I am going to retake the ACT for the third and final time!!
I received a 28 the first, 30 the second, and hopefully a 32 on the third time.
On my last test I did not take the writing. The first time I got a 10 on the writing, which is apparently good. How is the test changed. I am applying for engineering school, but I would still like to know the writing format.
So composite 30
Reading 35
Science 32
Math 27
English 26
So I need to improve my math, mostly for U of M if I am deferred. Also for a couple other engineering schools. The problem is that I took algebra 2 as a freshman, and currently I am a senior. I have forgotten a bit in that time. I have a red book for ACT and an SAT book for the old test. Could I receive any additional websites, resources, or help to study. I am taking the act on the 13th of December.
I am also open to any English or science help, I feel confident on the reading portion.
Hi I took the test back in October. My main suggestion for the Math section would be to practice being at double the question number as you are on time. So for example if you were 13 minutes in, you should optimally be on question 26. You will inevitably begin to slip past the allotted time of 30 sec / question starting from questions 30-40, but at that point, you will have 45 minutes to do 30 - 20 more questions. Plus, the added pressure from knowing you’re slipping past time serves as a motivator to hurry up.
Also, another thing to note is that you should be doing most of the math problems mentally, and when you cant, you should be using your calculator. Writing or rewriting out the problem onto paper takes too much valuable time that you dont have. Write on the paper as little as possible unless the question is a complicated multi-step question, in which case, you should actually write it down.
^ I’m not an expert on ACT question types/strategies (I only took the test once, but I scored 36 on math). But you also want to make sure that you don’t work too quickly, as it becomes easier to make silly mistakes, for example, mis-reading the question, gridding in the wrong answer, a simple sign error, etc. So work quickly, but not too quickly.
However many questions can be solved in under 30 seconds, so averaging 30 sec/question for the easier problems is a good goal.
You say you have forgotten a bit of Algebra II material, so yes, you might want to crack open that algebra textbook and go through any topics that you wouldn’t be able to explain right off the bat. Many Algebra II topics are revisited in pre-calculus or calculus, so you’ll probably remember some topics much better than others. What topics do you think you don’t understand/remember well?
Thanks. Are there any good websites. I like the red book, but I to try websites since it is much easier to study lessons online for math in my opinion.
It seems like your reading and english scores are pretty solid, but you need to work on improving math (esp if you want to study engineering at U-M) and english. All I can say is practice. I used a variety of textbooks (ex: barron’s, real act, princeton review, kaplan, etc) to do problems out of and it definitely helped. It teaches you to not overlook your mistakes and be good at managing time.
Math:
20 minutes in, you should be at least at question 30. The further you get into the section, the harder the problems will be. I think roughly the first 30 questions are easier than the latter 30. So try to solve these problems as fast as you can, without making mistakes. Practice a lot and you’ll familiarize yourself with the types of questions they ask and how you can go about solving them effectively and quickly. Also, utilize your calculator as much as you can. Don’t try to write things down on the paper if you don’t have to; it’ll save time.
English:
75 questions, 45 minutes. 15 questions per passage, 5 passages.
Maximum time on each section: 9 mins.
Tip: don’t read unnecessary sentences in between the actually relevant ones because you’re just wasting your time. Unless a question asks something in the context of the paragraph or the sentence above or below it. The english section shouldn’t be too hard if you know your spelling, grammar rules, idioms, etc. Study idioms and grammar using the red book or any other online source. Also, each question really shouldn’t take more than 30 seconds.
