Tips to Scoring Well on the ACT by a First Time 36-er

I’ve had many people PM me for tips on how to score well on the ACT, so I’ve decided to type up a rough guide.

The October test was the first and only time I’ve taken the ACT. However, in comparison with all the practice tests I’ve taken from the Red Book, KhanAcademy, etc., I haven’t noticed anything different. The only change in the the ACT redesign was the essay portion and I’m sure that by next year, there will be more resources available. I haven’t received my writing scores yet so I don’t have anything I can tell you for that test.

My test prep strategy involved taking every single practice test I can get my hands on. The Red Book is an extremely valuable source. The tests inside the Red Book are a bit outdated so they are slightly easier than the real thing but nonetheless indicative of the real test. Outside of the practice tests, I didn’t spend too much time on prep.

For the reading portion, I just made an attempt to broaden my book choices. I wasn’t big on reading anything other than fiction before I began preparing for the ACT but in the process, I read a few books on historical study and keenly followed the news and read editorials, TIME, PopSci, etc. These topics are generally more difficult than the generic John Green and enhance your reading comprehension and reading speed. I strongly recommend going under the Historical Study tab on Amazon and picking a book or two on a topic that interests you and read about it. In addition to developing your reading ability, these books also provide valuable information you can use on the essay.

For the English section, the most valuable resource by far is Erica Meltzer’s website thecriticalreader.com. She has tons of free blog posts about the english section, in addition to the other sections and other tests. I didn’t buy her book, but I’m sure it would be very helpful to get it. I think English is the easiest section to improve on because everything is so repetitive. I’ve had friends improve from 20s-35 just after taking 4 or 5 practice tests because they simply memorized everything that could be tested.

For the Science section, I don’t have very many tips. I guess the best thing to do is to just take practice tests and gauge your speed and accuracy. The majority of the questions involve basic data analysis. Few ask you to reason or infer based on the data and even fewer, if any, test scientific knowledge. Time was my biggest enemy but I managed to speed up the process by reading the questions first and then scanning the passage/data for the answers. This strategy may not work for you, but it did for me.

The Math section was the one I did no direct prep on, so I’m not sure how I would do it. However, I can contribute my success to my years preparing for the Mathcounts and AMC competitions. The ACT tests a deeper understanding of math than what is taught in schools, so to get those last 10 or so points, you’ll need to find a way to develop that understanding. One resource I’ve used to prepare for those competitions is this program called Alcumus by ArtOfProblemSolving. It’s a program that lets you set categories (so you can remove the ones not tested on the ACT) and generates questions and solutions. As you get questions correct, the ones generated will be more difficult. There will be a point where the question difficulty surpasses that tested on the ACT, but I encourage you to continue. Solving difficult problems will only enhance your ability to solve the easier ones.
The problems on Alcumus, however, often do not resemble many of the ones you will encounter on the ACT. Alcumus is just an important tool to build the problem-solving abilities you need on some of the questions on the ACT. In addition to that, I strongly encourage you to take many practice tests and review algebra, geometry, etc. I also encourage you to learn how to use your calculator and how to take advantage of all of its abilities.

The underlying theme of preparing for all the subjects is practice practice practice. Take every test you can get your hands on and mark every question you’re even slightly unsure about. Go back and read the solutions thoroughly and if you have time, read the solutions for the questions you got correct. While it may seem unnecessary, I guarantee you you’ll learn new ways to attack those problems.

If you’re on this website, you obviously have a desire to work hard and succeed. The ACT more of a game than an exam. Every section is set up just like the ones on nearly every practice test. Learn the ways the test makers want to trick you, learn the shortcuts to the solutions, and you’ll have no problem scoring well.

Good luck. If anyone else has tips on things that have helped them, feel free to add on in the replies.

“on, so I’m not sure how I would do it. However, I can contribute my success to my years preparing for the Mathcounts and AMC competitions.”

I think you mean “attribute” rather than “contribute.” Lucky for you that wasn’t on your test!!

I agree with most of your points. I took my first ACT in October as a junior and I got a 35. I believe in total I took seven practice tests: two released ones, four Red Book tests, and the one from the ACT website. Doing all of those made me feel really comfortable during the test.

Unlike you, I actually thought the Red Book was somewhat harder than the real thing (I was scoring 34-35 on the Red Book).

My other actual tip is to try to complete each section in five less minutes than the actual allotted time. Doing this helped me streamline my reading. After I took each section I would immediately go over the answers and read each correct response a few times just to cement it.

Doing this my score went up from a 31 on the first practice test I took in August!

@Regurge01 I’m actually not quite sure what I meant to type there… thanks for catching that mistake!

Thank you.

Great guide, didja ever get your Writing score back?

“The ACT more of a game than an exam. Every section is set up just like the ones on nearly every practice test.”

That must be why my son did well; he is a video gamer. His aunt’s first comment on hearing that he got a 36 was “with all that video gaming?!”

Your tips are great and very helpful. I haven’t much to add. He refused to study or prep for it but I got him to go through two old exams 2 days before and that probably helped.

Oh, and it helps to not forget your calculator. He took it the first time cold and got a 32 because he forgot his calculator… got a 25 in math and 35-36 in everything else. Took it the second time with the calculator and got a 36.

@wanderlustgal thank you, and yes I did! I ended up getting a 36, which was shocking. To prep for that, I just wrote a few essays and had my English teacher and someone else read them and give me suggestions. Also, I made sure to stockpile a few literary/history examples that could be manipulated to fit whatever prompt they gave. I’m certain there’s a list of examples to use somewhere on this website. The directions don’t explicitly mention to use any examples, but I’m almost positive that’s what got me those last few points.

@1203southview thank you! Tell your son I said congratulations on this 36! And yes, it helps to have a calculator :slight_smile:

@picuberoot
Just as a reference, what did you get on your very first practice test?

@sdw8253 I don’t remember exactly, but it was around 27 for Science, Reading, and English. Math was in the upper 30s.

Hey how long did you prep?

What were your individual section subscores?

@wanderlustgal I didn’t really have a specific prep schedule. I did a bit over the summer and a little throughout the year but I really picked it up in September.

@APcredit 35E, 36M, 36R, 35S, 36W

Ah ok, cool. I’m getting similar scores to all those subscores except reading, which is currently in the low 30s from the last few practices I’ve taken. I don’t really think I have time to begin reading an entire book, but I’m trying to read the news as much as possible, as well as taking tons of reading practices. Hopefully that will help?

@APcredit I think it should help! Also, if you have time, try to experiment with other approaches to the passages (close reading vs skimming, reading questions first and then the passage, etc.) You may be able to find one that works better for you.