<p>Background: I'm an Illinois high school student who's going to be a junior next year. My rank is 13/500, and my GPA is 5.32. </p>
<p>I took an institutional ACT last April, without preparation, for my school's standardized testing. The results:
English=36
Math=23
Science=25
Reading=33</p>
<p>The composite, of course, is 29. I was fairly pleased with the score, but I expected a higher score in math, even though it's not my best subject. What would be the best way to raise the math and science scores? Is it realistic that I could bring them up to 30?</p>
<p>I'm also going to take the PSAT next year. The results from last year's PSAT were similar to the results of my ACT; English and reading were stellar, but math was mediocre. Interestingly, I get As in my math classes.</p>
<p>^ IM THE SAME WAY . i do stellar in CR and Writing English in general, but when it comes to SAT math i do ok .. and im in math honors and have a 99 avg</p>
<p>i dont understand
im taking the psat in october too</p>
<p>Doing a practice test/course will likely help. Many high schools have prep programs for juniors in Illinois that are taken in spring semester junior year, advise you do that if available at your school. In Illinois, you will be required to take the ACT again toward end of junior year as part of state testing requirements. Also note, many score low in the science section first time out because of unfamiliarity and then score higher second time. It is less science and more analyzing given data and graphs and thus when first taken it is not what students are expecting. Also, math score could go up just by your progressing through junior year math courses.</p>
<p>How similar is SAT math to ACT math? I ask because I recently bought the Collegeboard's Blue Book, a Gruber's SAT book, and a Barron's PSAT book. Would they be useful in ACT preparation?</p>
<p>You could very well bring up your math score from a 23 to around a 30. On my first ACT, I got a 28 in math and then, without practice, I got a 35 on the second test. I only studied for the reading section in between the two tests.</p>