<p>Hey guys, I'm a rising senior. The first time i took the act, my junior year, i recieved a composite score of 23. As a result, i decided to take it a second time. My goal was a 25 and that's what i got!
composite:25
english:28
math:22 :(
reading:26
science:23 :(
combined writing/english: 25
But now I'm beginning to second guess myself; my dream college is north carolina state university and I'm not sure my act is good enough to get in. 75% of students enrolled last year had an act composite score of 27. Should i take my act for a third time before i apply?</p>
<p>Take a look at this: <a href=“Redirect Notice”>Redirect Notice;
<p>According to the statistics, the 25th percentile score for the entering class of 2013 was a 26, with the average at 28. Unless you’re exceptional outside of test scores (ex. awards, honors, GPA, EC’s), your 25 won’t quite cut it. Also, keep in mind that these statistics are from the entering class of 2013, and the averages have been increasing every year. A 30 would (assuming all other factors are decent/competitive) nearly guarantee admission. </p>
<p>So, study up and take the ACT one last time this September. The other option is to try the SAT in October, since it looks like English/Reading are your strengths and the SAT is 67% English/Reading and 33% Math. </p>
<p>Thank you so much that makes alot of sense. Well my weighted gpa is a 4.20 and I’m a national honor society member but i dont know if that helps. Another question, which option would be better? Taking the act for a third time or taking the sat.</p>
<p>I’m not sure about NCSU’s score choice policies (whether they require all scores to be sent in or best sitting or best score from each section), but if you can pull off a solid score on the SAT (1900+) in one try, that probably looks better than a comparable score on the ACT but on the third try.</p>
<p>Try an SAT practice test (there’s one hosted online by the College Board at <a href=“Downloadable Full-Length SAT Practice Tests – SAT Suite”>The SAT – SAT Suite | College Board) and see where you fall. If you get around an 1800 without too much prep, then go with the SAT (make sure you familiarize yourself with the format, though). Otherwise, if you feel comfortable with the ACT, go for the ACT.</p>
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<p>Definitely, there are tons of ways to improve your application, but nothing easier than improving your act scores. Take some practice exams and retake the official exam. You should be able to improve your score by 1 or 2 points with about 40 hours of effort.</p>
<p>I recommend pacing yourself, work on 1 section of a practice exam each week, that’s about 1 practice exam a month. You’re score should improve substantially.</p>
<p>How can you explain a 4.2 gpa and a 25 on the ACT? Perhaps try the SAT.</p>
<p>Basically, I’m not a very good test taker. I have alot to improve on in the math area, more specifically, trigonometry! Other than that, i get distracted easily on test days, psych myself out during the essay portion almost everytime etc. I’m a hardworker in class (honor roll since 6th grade) but i just do horrible on state tests. :(. I will be taking the sat though, this upcoming October. Any studying tips?</p>
<p>Aren’t there only 4 trig questions? That shouldn’t hurt your score too bad. Although I missed 9 on a practice test and scored a 29 for math. I’ve discovered the secret to answering essays is to just become a pathological liar. I have some theater background so I create a persona for myself that lives a completely different life from me. And the essay is usually easy to knock out. I’m NOT saying lie in a huge excess like saying both your parent died of cancer or something, but making up a story about losing your dog is okay. At least IMO. I did awful on the SAT got a 1500 took practice ACT tests and scores around a 30. The ACT is a lot easier IMO. Science and Reading always have the answer in the passage. Math was pretty straightforward when SAT math was so hidden in the problem. And English is kind of easy to pick up the mistake. I’m trying to average around a 32 for my ACT but only have one chance before I apply to an honors college. When I first started off messing with the ACT I got scores of 23-25. Then I developed a strategy that works of you out forth the effort. On the math (since you need most help on) I’ll give you the rundown of how I analyze. For every triangle you should immediately start thinking of formulas. Pythagorean theorem is great, but only works in right triangles. The law of Sines and Cosines also comes in handy a lot. In PreCal I was always confused about it but when I started reviewing the math it started making more sense. Also when in doubt set up a proportion! Which is usually (A)/(B)= (A)/X where X is what you’re looking for. And it can be used interchangeably. Also learn how to find area of a circle. Never in my life had I seen (x-x)^2-(y-y)^2=r^2 before the ACT. Take a lot of practice tests! That’s what helped me the absolute most. They try to keep the level of difficulty the same for everyone and I think there’s curves on the harder ones. Also logs are really easy. Just remember BAE. Log(Base)Answer=Exponent so Log2 8=X, X=3 because 2^X=8. ACT math is pretty straightforward. You just have to have a good bit of formulas memorized. Program your calculator to find Vertex and Quadratic formula answers (yes you can program them to do that!) because you literally type in a few numbers and boom answer. Now on to science. 
Learn how to read graphs but also makes sure you know what it’s telling you. I remember one time I got something about Viscosity (using chemistry knowledge I knew it meant the resistance to flow) and they gave me a graph and some paragraphs. Usually they just ask what a certain variable is. DRY & MIX Dependent Responding is on the Y axis & Manipulating Independent is on the X axis. For paragraph questions read the intro then read the first person’s view. Bracket [ ] HOW they carried out their experiment then underline their results then see if there’s any questions you can answer about just that one person then move on to the next and do the same. Eventually you would’ve read the whole passage while knocking out some of the easier questions. Then you should get inference questions. Try to pick the answer that falls along the lines of what the corresponding people said. I know it sounds very time consuming but once you practice it gets easier and easier. Good luck! </p>