How should I prep for the ACT?

Test Preparation ACT Preparation
1

<p>I'm a current junior and after receiving my PLAN scores last year, my parents and I unanimously agreed that I should take the ACT, so I've signed up for the October test. I haven't done much prep at this point aside from a few diagnostic tests, and I was wondering how best to approach preparing. I know that there are plenty of tried and true tutoring services and books, but I'm hoping I can get some advice from people who have personal experience taking the test from the predicted score ranges I'm in, so here's a little background information as to where I stand.</p>

<ul>
<li>My PLAN predicted ACT score was 33 - 35, and that was with the Reading section curved down (I received a 30/32 on the PLAN English whilst missing zero)</li>
<li>In the two practice tests that I've taken + the PLAN, I've consistently scored 35-36E, 36R, 35-36M, and 33-35S (or equivalent scores in the case of the PLAN). </li>
<li>Science is generally the low point--I did rather poorly in bio my freshman year and I think I have some straight up gaps in my knowledge.</li>
<li>I want a 36 composite. I know this seems rather pedantic, but my GPA isn't as hot as I'd like it to be (~3.8ish excluding freshman year, ~3.5ish with freshman year) and I think having a 36 give me a slight leg up that i otherwise wouldn't have). </li>
</ul>

<p>So basically that's it. I'm looking for prep materials and suggestions to gain a greater degree of consistency in getting 36E and 36M, since the difference between 35 and 36 at this point seems to be a combination of luck and how tired I am when taking the test, as well as suggestions on picking up one or two points in science. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>First off, science isn’t really about science so much as it is about reading comprehension and table/figure reading. So a few pieces of concrete advice:</p>

<ul>
<li>Don’t be intimidated by the ‘science’ title, you don’t need a lot of scientific knowledge to do well.</li>
<li>Practice, practice, practice. Take all of the science practice exams from the red book and the 5 other former exams that are available <a href=“http://bestactprep.org/printable-act-practice-test-pdf/”>1</a>.</li>
<li>Think deeply about the questions you miss. You are only missing a few, so you need to squeeze all of the improvement you can out of them. Try to think of as many reasons as you can why you missed the problems you missed. You should generally be able to identify multiple mistakes. That is there are multiple mental habits that you could have practiced to avoid making the mistake you did (e.g. skimming the passage faster, reading all of the possible answers, asking why a question seemed easy, etc.).</li>
</ul>

<p>You are already in great shape and have a good attitude. Good luck!</p>