Hi everyone,
I’ve taken about 5 ACT practice tests. By studying my mistakes and learning essential rules, I was able to move from a 29.5 to a 34.5.
In my latest practice exam, all of these are from the official ACT book, I got a 35 English, 36 Math, 36 Science and a meager 31 in reading. I know I can improve my English one more, but I still need to improve Reading substantially if I want to get a 36.
I feel the curve is a bit harsh for Reading. Miss one and sometimes you can drop to a 34 or even 33. Also, Reading is the only section where I have an issue with time. I finish the English and Math sections with over 10 minutes to spare and Science with about 5. Reading I barely finish and I’m constantly on time pressure so I feel like I’m not absorbing the information in the passages thoroughly.
Do you guys have any tips to combat this and help raise my Reading to a 36?
Thanks! Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
I’ve be always found that for me, the strategy of very very quickly skimming the passage for about two minutes and then answering the questions that I could saved a lot of time for me, especially the cause you don’t really need to have a deep understanding of the passage in order to do well on the ACT. Any questions that you don’t quite know the answer from skimming you can go back to the passage for of course, but it’s really great to try to save time because the ACT is notorious for being hard because of time restraints rather than material. Another thing to bear in mind is to try not to over complicate the questions and answers. If you see it in the text, it’s most likely the right answer, so try and go with your gut and not second guess yourself. About what you said about the ACT reading curve, it really just depends on what test you take–there are tests where you miss one and get a 34, but this is true for all of the different subjects. I know that when I took the ACT, I missed a question on the reading and still got a 36 so there’s really no way of knowing what you’ll get. Good luck!
@celestialkairos
Hi thanks for the help! My reading score has improved to a 34 on certain practice tests. I hope to get a 36.
No tips.
If confident that you will score a 35 on the ACT, take it as soon as you can. You can always retake for a higher score if you insist on getting a 36. But I encourage you to sit for the next exam as life–emergencies & sickness–can get in the way & a 35 will get you to the same places as a 36 would.
Beware the “all except” questions
The passage says ALL EXCEPT the following…
This type of question causes you to waste time checking the passage for a piece of information that isn’t there. You’re not quite sure if it’s really not there or you just looked too quickly so you double-check.
Answer the rest of the questions on that passage first, so you’ve reviewed the reading a couple times. When you come back to this one, make your best quick guess without rereading and move on.
Read the passages like you LOVE them.
Play Devil’s Advocate - try to find what’s wrong with each answer and the last one remaining should be right; it’s very easy to convince yourself that a wrong answer is right so look for the flaws instead.
Read all of the questions that cooraspond with the passage before you read the passage. That’s how I got a 36 English, 36 math, 35 reading, 34 science.
I meant to say correspond. LOL!
Thanks everyone for your help! I’ll keep you up to date on my scores… Hopefully they come out in 2 days.