<p>I'm really trying to get into the 30's for junior year, and I am worried I won't be able to. I am an all honors student with a 3.87 non weighted GPA. Do the thirties seem reasonable for me?</p>
<p>Depends on how much preparation you did to get your 25… If not much, then with plenty of practice you may be able to reach 30. If you prepped a lot to get the 25, you may not get to 30 since everybody’s high score always plateaus at some point.</p>
<p>I did no prep for it. My mom told me two days before that I was taking a mock exam at through a local test prep center haha.</p>
<p>I think so, I mean my sophomore year I got a 19 on the PLAN test (the pre-ACT test) and with preparation, I got a 28 this year (senior year)</p>
<p>Yeah, I just have to get a good score for what I plan to major in and where I want to go to school.</p>
<p>Wait…this was not an actual ACT, right? This was one of those sample ACTs generously “offered” by Kaplan or Princeton Review, or something.</p>
<p>I am extrapolating from pretty limited data (my daughter and her friend), but the sample SAT she took via Kaplan returned a way lower score than the actual SAT she took when she registered. And she didn’t take Kaplan (or any other prep course) in between. We bought her a Princeton Review SAT prep book, and books of sample tests published by ACT and College Board. We had her do those. That was it.</p>
<p>My strong suspicion is that those sample tests offered by Kaplan, Princeton Review and others are picked for their difficulty. Kids get lower scores than they want, they and their parents panic, and they enroll in the test prep. Cha-ching!</p>
<p>My advice, then, is to try what my daughter did. Buy a prep book and a book of some sample tests. (Buy the red book published by ACT if you’re preparing for ACT; buy the blue book published by College Board if you’re preparing for SAT.) See what happens. You may find you’re scoring much higher than 25 in short order.</p>
<p>As for your actual question, “Is 25 as a sophomore OK?” I have no idea. It kind of depends on what you’re aiming for. Harvard or MIT? You’ve got work to do. Wayne State University? You’re probably just fine.</p>
<p>Hahaha. It was a company called Revolution Test Prep. Retook a math section separately afterwards on ACT’s website and scored a 29 (which is much better than the 23 on my mock exam because I had forgotten much or the material so I did a quick run through to review). I currently have a tutor, and she has told me she sees me getting the score I want (30+), and she doesn’t strike me as the type to lie, but you never know. So, any good prep books that I should buy? I still have a year to prep, but for Oberlin, Case Western, WUSTL I am going to need a good score.</p>
<p>OP, you might also check with your guidance counselor or local rec center to see if a retired ACT will be offered in your area this Summer. Our rec center offers the ACT 3x in the Summer (same test each time, I think) and it’s only $10. Students take the retired test in timed situation, get scores back, etc. So it’s like The Real Thing and could give you (and your tutor) another data point on your testing, ideas for areas of improvement and so forth.</p>
<p>In our case, the test is <em>co-sponsored</em> by a company that places Nannies, so the catch is that test-takers have to listen to a sales pitch about becoming a Nanny for this company. But the students who’ve taken the test say the sales pitch is no big deal and the price + actual testing conditions are worth it.</p>
<p>Thanks. I will see if that opportunity is available in my area. Also, does anyone know of any top prep books? Maybe one that tends to be a little more difficult to further prepare me.</p>
<p>Lastly, does it seem reasonable for me to get a score in the 30’s? I have been stressing over this for a little while now.</p>
<p>Revolution’s huge at my school, and though I didn’t take the class, everyone who did said the practice tests were muchhh harder than the actual test. I guess they kind of wanna scare you into taking the class. I don’t know for sure but it’s just what I’ve heard.</p>
<p>That sounds very realistic because I did better than the girl who is number 1 in our Soph. graduating class! Only by 1pt., but thanks for that comment! Such a relief (:</p>
<p>No worriesss. And hey, you’re only a sophomore. Study up, and you’ll do great by senior year!</p>
<p>I got a 26 on the PLAN sophomore year then a 33 on the ACT junior year. Absolutely no studying in between </p>
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<p>@oceanicole - Thanks! Shooting for a 30+ for top liberal arts colleges. We’ll see how that goes. I figured it is a pretty reasonable goal since I have a whole year to prep!</p>
<p>@kareemd - That’s impressive. What college and major have you chosen?</p>
<p>I am actually still a junior, and I will be using my 2290 SAT instead of the ACT for applications. I am looking at UChicago,Northwestern, UCLA, couple others for either business or biology (big difference i know)</p>
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<p>Nice! I live by NU and UChicago. Well, relatively close. I really hope what people are saying about revolution prep is true. That’d be a great relief. I just finished the PLAN a few weeks ago and it seemed quite easy. How does it relate to the real thing?</p>
<p>Well apparently not much lol. I’m in socal where the SAT is bigger, so i was focusing more on that. With the ACT, my only problem was science (29). I got a 35 reading, 35 writing (or English i forgot what category it technically is) and 32 math. The science on it is really easy once you learn how to look at it quickly and avoid overthinking it</p>
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<p>And btw what school do you like better? UChicago or NW? </p>
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<p>Thanks for the tip! Thats what I used on the PLAN and it is very true. I just blocked out all the scientific words. Dumbed it down so to speak. And from what I have heard, UChicago has a rigorous science program. My tutor actually told me that there really is no social life while being there. I’m not so sure about NU, but both are excellent schools. Guess it just depends on which appeals to you personally. You spoke of majoring in Bio, and UChicago is world renowned in the sciences.</p>