@gallentjill
So, in other words, there’s no hope for me. I don’t have two years lying around to dedicate to reading science journals for the ACT science section.
Not at all what I meant! You don’t need two years. You may just need to target the issue where you had a problem. Now you know where the issue is. You know that it isn’t a failure of intelligence, just practice. If you want to raise your score, you know where to start. Do lots of practice problems. Get used to reading and interpreting the data. Take the summer if you can.
Here is another example. The same daughter got a 26 on the English section of the Pre-ACT. The problem was she simply never learned the rules of grammar. Once she did that, she was able to raise her English grade to a 35. She should have learned that information over many years of schooling, but her school is terrible in that department. It didn’t take her years to catch up, just focused attention.
My son raised his SAT score by 320 points. He just took practice exam after practice exam for several months.
It’s up to you whether you want to try that hard. If it’s your only shot, why not go for it?
@MaineLonghorn
From what score to what score? Also, how many months exactly?
1900 to 2220 (this was before the scoring changed). I think it was about four months.
@gallentjill
So you’re saying there’s a chance?
I will try to take the summer. I ordered both the ACT and SAT official study guides. I will do each and every practice exam in these books. Should I fail to improve by the desired amount, I will conclude that I am stupid and a disgrace to my family.
A 30 isn’t disgraceful. What country do you live in? Could you attend college there?
@MaineLonghorn
Alright. That should be from around 1350 to 1520.
Fine then. As I said above, I’ll take every exam in the book over the summer. If I fail to improve by at least 100 points, then I am an utter failure of a human.
@austinmshauri
My only option is the US. A 30 is a weak score for the colleges I’m looking at.
@Slavic2000 The online practice program offered by ACT is very helpful. My D’s science score went up six points with some dedicated practice over the course of a month during the summer.
And regardless of your ACT score, you are neither stupid nor a disgrace.
There are also many options where good financial merit and need-based aid is available beyond the tippy-top meets full need elite colleges and universities. Once you have your final scores in hand, start another thread with your current stats, budget, EFC, geographical constraints, etc. and ask for help. You will get many suggestions.
@mamaedefamilia
I ask but one thing: is there by any chance a thread on CC, or elsewhere, for people suffering from mental issues? I can’t take it anymore. My SAT and ACT score (1390 on SAT) destroyed my already low self-esteem. Regardless of what people say, I feel ashamed. My whole life has revolved around getting the best possible scores in academics, and I’ve always succeeded in that until now. Having had problems with social anxiety, I’ve lived my life by one premise: it is alright to be weird as long as you’re gifted (or among the best academically). If you are not among the best, then you are just weird. At this point, I am just a socially-awkward loser.
Please, anyone. I don’t know what to do anymore.
@slavic2000 I don’t know if there is a thread. But I do know that there is hope. My friend’s daughter suffered mental illness very similar to yours: crippling social anxiety, depression, OCD etc. She was able to turn her life around with good therapy and very good medication. Its been like a miracle. Do you have the ability to access any care for your mental illness? Is there anyone you can talk to? Parents? A guidance counselor? A teacher? This CAN get better, but you need help.
@gallentjill
I talked to my mother. She made me feel a bit better.
I take antidepressants as well, but they’re becoming increasingly ineffective.
Thank you for the reassurance; it helped.