<p>...what test skills did you use? I will be taking the ACT on September, and I think it might help to know how others tackled it.</p>
<p>I got a 30. Go with your instinct. Do not overthink anything… if you are unsure about a question, get back to it later. Also, work as fast as possible. I check the clock on english passage about every 2 passages… math, at around 30 question mark and 45 question mark. then i decide on time (math = rarely time issue for me.) reading, I check every pasasge or every other passage… science, about every 2 passages. AKA, just use time management that suits you.</p>
<p>Those are good tips. In my opinion, the most difficult part of the test is pacing yourself so that you do not run out of time.</p>
<p>absolutely. i did bot so good on the science section this june because i ran out of time.</p>
<p>I got a 32. The BIGGEST thing about the ACT is that you to move. It’s fast paced and when you dwell over one question for too long you end up over thinking it or running out of time.</p>
<p>For the math, don’t overthink anything. That’s really all the advice I can give, math just comes easy to me (at least on standardized tests). Both times I took it I got a 36. Just don’t make any silly mistakes. (Easier said than done, I know. Just work carefully.)</p>
<p>For the science, I didn’t read the experiments. I read the question, referred to the experiment, and answered it. It seemed to work; I got a 35 on the science section. I found that the first time I took it, reading the experiments made me confused. </p>
<p>Overall, work quickly and carefully. If you don’t have time to answer a problem, or really have no idea, just guess. Time management is huge. Good luck!</p>
<p>I got a 31.</p>
<p>For english, always choose the most concise answer. The first time I took the ACT I made the mistake of choosing wordy answers that were grammatically correct and ended up with a 26 in that section. The second time around after figuring this out, I got a 35. Time management: 9 minutes per passage.</p>
<p>For math…I don’t really have any tips, hahaha. Just don’t get too hung up on any one question, because they’re all of the same value. If you don’t know an answer, make an educated guess, and circle the number of the problem on your scantron so if you have time you can come back to it, but if you don’t you at least have an answer bubbled in. Also, be familiar with everything having to do with triangles. The ACT loves triangles.
Time management: Try to do the first 30 in 23 minutes or less. That gives you more time for the harder questions that require more time.</p>
<p>For reading, read the passage CAREFULLY and answer questions. I’m useless if I read the question in 2-3 minutes, because I don’t take anything in. I read the passage in about 4 minutes, retain the information, and save time because I don’t have to go back to the passage for most of the questions. Make sure as you’re reading to look out for the main ideas, because that’s what the majority of the questions are looking for. Oh, and most (if not all) of the answers are mentioned in the passage. You don’t have to infer much of anything. Do the passages you’re best at first, too.
Time management: Give yourself about 8.5 minutes per passage.</p>
<p>For science, I go straight to the questions. If they say “in figure one,” I stop reading it and put my finger on figure one. Then I just keep placing my finger on what the question is asking, that way when I’ve fully read the question, my finger is pretty much on the answer. The science section doesn’t try to trick you like the math section as far as answer choices. There’s only one logical answer. Once you find it, mark it and move on. You don’t have to read all the answer choices. And I only scan the information if a question is asking something that’s clearly not on the graphs or tables. Also, you HAVE to read the info for the opposing viewpoints section, and I usually skip that section and save it for last because it’s my worst.
Time management: Number of questions in the passage minus 1 = the amount of minutes to spend on that passage. (4 mins for the sections with 5 questions, 5 minutes for the sections with 6 questions, and 6 minutes for the section with 7 questions.)</p>
<p>I can vouch for Cameron12, I brought a giant can of Monster… Makes you so jittery as hell.</p>
<p>I got a 35!!!</p>
<p>What really helped was pacing myself and learned to work fast but still efficiently! Do that by doing pract problems, particularly in your weak subjects. And PACE YOURSELF on reading.</p>
<p>I got a 32 (kind of bombed it =/ )… anyways on the math I double check the questions on the spot to make sure I didnt make too many mistakes. For reading, I read the passage as fast as I could and just answered the questions. For science, I went in order starting with passages with 5 questions, then ones with 6, and then the one with 7. Remember to get a lot of practice before u take it in September. Good luck on the 30!!</p>
<p>I got a 27 (24 english, 30 math, 27 reading, 25 science) on April without any prep or practice tests. To prepare for my June test I simply went through my April test looking at everything I got wrong, seeing what the right answer was, and correcting my test. In addition I went through the first half of the strats in the real act red book, although I only got through math and english. </p>
<p>With that little prep I was able to score a 31 (29 english, 29 math, 32 reading, 32 science). All you really have to do is read the questions carefully and correct the stupid mistake you made the first time around. Hope I helped a little bit. You should for sure order your score report and go over your mistakes when you take it, good luck!</p>
<p>I got a 31 and I barely studied. Oddly enough, I thought I did terrible on the math section and it ended up being my highest with a 33, even though I guessed on the last 7ish questions. Advice? I read the questions first on the science section and I got a 31 on that. Other than that, just get a good amount of sleep! I felt great going into the test</p>
<p>I got a 33. Definitely try to pace yourself. I wasn’t able to pace myself with the math portion (the proctor didn’t right down the starting time, so I had no idea how much time I had left), and I left 4 questions unanswered, which screwed up my score on the math section. So for math just make sure know how to pace yourself. For the English part, just go with your gut feeling, but practice up on them so you know how to deal with the ones that might trip you up. For reading, just make sure that the answer fits and that no part of the answer is wrong. Science is pretty much just reading graphs.</p>
<p>I got a 34 and barely prepared at all. I think the most important thing to remember (if you’ve only taken the SATs or not really looked at the ACT exam yet) is that you don’t have a single second to waste. I took my sweet time with the math section to make sure I didn’t miss anything and boy, was that a mistake. I was rushing by the end. Same with the english. I’m not saying you should rush, but the smartest thing you could possibly do is bring a watch with you into the testing room. </p>
<p>Also, look over a prep book. It doesn’t really matter which; I looked at the Princeton Review (which I bought 2 days before the exam and studied the day before) and just went over the review questions at the end of the chapters. This was my first time taking the test. </p>
<p>What you have to remember is that the ACT is MUCH less about tricking you into answering the wrong answer and FAR more about seeing what you know. So as stated above, FOLLOW YOUR INSTINCTS. They are likely correct. </p>
<p>For individual sections –</p>
<p>Science: Definitely figure out how to read quickly. For me, I barely skimmed the actual experiment description part (so ridiculously long, and only occasionally contains good information) and just skipped to the questions. That’ll save you loads of time. It may be smart to quickly see how many experiments there are in the section and divide up your time wisely, answering the ones you know, and then going back to the ones you don’t. </p>
<p>Math: USE YOUR CALCULATOR. I mean, that should be obvious, but it’s so helpful to just use it, even for simple math. Just to check and make sure what you’re doing is right. And keep an eye on the clock. Math was hell for me, timewise, which I didn’t anticipate, so I nearly ran out. </p>
<p>Reading: read everything carefully. If you read everything carefully, you likely will only have to go back to the passage once or twice for the questions, saving you lots of time going back and forth trying to search for answers. </p>
<p>English: brush up on the commonly made grammar mistakes, such as when to use who or whom, or when to use “they” or “him/her”. Most of this is pretty obvious, and it definitely helps to be a grammar nazi. :p</p>
<p>Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>Oh, and obviously</p>
<p>ANSWER EVERY SINGLE QUESTION. If you have almost no time left, just answer b or c for everything. You’re bound to score a few points that way. It cannot hurt to make an educated guess if you are unable to answer the question, either.</p>
<p>Scored a 32.</p>
<p>English: Read the passages CAREFULLY. Sometimes, the answer to a question may lie in later sentences. Especially check for verb tenses, consistency, parallelism, subject-verb agreement, etc. </p>
<p>Math: Use your calculator. It saves a lot of time to do operations in your calculator than writing it down. </p>
<p>Reading: Read the passage EXTREMELY CAREFULLY once. Most of the questions are of specific information from that passage and on the ACT, I was able to answer about 7 of the 10 questions in each set without having to go back to the passage at all.</p>
<p>Science:</p>
<p>I got a 34</p>
<p>I thought that science was the hardest section because 1. it isn’t like you can really study for it, all you can do is practice tests for it. 2. you probably have a nice case of “test fatigue” by that point </p>
<p>on the math I second the “use your calculator” advice. Maybe make sure you know all the cool things a TI-83 or 84 can do to make things quicker. Like using stat plots, regression (not that you will for sure need this on anything, maybe 1 question) but just stuff like that. Also the Y1, Y2 etc functions where you can quickly plug numbers into functions in your Y= is pretty helpful. Make sure you know your trig if you want to score high 30s on math.</p>
<p>English: My English teacher told us that basically any of the choices that have “being verbs” (Am, is, are, etc) IS WRONG. Something about passive versus active voice. I am not sure if this is true or not (that it is always wrong) but I went with it and got 34 on English. Make sure you know your grammar…on the ACT I took, there were like 3 questions about semicolons, so review punctuation rules. </p>
<p>Reading…I got a 36 on this one, and this was the one that I thought I did worst on (except for Science because I knew that would be abysmal). Basically, keep “themes” in your head and keep a focus on the big picture because the last questions about the passage are usually these types of questions and the detail questions are usually the first few and are usually easy to look up in the passage. The hardest part about this one (like the science) is pacing yourself with the reading. </p>
<p>GOOD LUCK happy bubbling</p>
<p>Got a 34. Everything I did came from Barron’s book, ACT 36: Aiming for the Perfect Score. Its crazy good, takes only a week or less to read cover to cover (literally, I spent exactly a week studying), and produces great results with all its helpful hints.</p>
<p>Sent from my Vortex using CC App</p>
<p>I took the ACT in September and studied the whole summer before. When you’re in the top score range with these standardized tests, it becomes less about aptitude and more about test taking skills. Basically it’s just a matter of practice, practice, practice. I did as many practice problems as I could, took practice tests every week and twice per week towards the end of August, and READ ALL OF THE EXPLANATIONS, even when I got the answer right. Over time, you get a really good sense of the types of problems they ask and how to tackle them. I got a 34 (35 English, 34 Math, 33 Reading, 33 Science, 8 Essay because I suck at writing)</p>
<p>^ I skimmed it the night before and got a 35, so it definitely works!</p>