For any of the people who have scored a 34 or higher on the act, I have some questions for you:
What method do you use?
Are you generally a good reader? (Speed, comprehension, etc.)
How can I improve from a 27?
How many books should I read to increse my score in 2 months?
Information about me: The only thing that kept me from getting a 30 (I know this is probably really low for all you CC-ers) on this ACT was the reading. So now I have to agian study and retake in Septemeber. I’m very thankful for you response because it means a lot!
I got a 34. I read the whole passage and underlined important parts of it. Also, try to remain engaged in what you are reading, it helps. My April reading score was 26. My June score was 34. You can do it.
I got a 36 on the June’s test. Although I generally am a good reader, I do not think that that was what helped me get such a high score (since at the very beginning of my test prep I used to have high 20’s in Reading on the practice tests, and that was in late March). To my mind, the biggest thing that helped me also was underlining the phrases and sentences that I found the most important. This “active” reading helped me retain more information, so I didn’t have to constantly go back and forth between the questions and the passage.
Also, I think that instead of reading books, you should do more practice tests. Figure out which types of passages are the worst for you (where you make the most mistakes, that is), and work on those. I’ve always been pretty good with everything except Prose Fiction, so I devoted A LOT of time to just doing all of the Prose Fiction passages I could find on the internet (however, do not completely neglect doing the types that you’re good with, or the scores on them may drop). I think that after doing so many passages of the same type, you kind of already have a feeling of what’s important and thus should be underlined, what’s the tone of the passage, what’s implied, and so on. It is also definitely possible to improve your scores in just two months, so good luck with your studies!
@aposnova Thank you soooooooo much. This is really helpful. I ask have to most trouble with the pros passages. Where could I find more of them? And I will defiantly try some of things that you have said
Sorry for all the typos, my keyboard is sticky, it should be this:
" Thank you soooooooo much. This is really helpful. I also have the most trouble with the pros passages. Where could I find more of them? And I will definitely try some of things that you have said"
@16jpatel I really hope I’m not violating any of the website’s rules by posting this link: http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/
It has some of the previously administered tests and about 30 passages besides that.
The reading section is pretty similar to science. Many people skip right to the questions and don’t read the passage in science, and I would suggest doing the same thing for reading. Don’t waste time reading the boring and useless reading passage. This technique is great! The first 30 times you try it, you may get some scores of 6 or 7, but once you get good at it, you’ll have a 36. I guarantee it.
I got a 36 on the reading section for the ACT. One method is to skip the type of passage you have trouble with (such as prose) and save it until last. In general, a good way to time the reading section is to spend the first minute previewing the questions, two and a half minutes reading the passage, and 5:15 answering the question. If you do this for each passage, you should be able to finish in time.
Additionally, when you are reading the passage, you should keep in mind some of the key phrases that you saw from previewing the questions and box it off. This will help a lot when answering the questions. If you look for “areas,” you won’t actually need to spend a lot of time reading. Also, it is a good idea to spend time reading the topic sentence and conclusion of each paragraph as well in order to get a sense of what the passage is about.
Remember, you don’t have to answer the questions in order. So if you see a “main idea” type of question, you can skip it and answer it last, when you have a better understanding of the passage. Do a lot of practice passages. Hope that helps!
@elphiew thanks soo much I will definitely use try out your method. I feel like it well be great when I get the hang of it but the only the thing is that it takes me more than 2 and a half minutes to read the passage.
I was in a situation similar to you, on my PLAN I got ~21 on my reading, and on my first ACT I got 31 on the section. What I did was I changed how I read the passages, instead of reading full passages and answering the question, I read parts of the passage and then answered the questions pertaining to the part. For the questions pertaining to the full passage I’d do what elphiew did. It helped me retain information that I would forget easily and let me score 36 on reading in June.
