<p>Ok so I just took th September 21st ACT and got 33C; 35E 33M 32R 33S 10W. I was pretty surprised with my science score but extremely disappointed with my math score as I had gotten a 34 on this section on an official ACT in 8th grade. I am a junior now. After calculating my score, 33.25, I realized I was one correct answer away from a 34. Any tips for what I should do during the months up to March to be able to attain that perfect 36?</p>
<p>work your butt off with math and reading, specifically reading, since that is your lowest score.</p>
<p>I actually do much better in math since I’ve already taken bc calc but I always make some stupid mistakes. Reading I hover between a 30-36. Science is usually much worse.</p>
<p>All I can say is (practice)^n, where n is a nonnegative integer.</p>
<p>Guys plz don’t restate the obvious! Anyone who has broken a 33, any secrets to your success?</p>
<p>seriously though, all it really takes to do better is practice. I’ve never actually taken the ACT, because I’m an SAT guy, but they’re pretty much almost the same. The more you practice the better you do. I actually raised my score from 1980 to 2350 just by practicing. So practice, practice, practice, practice some more, and then practice even more after that, and your score will go up.</p>
<p>Question for you satman1111. I barely practiced for the psat coming up this Saturday. I got a 196 in ninth grade and since then I did like 5 full SATS and about 5 more psats. I read most of the Princeton prep book. Am I in any shape to qualify for national merit semifinalist or should I just give up hope?</p>
<p>between the January and March SAT, I did 10 practice tests and raised my score from 1980 to 2240 which (if it was the PSAT) would be enough to qualify in any state. As for you, I can’t tell you what your score will be, because everyone is different. For some people, like me, all it takes is some practice to raise the score substantially. For other people, it takes many, many practice tests to raise a little bit. If you’re like me, then I’d say you have a good shot at qualifying (depending on what state you’re in), but you can never know for sure.</p>
<p>I’m in michigan. I’m not sure what our cut off Will be this year. I think it will be around 211.</p>
<p>Well, I think people have already answered your question. My S is in the same situation as you, one question away from 34 :(. So he will go back to the prep books and redo all of them. I don’t think there’s any other way besides that.</p>
<p>I was in pretty much the same situation with my scores. The first time I took the ACT I received a 33: 33E, 33M, 31R, 36S, which averaged to be 33.25, so I took it again and got a 34: 34E, 34M, 34R, 35S (which actually averages to be a 34.25… so frustrating!).</p>
<p>I think just by taking the test a second time, you are more familiar with what to expect and more comfortable taking the test, which may help your score. I know I was more at ease the second time I took it.
And I know what people keep saying: practice. But really, it makes all the difference. I know I had trouble getting through the reading within the time limit, so I did a lot of practice in that section and was able to improve my score. If you know which area is your weakest or which you have the best chance of improving, focus there.
There’s no magic secret to getting a higher score. Practice, work out testing strategies, time yourself so you know how to pace yourself on the actual test, practice more, etc… (I assume you have test prep books, but if you don’t, those are incredibly helpful.)</p>
<p>Regardless of how you score the second time, a 33 is impressive almost anywhere you could ever want to apply.</p>