<p>So I am a high school senior next year and this is my last shot of doing well on standardized testing. I did horrible on the SATs and look to do well on the ACTs. I have taken some practice tests and have done relatively well, but I am somewhat inconsistent. If you got a 36 on the ACT on ANY section, what would you recommend I do to do just as well? I am taking it in two weeks so it is lockdown time!</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Study. There’s nothing else to it.</p>
<p>study your butt off… and you probably still won’t get a 36</p>
<p>Very carefully.</p>
<p>Jokes. Well I’ve never gotten a 36 but I have come close, with a 35 English and 34 Reading. It’ll be really hard unless you are either (a) REALLY dedicated or (b) Naturally talented in the subject area (and even then it will take a lot of work). The best tip is just to study and test yourself with practice tests to keep track of your progress.</p>
<p>I have a 33 Composite, and I’m taking it again in September hoping for a 34 or 35 Composite, by the way. (Although I haven’t started studying yet so that probably won’t happen. lol)</p>
<p>Im trying to get a 35 and 34 for english and reading! How did you achieve that??</p>
<p>English is probably the easier of those two to prep for. You really need to study/learn your comma, semicolon, colon, sentence structure, and grammar rules. ACT English differs from SAT Writing by mainly focusing on precise rules, instead of asking you to rewrite or reword sentences. The more you understand about punctuation and sentence structure, the better you will do.</p>
<p>I have a 36 on the reading and the way I studied for it was…reading. Seriously. It helps. </p>
<p>What amazes me is how people struggle on English/reading cause I struggle with math and science (low thirties on both). Any suggestions for those particular areas?</p>
<p>Math is pretty easy. Just study Geometry and Algebra 2. Learn the trig identities.</p>
<p>Science is annoying…</p>
<p>I got a 35 in English and Math with very little practice. I found English extremely easy because I was a copy editor for the school newspaper, so grammar is my forte. The only one(s) I probably missed were the ones worded “If you took x sentence out of the paragraph, would you still get the same general meaning?” Honestly, 95% of the time that’s opinion. </p>
<p>And with math, the ones that seem really complex can sometimes be solved through common sense. I only guessed on one math problem involving complex roots; it was just an unfair questions in general. If you really want a 36 in math, you’re going to need a natural tallent; studying won’t cut it.</p>
<p>Science is pretty tricky to get a 36 on in my opinion. Just make sure you practice so you know how to pace yourself.</p>
<p>I like ACT English better than SAT English because I’m better with stuff like its and it’s and their and they’re than things like lie and lay.</p>
<p>You won’t get a 36.</p>
<p>I got a 36 in Math. I say that you do a LOT of practice problems. Don’t be afraid to do problems that are a lot harder because that will later help you.</p>
<p>I really need help with reading and science…any tips?</p>
<p>For science, always read the questions first. With some problems, you’ll realize that you need to actually go back and read the text, but quite a few are just “copy-and-paste” straight from a chart or graph.</p>
<p>For reading, I choose to quickly read the passage first, and then answer the questions. Develop good “skimming” skills by reading newspapers, magazines articles, etc. As you’re reading, challenge yourself to mentally churn through the material while picking up the pace. Practice is really the only way to get better at either section.</p>
<p>I got in the 34-36 range in every subject. The best advice really is to study until you can “master” the test. ACT throws so many tricks at you, you have to take a lot of practice tests to figure them out…</p>
<p>That being said, a few things I’ve learned about the ACT:</p>
<p>English: The grammar rules can all be realistically learned if you really want ace this section. Some punctuation indicates a continuing sentence (comma) while others are “stop punctuation” (period) - make sure you learn the uses of all punctuation! Beyond that, if you’re between two answers a good rule of thumb is to pick the answer that is shortest/least complicated. Make sure your answer choice is always complete (a complete thought), clear (clear who the pronoun is referring to, etc.), consistent (consistent verb tenses), and concise.</p>
<p>Math: Make sure to review not only trigonometry problems, but also pre-/elementary algebra problems. Learn how to tackle the different types of math problems ACT asks about - they’re typically very similar from test to test. If you don’t know how to do a certain type of problem, see your math teacher for help. Move fast through problems 1-30. Ideally they should take you about 15 minutes. Questions get harder as you go. If you don’t know how to do a problem, don’t waste time trying to figure it out unless you’ve done every other problem you know how. </p>
<p>Reading: This one seems like its hit or miss for people. Biggest piece of advice: Recognize that ACT has to be able to defend their answers in a court of law. Literally. If you’re between two good answers find out why one is wrong by finding concrete information in the passage. (Note of caution - often they use some of the exact words in the passage as they do in the WRONG answer choice, and they change the environment around the phrase by making it negative/positive/etc. and you miss that because you are looking for the words. The words will not always be the same, but they will always mean the same.) Also, don’t pick an answer choice that could be seen as offensive (ex: b) Sally couldn’t sell sea shells as well as her brother because she was a girl.) , it’s almost always the wrong answer. make sure you practice reading fast!!!</p>
<p>Science: There are so many trick questions in the science section. Make sure you read the questions carefully so you know exactly what they are asking. Never read the experiment blurbs unless you completely don’t understand the experiment, and even before that I would skip it and come back to it later and try it again. Once you get past the initial confusion of the science section, you will be able to look at with a more objective mind. Practice makes perfect. </p>
<p>*Mark up your test book! Cross out answers, underline, circle - be an active test taker!
*When guessing, pick a letter of the day. You’re bound to get 20-25% right!</p>
<p>P.S. I’m no expert, those are just things that have helped me… Good Luck :)</p>
<p>ACT English and Reading are pretty easy for me. Math is really easy except for the tough Algebra 2 questions(the trig is REALLY basic). Science is hard.</p>
<p>any tricks I should look out for while Im taking the test? Also, how is the essay graded?</p>
<p>Program formulas into your TI-83 for the math section. To learn how to do it, google it. It really helps!!!</p>
<p>Every ACT math section has a distance formula, and if you can use your calculator program, you can save around 30 seconds just for that problem.</p>
<p>Every bit counts.</p>