<p>Is this possible with a lot of prep? If so, what books and materials are the best for ACT prep?</p>
<p>The first time I took it I got a 30. 2nd time 33. Haven’t received June scores yet but expecting 34. So yes.</p>
<p>yeah I went from 31 to 34 in practice tests (hopefully that’s what I got on the real test). All I used was the real red book</p>
<p>Ok any tips on improving the reading section?</p>
<p>I went from 28 to 34. Definitely possible.</p>
<p>@lev how’d you do it?</p>
<p>There’s no simple answer to exactly how I did it. I basically just put in a lot of work. I took my first ACT in September as Junior year was starting, and got a 28. I was a really unfocused student fresh and soph year in high school, I had like a 3.72 GPA at the end of soph year. Junior year, however, I just decided to focus myself in everything. It was tough but I was able to do it, and I learned so much in school and out of school. I now have a 3.93 GPA. (which is on the lower side here on CC, but colleges will see my big upward trend)
Also, apart from just being really focused in school, I studied specifically for the ACT and SAT a loooooooooooooot. I have so many books… Mostly for the SAT, but I have like 2 or 3 for the ACT.
The most helpful ACT book is the red book, but check out some of Barron’s too.
Practice, practice, practice. Take practice tests. If you get something wrong, don’t just read the answer explanation and go on your way. FIND MORE PROBLEMS LIKE IT (this especially helps for Math and English).
Whenever someone gets something wrong on Math, usually they just read the explanation of how to do it and move on. But they key to learning to apply it is finding another problem like it, and doing it. Only then will you really learn.
English… Idk. Practice. The ACT likes asking about the same errors and stuff on their tests so just become familiar with what they usually ask (that means you’ll just have to do a lot of practice tests for english).
Reading is hard to practice for. I’ll add something here later about reading but I’m short on time and this post is long already.
Science… My favorite one. Take biology. Chemistry. That will make this section SO much easier. If you don’t have another year to take these courses, buy a Barron’s Biology SAT II study book. Learn the major topics. It WILL help. Same with chemistry. Everyone says just to understand the graph and you’ll be fine. Sure, but it’s hard to understand all that it’s saying with only like 40 minutes, so that’s why you need to at least have a general science background to get a high score in that section. Practice the science tests in the Red Book, they are really helpful. Try to understand thoroughly what it is saying. Do a test or two with no time limit, just try to understand it 100%. I might even make a whole forum post explaining everything I did.
28 to 34 wasn’t easy, I can tell you that. But it’s definitely doable.</p>
<p>My nephew took the ACT eight times, starting in his sophomore year. The first time he took it he made a 24. The last time he took it he made a 34, which was the highest grade in his graduating class. His score climbed a point or two each time he took it.</p>
<p>I think he may have had a bit of a processing speed problem. He is a slow worker, and simply could not finish all the reading. I’m not sure exactly what he did to get over the reading problem, but it worked.</p>
<p>No it’s not possible gg</p>
<p>I went from 24 to 29 to 32 in two years, and I’m hoping to further improve to 36! Anything is possible!</p>