<p>Yes, it is possible. I went from a 31 to a 34 by using Mcgraw Hill's 10 ACT test. This book is a must. It has ten tests that are very close to the real thing. Do this book and your score will go up to at least a 32.</p>
<p>If your writing brought you down on the SAT then you could definatly have big room for improvment.</p>
<p>OK guys I think a 32 is possible, but how do I prep for it.
Any advice for any subject would be ideal:
Science:
Math:
Reading:
English:
*Pick a subject or all of them and tell me and others in my shoes how to pull off a 32+ in that particular subject relating to study tips, books, test tips, etc. Keep it coming guys, thanks a lot for your help.</p>
<p>science: Can't give you much advice there. it was my lowest score anyway (30)</p>
<p>math: just know math. Seriously prepping for the math level 2 subject test is all I really did and it boosted my score tenfold. Also make sure to pace yourself properly because time can kill you if you're not careful. (33)</p>
<p>reading: read the passages and mark/underline as you go. Try not to get distracted and focus on what you're reading, as boring as that may be. be VERY careful on time. (31)</p>
<p>english: honestly all I did was review the english section in the official ACT book and my score went from a 23(sept) to a 34(oct).</p>
<p>Thanks Feez for all your advice. Anymore advice guys, keep it going. I'm trying to help out as many CCers as possible get above a 32+ with these tips. SAT prep has a thread featuring advice for the test, I think its time the ACT had one featured. Keep it coming guys and happy Thanksgivings. :)</p>
<p>Bumb... Bumb.... Bumb</p>
<p>english: review some key grammar rules before that are in study books (ex: verb/subject agreement) if ur not a grammar freak (me)
reading: active reading is good (underline/circle), go really quickly
math: pace yourself. each question is worth the same. so if ur stuck on a hard one, move on. come back to it later if you have time the first time i took the ACT, i got a 32 and it was stupid cuz i spent like 10 min on one question and random-ed the rest at the end. then i managed my time and i got a 35 the second time
science: again, u can t really prep for this one. read everythig really quickly. dont read the stupid little explainations of the graph unless its a hypothesis/opposing viewpoints type question. time is crucial</p>
<p>I'll give advice for Math (32) Reading (35) and Science (30). I'm not too bad at English, but def. not an amazing target score by any means. </p>
<p>Math-Go back and look at all the pesky little things you learned in Algebra I and Geometry. I'm pretty sure when people get things wrong, it's not cause they just never got it, it's because you just haven't even seen that type of a problem for a couple years.</p>
<p>Reading- What can I say....just go read. Not the SAT Vocab sheets, or some insane classic written by Tolstoy, but just any books. I usually read around a book per 2 weeks even during my busiest semesters. It may just be the new Gossip Girl book, but at least it keeps me used to reading and absorbing new things fast. Oh, and make sure you time it, so you can read the passage at least twice. That helps.</p>
<p>Science- Even though it's not a 32+ I'm just gonna make a quick note. I raised my science score from a 27 to a 30 just because the second time, I began by reading the questions. Don't even look at the graphs or the passages until you absolutely have to. If you're struggling with a question, just mark your best guess and move on. Otherwise you'll get to a point where you have 3 minutes left, and half the section still to go.</p>
<p>2010 SAT
33 ACT
It's definitely possible.</p>
<p>Thanks guys, all these advice a great. But for sugarsweet, how would you time yourself to read the passages twice, just reading it once is time consuming. While i've been going through the princeton review, the reading questions seem to be quite easy but the passages and time constraints are a bother. Do you guys think if I answered the questions as I read would be a good strategy? Has anyone done it this way with good results. Thanks guys keep it coming. And also no one has really given me any good tips for science except going to the questions first, so are there any 32+ or even 30+ science people who care to share their insights.</p>
<p>I meant to say "are" instead of a. lol. :)</p>
<p>"Do you guys think if I answered the questions as I read would be a good strategy? Has anyone done it this way with good results"</p>
<p>I've done this. I can't really tell you how I did 'cause I STILL HAVEN'T GOTTEN MY SCORES :(. but it SEEMED to work well for me. I'll get back to you when I get my scores though ahah</p>
<p>I don't think reading the questions while you're reading the passage is a good idea...here's what I did to get a 34 on the reading:</p>
<p>1) Trick yourself. Enter the mindset that the next four passages are the most interesting and stimulating passages that you've ever read. Pretend that you're CHOOSING to read these passages and you're fascinated by them.</p>
<p>2) Read the passage very QUICKLY. Don't worry about details, but rather, while you're reading the passages, think to yourself "ok...this paragraph is about x" or "ok...this paragraph contains basic info about y." Think "big picture" while you're reading as well.</p>
<p>3) Tackle the questions. Hopefully you did step 2 well enough so that you can go back to the passage when it asks questions like "which of these was not mentioned in the passage?" or "which of these happened first?" and know exactly where you should be looking.</p>
<p>4) Timing. If you do the math out, you don't want to spend more than 8 minutes per passage. Spend a couple of minutes reading, and the next 6 or so minutes answering questions. This will average to about 30 seconds per question, but again, if you did step 2 well, 30 seconds is plenty of time.</p>
<p>Practice Practice Practice. If you can get the timing down, the ACT Reading is basically testing how you can find bits and pieces of information within the passage, and how you can make very basic inferences about the passage as a whole. In my opinion, it's 100x easier than the SAT reading because the ACT isn't trying to trick you at all.</p>
<p>Thanks Madboy and everyone else, these tips are great. So what strategies do you guys have for the science section? :)</p>
<p>bump...bump....bump...</p>
<p>Pray that you have learned about what they are talking about. If you took AP Bio, AP Chem, and AP Physics; you should know the basics to 90% of the problems. If you know the basics; you don't need to spend time tinkering over the graphs; most student suffer on the ACT science due to time constraints.</p>
<p>I never thought I could get above my original 30, and I ended up getting a 33. </p>
<p>I recommend the Kaplan ACT prep books. Do NOT get the online course. It is lengthy, inaccurate, and a waste of time. The prep book helped the most.</p>
<p>I got a 36 on the science with no studying whatsoever except for the night before looking at an ACT booklet I picked up in guidance. Anyways, I have a pretty solid science background (AP Bio/AP Physics) and didn't read all the crap that explains the backgrounds for the graphs. I just went straight to question #1 and began. I never ended up reading any of the other stuff besides the question except when I had to look back (because the question required some knowledge of the stuff in the passage) once or twice. I quickly scanned the passage and found what I needed very quickly however. Don't spend a lot of time on one question. Go to the next one because that might help you out (especially if its a graph). Eliminate choices by actually crossing them out on your sheet. Most importantly, make sure you bubble in correctly. It may sound funny and easy, but if you decide to skip one and forget you did so, everything is thrown off. Then you have to grade by hand and that costs money. Dont do that.</p>