<p>Let me start with my latest score on the June 8th ACT.
Composite: 27
English: 30
Math: 33
Science: 25
Reading: 21</p>
<p>From the English and math sections, you can see that I'm not dumb. I get good scores. I just need some strategies to improve my other scores and overall composite. I hope you see that my science and reading upset the composite score. For some reason, I do really poorly.</p>
<p>Here are somethings that get me on the science and reading sections:
-not enough time (this is probably the biggest issue, because for the other two sections I always have plenty of time and some leftover)
-I guess a lot and its wrong (I am constantly guessing and I usually only get a couple of those right)</p>
<p>If you don't know how you can help me, could you please tell me you strategy if you got a good score? (i.e. read questions first, read passage first, do prose fiction first, etc.)</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I was in a similar situation with reading. I understand your situation completely.</p>
<p>A strategy that has consistently worked for me is to start with the natural science passage and work backwards.
For each passage, try to read half of the passage in 2 minutes then go to the questions. Answer as many as possible in 2 minutes and then return to the passage. Read the second half of the passage and answer the remaining questions.
Read carefully with a mission. Don’t read aimlessly. When your read in each 2 minute period really focus in on what the passage has to say. </p>
<p>The reason this method works for me is that I have trouble comprehending the ENTIRE passage. So cutting the passage in half, I am able to really focus in on the material in a timely manner. When you go to the questions after reading the first half, you get an idea of what to look for when you begin to read the second half. After reading the second half you can justify the questions that you answered previously. This method WORKS, especially for slow readers like me. Don’t be discouraged and keep practicing! You will get that score with persistence!</p>
<p>Same situation here too. June ACT composite was 31, with M and E both being 34 whereas R and S being 27 and 29 respectively.</p>
<p>My scores were not phenomenal (33 comp, 34 science) but I may be able to help with the science section somewhat.
In the third or so week of school, my honors chemistry teacher gave out an ACT practice science test. I got a 26, which I was fairly happy with. She then showed us how she would answer the questions. She pulled out another practice test that she said she had never seen before and answered all of them perfectly within my attention span (which is never longer than around 5 minutes haha).
Her advice to her students, all of us now slowly picking up our jaws in disbelief, was to practice going through the articles and matching words in the passage, study, etc, with the words in the answers. She did this, underlining as she went, before she answered or read anything and it is what made her so efficient in answering.</p>
<p>julianstanley – that is interesting. Could you explain a little more in depth how she decided which words she focused on as she read? Or what exactly did she do? Thanks – and I do believe that your score is phenomenal. Congratulations!</p>