Thus far I have taken the ACT twice, each time I scored a 22. On average I did a point better for each subject my second time but my science decreased so much that my composite was left unchanged. I went through the entire the real ACT prep book and only averaged about a 1 point increase for each subject. I am signed up for the September ACT which means I have one month to study. I am in a 2 day a week prep class, but after a class or two I don’t feel that it’s going to be very helpful… I need a mirical… To avoid insane college debt I need I am really hoping for a 27… If anyone could give me advice on how to study I would appreciate it! My worst subjects are reading and science.
Do you go over the problems you missed?
@kassh4 Yes, I go over them and make sure I understand what I missed. Most of the time I am always able to recognize the mistakes immediately, and it usually comes back to me missing something through reading too fast, or carelessness because I am rushing.
My kids say that the key to both the reading and science tests is to read the questions and possible answers first.
What is the issue…mistakes or running out of time? Is there sections you struggle with more than others?
Do not read the passages in the science section. Go directly to the problems, and refer to the graphs for answers. Science section is mostly fact-searching. There are one or two problems that refer to the passage, so read it if you must.
On the reading section, read the passage first. Move your pencil across the line as you read. Then, answer the problems. Refer back to specified paragraph / line on those questions.
Read some blog posts on strategy. Then, do some practice, starting with one section at a time. Review your mistakes, but then come up with ways that you will never make the same mistake again. For example, I had this issue in Reading where I’d stretch an answer to be true in my head when there clearly was a better answer I didn’t notice. So, from that point on, if an answer didn’t perfectly fit the question, I immediately eliminated that choice and moved on. Overtime, I learned to trust my gut on this. This worked for me, but it might not work for you. That’s the point: you need to personalize test strageties to your own needs.
Experiment with strategies until you are getting the scores you want. If you need content review, do that as well.
@suzyQ7 I thought my issue was that I run out of time because I rush and then I make mistakes… However I have tried the strategy of only answering 3 passages and answering those correctly instead of rushing over everything, and I still scores around the same if not a little worse.