<p>I am going to be taking the ACT on June 14.</p>
<p>I have taken numerous practice tests from The Real Act Prep Guide and from a Princeton Review book.
I can never do better than a 30. </p>
<p>I am a 4.0 student, and I do very well in my honors and AP Classes. I just finished my sophomore year.
I make the dumbest little mistakes on the math section. I get stuck on questions in the reading and science sections. I accidentally mark the wrong answers on the English section.
I just want to give up. </p>
<p>On the last practice test I took, I got a 34 on the English, a 30 on the Math, a 29 on the Reading and a 29 on the Science. 30.5 = 31 composite.</p>
<p>Let's just say I make a 30 on the real thing.... is this good enough? Should I just stop stressing over this? Should I just enjoy my summer vacation? What can I do to get better?</p>
<p>I know people who are not geniuses who made 34s and 35s on the ACT. I know that I am being a little bit dramatic.. but I just want to cry. </p>
<p>If I could go to any college, I would want to go to Stanford. I am pretty sure that I am not going to get into Stanford, so I am not going worry about that. I would really like to attend the University of Southern California. Would a 30 be good enough for that school? </p>
<p>Does anyone have any quick tips for me? I would do anything to get a 33. </p>
<p>P.S. I took the ACT during my freshman year. I did not realize how bad the time limits were, and so I did not finish the reading or science tests. I had not been taught a lot of the math concepts either. I made a 25.</p>
<p>P.S.S. Is the Plan test a legitimate indicator what you will make on the ACT? I took it, and I made a perfect score on the reading. The time limits did not seem as bad, and the questions seemed easier.</p>
<p>I feel you! I made 31’s on the past 4 practice tests I took, and scored a 30.25 on the actual test which rounded down to a 30! I want to go to Stanford too! That’s the only thing holding me back on my application.</p>
<p>I think with greater experience and greater preparation comes with better results. Let’s put it this way. In eighth grade, I took my first SAT (I had that type of parents) and I ad very little idea of the structure or time restraints. I got a 1600 something. Two years ago when I took my actual SAT for colleges after preparing I was able to get a 2200+ So the point is, don’t let your previous marks freshman year get you down. While it is always good to score high on standarized test, it is not the end of the world.</p>
<p>Do your best and study hard until the test, and then let all that energy flow into the test. Don’t stress about it the few days before because you will have done the best you can to prepare. After that, all you have to do is take your knowledge and pay attention to timing (something you learned from last time) I’m afraid I don’t know much about the ACTs in particular, but that is my standardized testing spheal.</p>
<p>Having you taken precalc (or maybe trig) or self-taught precalc? Because you may have not been exposed to the material and therefore when you learn more math you will do better. I got a 34 on the math section. You need a calculator (preferably graphing). Practice makes perfect! There are so many free resources (especially for math). Take a test and then study how to get the question right next time.</p>
<p>The math part is not the part that I need help with. Math is my strongest subject. It is the science and the reading that are killing me. Anyway, thanks for all of the advice. I am just going to keep on practicing until the 13th. </p>
<p>For reading what I do is I read the passage slow enough to understand it but fast enough to get done Try to read the passages your strongest in (Pose fiction, for example) in 3 minutes and answer questions in 5 minutes. Also mark info you see that you think may come back.</p>
<p>Science is very inconsistant. One test It’s super easy, another its ridiculously hard. I useually ignore the pasages and go to the questions, except on the conflicting viewpoints. Determine which parts of the science you are strongest at and so those first. This will leave you enough time to understand the part that is confusing you.</p>
<p>I just finished taking another practice Science test… the thing you just said about some tests being easy and others being hard is spot on. The test that I took earlier today was so simply, and the one I just took 20 minutes ago was ridiculous. </p>
<p>I know that I can do well on the reading.
HOWEVER, I am 100% that I will flunk the science part. </p>
<p>I really want to skip the ACT on June 14th. What happens if I skip it and just wait until September? I will feel really bad that I wasted the money, but I still feel like I need to wait longer. </p>
<p>I just realized something. I took the Plan test this Spring and it predicted that I would make a 29-33 on the Real Act. I got a perfect score on the Reading section, and I did pretty well on all of the sections…MY REVELATION:</p>
<p>I do better when I don’t stress. I get extremely anxious when it comes to anything that affects my academics. When I took the Plan test, I did not care because I knew that it did not count for anything. </p>
<p>If you don’t mind telling me, what are you practicing out of that had the ridiculous science because the way I learned that was Science of Test 4 in the Red Book. I was cruzing till I hit that joker. Ouch ? Also from what I’ve seen the PLAN is almost right but scores just a little low. I’m predicted right now from 24-28 and I’ve been getting a 28 on practice. (Although I could get in the 30’s if my frickin Math didn’t suck)</p>
You mentioned you just finished Sophomore year. Is there a reason that you are rushing this? I would recommend taking in October, and then again in April of your junior year. You will benefit from the extra math (even it is one of your strong subjects, clearly you will learn more math concepts as you move through school, and possibly have the ability to raise your math score significantly), as well as have more time to practice the Reading and Science.<br>
Please don’t be discouraged, a 30 is a good score. Is it good enough for Stanford? In all honesty, probably not–but if it is any consolation to you–there are thousands of students with 33+ that will not get into Stanford either. I don’t know bout USC, but there are lots of great schools to choose from with a 30/31. Even though it might not seem that way on CC.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you. A 30 as a sophomore is a good score.</p>