Need some tips to get a perfect/near a perfect on ACT Science

Test Preparation ACT Preparation
1

<p>For my last ACT, I got a 33 in English, a 33 in Reading, a 32 in Math, an a damn 27 in Science, and a 31 composite</p>

<p>I prepped using tips and strategies from Barron ACT 36 and took practice tests from The Real ACT</p>

<p>My strategies for each were:</p>

<p>English: Be concise. Only use a type punctuation if there is a specific rule which makes the sentence incorrect without it. Ford word choice and stuff like that, I just use my gut instinct. </p>

<p>Math: Basically everything on it has been covered in class. Keep very, VERY calm throughout the test and take a logical approach with the problems. Plane Geometry is probably the hardest, so look through some old geometry textbooks lying around.</p>

<p>Reading: Read the first and last sentence of each paragraph and skim the rest. Figure out the main argument of each paragraph and note down each paragraphs purpose in the piece. Figure out the author's tone. Figure out the relationships between characters. It's a time crunch, so don't spend too much time on anything.</p>

<p>Science: This one is a toughie. I did the passages out of order. I started with Data Representation passages and just glanced at it and looked at the trends, then went straight to the questions. Research Summaries: I skimmed the passage for ~20 secs, noting down the subject matter, the purpose, the method, and an changes between the expirements, then went straight to the questions. I treated the Conflicting Viewpoints passages like Reading passages.</p>

<p>Obviously, my main pitfall is science. I know exactly what to do know for Math, Reading, and Science. I'm pretty confident that I can get a 35/36 in all 3 if I apply the strategies I've been using all along. Even if I somehow don't do as well, I still would have gotten a 32 or 33 if I got the hang of the Science passage the first time around, and depending on how I did on the next few tests, that may have been superscored into a 34 or 35. </p>

<p>Any tips, advice, comments, or concerns?</p>

<p>Thanks. :)</p>

2

<p>Take as many science tests as you can. Review EVERY questions (right or wrong). </p>

<p>This is a boring and time consuming approach but it is the real way. It’s proven to work. There is no special trick as there is in math and english. You will just have to practice and practice</p>

3

<p>I didn’t really have any tips and tricks. I answered from the beginning to the end in the same order, but the only way I managed to finish was by not reading the experiment at all, but going straight to the questions from the moment I turned the page. </p>

<p>When there came a question that I absolutely needed to know from the experiment, I skimmed EXTREMELY fast (because time is of the essence!) until I found the answer and went on. </p>

<p>The only passage that I actually read was the conflicting viewpoints. </p>

4

<p>For science, I won’t read the passage till I don’t understand some concepts in the question. Reading graph is the fastest way to do basically all the problems. I always use my fingers and point at the graph that the problem is asking. I think I saw this method on a thread and it really works! I got a 35 on science so I hope this help! :)</p>

5

<p>I feel like doing them out of order is just a huge waste of time because you waste useless time looking to see where the different sections are. My approach was just to go straight through and answer them as quickly as possible. For the graph sections, 5ers needed to be extremely speedy. Rely on your gut for those. As for the 6ers, just look directly at the questions and find what you need as you go. Most of them reference a specific graph or table; use those effectively. And finally, for the comparing scientists, read the generic blurb at the beginning to get a feel about what the passage is about, and then look at the questions. Answer the ones talking about each “student” individually first, then go for the ones comparing them all. You will need relatively quick reading skills, but I’m sure anyone on CC can speed through with a targeted reading strategy. It worked for me and I got a 35 S so try it! Speed is key in science, most of the information is extremely generic and logical.</p>

6

<p>Just chill, bro.</p>

<p>See, the science portion on the ACT, is, uh, not real science. It’s all about graphs, interpreting data, and reaching conclusions. So if you can do those you’re good.</p>

<p>However, you only have 35 min. to do the whole section. ~5 min. a section. There’s not a whole lot of time to read all the information thrown at you, interpret it, and then answer the question.</p>

<p>The solution? Simple: don’t read the information, skip to the questions. The exception being the debate between the two scientists passage, almost all other passages really just give you data which you just need to interpret. This is one strategy that worked well for me; I scored a 31 on the science portion. </p>

7

<p>Thanks guys:). I took the test today and it went a lot better than I thought it would. I finished with 5 minutes to spare.</p>

<p>My strategy was just quickly looking at graphs (5 seconds) then going straight to the questions, except for the conflicting scientists.</p>

<p>Sorry about the numerous typos. My phone autocorrects everything and I didn’t proofread.</p>