you have a particular weakness/strength?
I do much better on the English and Reading sections than the Math and Science Sections. My averages are about:
E: 33
R: 34
M: 31
S: 30
My observations is that especially for the Math section, I’m perfectly fine with all of the questions until it gets to the last 10-15 questions. The problem is, when I review the concepts in practice math workbooks such as Richard Korn’s Guide to ACT Math, I think that I actually know all of the concepts but just lack a problem solving mentality. How do I fix this?
For science I just struggle in general; a lot of the times I’m super confused on what the passages are even about.
I went 31 to 34 without practice. It’s not very difficult.
Okay, here are a few suggestions:
-For the math section, the key is more practice. Get used to the tricky problems, and don’t immediately give up on a question if it doesn’t make sense. Take some out of context (no time limit) and just keep going at them until you get the right answer. Only use the answer key to help you along in your work; don’t rely on it for the right answers. I recommend Princeton Review’s ACT prep book for strategies.
-For the science section, it is important to recognize that you DON’T NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE PASSAGE. Unlike the reading section, most questions can be answered with little to no context. If you know how to draw information out of a graph and scan paragraphs for key information, you are good to go. When I did the science section, I did not read the passages at all, but rather went straight to the questions, only going back to the passages if there were questions about the nature of the experiment itself. (This does not apply for conflicting viewpoints passages, which I treated as a reading section passage). Of course, you may have a better strategy for yourself, but this one helped me earn a 36 in science.
@Hermit9 It’s pretty difficult for me to raise my score, and I practice. Nice job on that 34. @violingirl15 thanks so much!! How did you manage to finish Science btw? That’s also a problem that I have.
science was also my toughest section. the trick, however, is to read the questions first then answer the questions. also, the passages are in increasing difficulty. the first two-three passages should be taking you from 2-3 minutes each, the last few 5-7 each (went from 31-34 in science section in 3 practice tests)
I was able to finish by skipping over the passages. I just read the questions then scanned the section for information that would help; getting bogged down by details in the passage is the biggest mistake in my opinion.
Just to give a little help to folks in regards to science, I have one strategy that might help some of you. You always here people say “go straight to the questions.” I used to follow this strategy. On my first science section of the October ACT using this method, I got myself a 24. I was pretty bummed. Then when I went to practice tests, I started doing something that started bringing me to the 28-30 range. All I do is one simple trick:
Before going to the science questions, read the first sentence OR TWO of the passage. This ten second extra changed everything for me. With just a slight hint of basic context, my scores started booming. On this last December ACT, I got a 31 on science. While my other scores improved slightly- English by 2, reading by 3, and math by 2- science was a full 7 point boost.
I went from a 30 composite in June to a 33 composite in october.
In science I went from 29 to 34. The trick? I simply didn’t read the passages the second time (except for the conflicting viewpoints). Try it out! It honestly makes science sooooo easy; I was surprised I got 34 because I thought I aced it
“E: 33, R: 34, M: 31, S: 30”
Right now, you’re at 32.0, which means you only need to raise 2 more subscore points to get a 32.5 which rounds up to 33. You’d need 6 more subscore points to get a 34. So focus on the lowest subscores first, since it’s much easier to go from 30 to 32 on Science, than from 34 to 36 on Reading.
PLEASE !!! I need some specific suggestions.
I am a high school junior and gave ACT for the first time in Dec 2015. Got the results back at 32 (E35;M33;R30;S30;W32) Need to improve Reading and Science big time. Have been practicing for a while now and still make mistakes - for Reading get confused between 2 answers and second guess myself. Have practiced from a bunch of books/class room practice/tutoring. Class courses are very basic and boring and waste time and do not contribute to where I need help. Want to give the Apr ACT as I don’t want to join a another bandwagon of redesigned SAT this spring. Counselor suggests Applerouth tutoring and they are pricey. Please ANY suggestions from someone who overcame Reading and Science mistakes. I need a minimum 34 for the college I want to attend.
Thanks for all of the helpful information!!
@2jae7jbyj I have the same problem Theoretically, I should be scoring a 36 on math I memorized all the concepts in Richard f. Corns Ultimate guide to Math ACT. However, I lacked the problem-solving ability to bring me in the the upper-echelon on math scores. We need to find a solution.
@2jae7jbyj Hey I just took a practice math exam and i got a 36 (-0). Math used to be a mid twenty subject for me keep using the book: Ultimate Guide to Richard F. Corn. Watch a few YouTube videos on vertical and horizontal asymptotes, rhombi, and derivatives. Correct what you get wrong. Eventually, you will improve on your problem solving abilities. I realized for the last 15 questions the act will try to trick you, so usually it is the less conspicuous answer is correct. :-B
It depends on the specific breakdown of your score. If you’re 25/36/36/36, picking up one section can lead to huge increases pretty easily. Getting a few more questions right has a large impact on score. If you’re 34 across the board, then it may be more difficult. It appears generally also that english/math is easier to improve than reading comprehension.
update: I followed the advice posted on here and I was able to raise my score by 2 points! Thanks guys 