Urgent help needed! How to get from 31 to 34-36

Test Preparation ACT Preparation
1

<p>Hi. I'm going to be applying ED this year probably to MIT. I'm an international student who will be asking for financial aid so I need to really work on my application. </p>

<p>I took a practice test (2013-2014) without Writing and scored 31. (31 in all the sections except Math -29)</p>

<p>Could anybody - preferably an experienced test taker - tell me which books would help me score 34 or above? </p>

<p>Also, should I take it in June or September? :P</p>

2

<p>That’s not good if you made a 29 in math. MIT is a predominately MATH school, so if you are applying there, a low math score will hurt you big time.</p>

3

<p>Keeping that in mind, which books do you recommend I use to bring up my scores? Please reply ASAP :(</p>

4

<p>I used the red book mainly. I also used an old Barron’s book ( I think 2008?), but it was a lot harder than the actual test. It helped in my reading sections though. I don’t know about any other book, sorry!</p>

<p>But you can never go wrong with the red book since it’s real practice tests!</p>

5

<p>Do you mind if I ask you your score? I was double minded about getting PR 1296 and Barron’s :/</p>

6

<p>I’ll let you know when I get it! I took the April 23 ACT. I can take you my practice test improvements.</p>

<p>The first time I took a pt, I made a 27. I took a total of 8 in a span of a month, and improved my pt composite up to a 31 (so 4 point increase).
My last 3 tests were a 30.5, 31, and a 31.25 respectively so I improved eCh time. I feel great about my test and I hope I made a 32!
For individual section… </p>

<p>English:
25 to start
Averaged a 31-33 by end</p>

<p>Math:
32 to start
35/36 average by end.</p>

<p>Reading (my worst section):
24 to start
27/28 average. I did make a 31 once, but I might have just gotten lucky</p>

<p>Science:
26 start
30-34 by end (depending on extremity of curve)</p>

<p>So I know, I don’t have an “AMAZING” score, but in retrospect to my school, it’s great (no one makes nearly that high. 27/28 is about the highest).
But I did improve on average around 4 points so it’s helpful!</p>

7

<p>Thanks! I’ll get started on the practice tests ASAP.</p>

8

<p>You had stated that you wished to qualify for financial aid at MIT. I would call their financial aid office because most private schools do not offer any need-based financial assistance to International students. And elite schools like MIT very rarely offer merit-based aid.</p>