<p>I'm relativity new to CC as a user but know my way around the site as a spectator.
My question is have any of you significantly raised your ACT reading score and if so how?</p>
<p>I've been taking a few practice tests from Barron's 6 ACT tests (which I've heard are harder than the real deal) and here are my scores:</p>
<p>Practice Test 1
ENG-32
MATH-31
READ-24
SCI-30
Comp=29</p>
<p>Practice Test 2
ENG-33
MATH-32
READ-26
SCI-27
Comp=30</p>
<p>Practice Test 3
ENG-33
MATH-34
READ-23
SCI-35 (I got 39/40!)
Comp=31</p>
<p>I took the act last year and got a 30 composite due to a 24 in reading, all else way 30+.
Any suggestions on how to raise my Reading score? I would really like to get a 36-34 on my next ACT and with these practices that seems far off. Any experienced help would be greatly appreciated! I'm taking a full course in English and have been for the past 2 years at my local college; suspecting a minor sometime by senior year. So I know I'm a good reader but the my strategy for these questions must be messed up because it seems that I nearly ace Social Science and Natural Science ( around -1 each) then I have only 16-18 minutes left, I panic, start the Humanities and get around -4 and with only 5 minutes to do the final prose (which for me is SUPER difficult) I get around -6. This results in around 25 on the reading section. My ideal score to get a 35 would be:</p>
<p>Hiya,
I got a 35 on reading, and i just followed these general guidelines:
read. ALOT. make sure you’re constantly reading books.
be careful on the test. read the questions first, then scan the story and take out the easy problems with a cursory glance. Then, look at your remaining questions and find where they relate to ; sometimes, you just have to read the whole thing :C
Goodluck!</p>
<p>I tried out your method a bit and mixed it around with my style. I’m going to take one more big practice tonight before my exam tomorrow. The thing is that I did a Princeton Review practice test and I got a 33 in reading. I don’t know if this is just because Barron’s is so much harder or the selections I got were just really easy. Anyways, thanks. If you have any suggestions for what types of books I should be reading, that would be appreciative. I’m reading a couple of NY Bestsellers with little literary value but I’ve chosen to also read a couple of books my old AP class never got to: 1984, Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Moby Dick, Ulysses,etc. I’ll see if I can get these books under my belt before the next testing. </p>
<p>you should read the great gatsby, the kite runner, their eyes were watching god. these books highlights key social issues that could be discussed in your writing.</p>
<p>Oh, thanks. I’m already set for writing. I’ve taken Brit Lit and American Lit at my local university so I’ve read a lot…which is why I was so concerned about reading. My writing is fine.</p>
<p>One of my highest scoring students would Read the 1st paragraph and last paragraph in entirety, and ready only the first and last sentence of each paragraph in between. When a question would ask about specifics, she would then read the relevant parts of the passage. She would consistently score in the 33+.</p>
<p>This is a very hard strategy to master though, and requires practice. It does not work for everybody.</p>
<p>When I take the test, I skim as quickly as I can to get a general idea of key points, while marking up the passage. I go back to read in depth only when a question requires me to do so. This technique has worked for me.</p>
<p>I got a 35 on my reading as well. My strategy is skim the passages as quick as you can, answer the questions you are able to, then go back to specific parts of the passage to answer the other questions. You have to be able to skim without getting caught up in the plot or anything, just reading for general characters, major facts or events, etc</p>
<p>i got a 36 on reading. i always read the questions first, then found the answer in the passage
to be honest i didnt study at all for the ACT, but did a lot of practice for the SAT. it seems like most people have issues with timing, so i would say just practice a lot with real timing and eventually youll get it</p>
<p>I also got a 36 on reading-
It might sound weird, but practice the SAT CR passages in addition to the ACT reading passages. The SAT is harder (I only got a 770), so this will help.</p>
<p>For pacing, read the first paragraph and the first sentences of each paragraph carefully, and skim the rest.</p>
<p>So I got my march results back and they weren’t so hot.
Composite : 30
English: 28
Math: 33
Reading : 24
Science: 34
Writing: 12/12</p>
<p>So I know I am a really good writer but I was surprised to have gotten below 30 on the English section. Any suggestions for reading? It always seems to bog me down.
I ended up having 5 minutes left for the last passage in the test which is probably why I did so bad.</p>
<p>For me, what works best is to read the passage at first, and then answer the questions in order from easiest to hardest. As you answer the questions, re-read applicable sections of the passage, being sure not to miss information earlier or later on than that particular section. When you approach the section on the test, clear your head of your other thoughts, and really focus on the passage. Good luck!</p>
<p>constant 35/36 on reading here
To me, it’s best to spend 4.5 mins carefully reading the passage and fly through the questions （this requires a good memory so its not suitable for everyone).</p>
<p>Practice reading a lot. You have to make sure you’re fast enough for the ACT.
Study old ACT tests for types of questions. If you study the exams carefully, you will get a great idea of what to expect.
Always predict an answer to a question and then look for what wrong with each answer choice. Note: many students don’t predict and try to identify the correct answer. That’s a bad idea.
Finally, reading takes a lot more effort to improve than the other sections. Be patient.</p>
<p>So I took another practice test and my score improved a bit but not overall:
English: 27
Math: 35
Reading: 29
Science: 27
Any suggestions? I’m wondering why my scores are bouncing around so much</p>
<p>I am an ACT Prep Reading instructor, and I always encourage students to do the passages in order from easiest to hardest. Do the passage you believe to be the easiest first, and so on. I also teach the students to skip the general questions (purpose of the passage, etc.) until the other questions from that particular passage are answered.</p>