<p>This was my second time to take it, and the first time i had a 28 in English (23 composite). On my subscores, it says i got a 17 on my Usage/Mechanics, but an 11 on my rhetorical skills. I don't understand how I can be so bad at multiple choice questions on style and such, but it seems like I always overthink my answer and pick incorrectly.</p>
<p>Can anyone offer me any advice? I'm not entirely happy with the way this one went (although I am glad my Science didn't end up as badly as I thought it would), but I really need a 31 composite before I apply to the schools I want (I'm a junior right now).</p>
<p>my advice is to buy the Real ACT guide and the Princeton Review ACT book (no CD, it sucks). PR provides some general grammar rules. If you need a more specific grammar book, try PR's Grammar smart. It's short book that contains just about everything you need to score well. I'm asian, and i just moved here 3 years ago, so the long idiom list on there really helped me. Some people suggest element of style. Everything on E of S is pretty mcuh on grammar smart. Also try reading some hard classics like Henry James. He gets way way to wordy, but it'll train you to spot mistakes faster. Anyway, just practice, practice, and practice. It improved from 27 to 31, so there's hope for everyone.</p>
<p>I'm not sure there are too many tips that can be given here. Basically, it all comes down to your intuition about writing, and such intuition takes years to develop. Some questions ask about how a particular sentence or phrase should be worded. For these, look for the simplest answer choice. That does not mean the shortest, but the one which is straightforward, clear, and has no redundancy.</p>