<p>Ok. I'm aiming for 32 on the September ACT, but on PR practice exams I've gotten a 30 on all of them. My english score is usually 33/34 and my math is usually 31/32 so those are fine. It's the reading and the science that are the issue. I'm having trouble reading finishing the reading, and I often find myself rushing and thus making stupid mistakes. One I actually finished a practice section on time and got a 34, but since then I've gotten more like a 28. As for the science section, I can't seem to finished it either, even if I don't read the paragraphs and just look at the charts. I usually have to skip over the part with the two scientists with opposing view too b/c it take too much time for me. I usually get a 27/28 on this section though too. (NOTE: These are all from using the drills and exams from PR 1296)</p>
<p>I know none of those scores are bad, but all together it's not going to get me a 32. Any advice as to how I can get better at the reading and science by the exam in a few days?</p>
<p>BTW, here are my stats from the May ACT (I've been studying a lot since):
English - 29
Math - 31
Reading - 25
Science - 25
Composite - 28</p>
<p>Are you reading too closely? That can slow you down. You don’t have to read and understand every word to get the idea and answer the questions. Read for the gist of it, then go on to the questions. You can go back to the passage if you need to. Also, don’t be tempted to bring in any of your outside knowledge (this is especially true for science passages). The answers are on the page in front of you, not in the textbook you read last month. Don’t obsess, just read and answer.</p>
<p>Well, think about it…if you spend 4 minutes just reading each passage, you’re using up 20 minutes of your time already. That only leaves you 15 minutes to answer 40 questions. That’s only about 20 seconds per question! No wonder you’re not finishing. You need to shave your reading time down to about 2 1/2 minutes per passage if possible (3 minutes max). As I said above, you don’t need to read thoroughly. You don’t need to LEARN the passage. You need to get the basics so you can spend more time on the questions. And if you find a challenging question that you’ve just spent a minute trying to figure out, take a guess and move on (and definitely do guess on the ACT…the scoring works differently than the SAT so even a random guess is better than skipping it). You could mark those questions in your booklet if you like to come back to if you have time. The idea is to get as many questions right as possible, and you absolutely want to answer every easy question, and you can’t answer those if you don’t get to them!</p>
<p>I think you mean I spend 16 minutes reading, which leaves me 19 for questions since there are only 4 passages. But I see what you mean still. Thanks.
What usually happens is I spend 10 minutes each on 3 passages, which leaves me 5 minutes for the last one (which is usually prose b/c I work backwards b/c I’m better at the last 2 sections and I wanna make sure I answer them). </p>
<p>So the questions go from easy to hard on each passage? I’ve never noticed. But I"m just wondering.</p>
<p>You’re right! I apparently can’t do math this morning But the point is the same. You’re probably reading much too thoroughly and short changing yourself on the questions.</p>
<p>Anyway, to answer your question, the ACT does not order by difficulty. You definitely want to make sure you’ve taken a look at every question before time’s up, though…you’ll know which ones are the easy ones when you see them. It’s also a good idea to have an answer for every question before moving on to the next passage, but I get the feeling you’re doing that already.</p>
<p>I do wonder, though, if your strategy of tackling your easier passages first is the right one. On a practice section or two, you might try hitting your hardest passages first and see what happens. When you’re under time pressure at the end, you might be able to answer questions on passages you find easier more quickly and more accurately. By leaving the tough one for the end, you’re giving yourself the double whammy of a tough passage and short time. Now, this may not work for you, but it might be worth trying out.</p>
<p>When I first started dong practice exams, I started with the hard ones and then never got to spend enough time on the easier ones that I could’ve gotten a higher score with. So then I started doing the section backwards, and thus get more questions correct. </p>
But the point is the same. You’re probably reading much too thoroughly and short changing yourself on the questions.</p>