I’m a junior and my goal is to get a 35 on the ACT. I have many reasons why, but most importantly I can get a full tuition scholarship at my first choice school. I’m frustrated right now because my classmates are getting high 2300s on the SAT and 35-36s on the ACT and I can’t get past a 33.
I can consistently get 34-36 on English, Math, and Reading, but my Science score remains in the 23-25 range. It’s embarrassing because Science is my best subject in school.
I’ll be retaking it on December 14. For now, I plan on taking a bunch of science practice tests throughout the week along with full practice tests on the weekends. My strategy has been to start with the conflicting viewpoint passage and then do the other passages. Regardless of what I do, I always misread questions and misinterpret the graphs.
If you have any advice about how to raise my score to at least a 33 on the Science section, it would be greatly appreciated!
Do not be embarased, the ACT is a scientific reasoning test and does not evaluate much actual science knowledge.
Do you finish on time?
I agree with you that practicing with real ACT Tests will help you. You can PM me here if you need help.
I have a suggestion: for the science section, only read the questions and the tables/graphs. Don’t ever read the paragraphs, ever. My science score used to be 27~29, but once I started ignoring the long paragraphs I consistently scored 36.
Good luck. 
Hey!
I recently got a 34 on the Science portion of the September ACT. Started off with a 26.
Honestly, there aren’t any special “tactics” that you can exploit…Just DO NOT read the actual passages. Keep your work limited to the tables/graphs. Only refer to the passages if there’s a keyword outlined.
Practice. Practice makes perfect. I believe I took 5(?) practice tests over the span of one month before the actual Sep ACT. It’s not like my scientific reasoning abilities have gotten better, there’s just a pattern with regards to the types of question asked, and you’ll definitely see that once you’ve practiced enough.
Best of luck!
I agree with the others. Forget about reading the passage; that just wastes time. Think of the Science section as a variation of the Reading section, except it uses graphs, charts and tables instead of paragraphs and the subject matter is science. The passage topic is not important. Look at the graphs, charts and tables, not the words. While you can practice the entire ACT exam, I’d concentrate mainly on the Science section. Practice will increase your scores. I think my child went from mid 20s to low 30s with practice.