<p>Earlier this year I was corralled into an ACT test center as a sophomore and scored a 30, without looking at at any material besides one set ( 15 questions ) of practice English questions on the official act website. A score that high in my area in quite rare, as those receiving even the most sought after local scholarships only score around 25\26. So I took my scores, read through the rest of the practice questions online in sections which I felt like I needed to improve the most, and took a practice exam; scoring a near 36 (35.25). That score, my performance on online questions ( from the official ACT website ), and the fact that I felt like I did absolutely horrible the first time ( right after I took the test, not after seeing the score ) lead me to believe my score would improve, if anything by at least 2 points, the mark for which my guidance counselor told me to shoot. I took the ACT again this June and scored a 29, when after finishing the test I felt like I had a really good chance of acing it. My scores were exactly as follows:</p>
<p>February 2014 ( First time ever seeing Math, Reading, and Science sections )</p>
<p>English 29
Usage\Mechanics 13
Rhetorical Skills 17
Mathematics 28
Pre-Algebra\Elementary Algebra 16
Algebra\Coordinate Geometry 13
Plane Geometry\Trigonometry 15
Reading 33
Social Studies\Sciences 16
Arts\Literature 18
Science 31</p>
<p>Practice Test from Official Booklet Provided by guidance counselor: May-ish ( after reviewing online )</p>
<p>English 34
Mathematics 35
Reading 36
Science 36</p>
<p>June 2014</p>
<p>English 27
Usage\Mechanics 15
Rhetorical Skills 13
Mathematics 29
All Sections 15
Reading 34
Social Studies\Sciences
Arts\Literature 18
Science 27</p>
<p>I did take my practice test in abnormal testing conditions, I have a four block school day so I took one ACT test in every class, but I still finished every test in one sitting with very little digressions, and in the allotted time. Also, I did not feel rushed at all on any of the tests ( June ), I had at least five minutes left on every test with nearly ten for the science.</p>
<p>My biggest problem is, as someone who wants a 33-35 on the test, I don't know how to prepare at this point. If I continue to miss only a handful of problems in practice, mostly from the occasional solving for x circling y or missing a "not" in a question, I'm not sure what else I can do to actually improve my REAL score, as I never feel like timing or test stamina is an issue and I understand 99.99% of the information being presented ested on the tests I've seen. I have never studied for a test throughout my time in high school, so I'm completely clueless on how to approach this beyond doing a bit of review here and there, which can seem pointless under the conditions mentioned above, so if anyone has any advice or personal experience regarding circumstances similar to this any advice would be greatly appreciated.</p>