How I improved my score from a 28 to a 35 (tips and suggestions)
2015-08-20 14:29:28
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How I improved my score from a 28 to a 35 (tips and suggestions)
Hello!
I took the ACT twice, and this is how it broke
How I improved my score from a 28 to a 35 (tips and suggestions)
Hello!
I took the ACT twice, and this is how it broke down:
1st time: 28C - 29E, 29M, 29R, 25S
2nd time: 35C - 33E, 36M, 35R, 34S
So, let me break it down section by section, and hopefully help you guys increase your scores too! (Please bare with the tips as I'll try to conform them so that people who have taken the ACT and people who have not understand them)
Before reading the tips outlined below, make sure to get your hands on an ACT book with practice tests. This is absolutely essential to improving your score. I borrowed the 2015 Princeton Review book from my local library.
English: 75 questions - 45 minutes
The score for this section is composed of two subscores: rhetorical skills and usage and mechanics. The english section of the ACT covers five main topics: grammar & usage, punctuation, sentence structure, strategy, organization, and style. For those of you who have never taken an ACT before, I advise you to first familiarize yourself with the structure of the test by taking a practice test. The multiple choice questions each come with four answer choices, and by remembering a few characteristics, you can eliminate at least two of the answers a majority of the time. The ACT makers will try to trick you by posing answers that will appear correct because they "sound" better. Do not fall into this trap. The right answer is usually always the shortest and simplest form. Here is an example taken straight from the ACT website:
Having studied, my mother is a marine biologist.
A. NO CHANGE
B. As my mother’s interest is science, she is
C. My mother’s occupation is that of
D. My mother is
The correct answer is D, offering the clearest and most concise option for stating the above. This type of question will appear A LOT on the ACT. Keep an eye out for it, and you can usually pull it out very quickly. Another way you can eliminate an answer choice is by recognizing that the ACT makers will never ask you to add punctuation. Often times, questions regarding the punctuation of a passage will contain answers with complex forms of added punctuation. Here is an example from the ACT:
Often, my brother and I, joined our mother on her adventures into tidal lands.
F. NO CHANGE
G. brother, and I,
H. brother, and I
J. brother and I
The correct answer here is J. You can eliminate choice G because they added an excess comma where one was not needed. You can eliminate choice H because they included the comma in an illogical place. This narrows your choices down to F and J and you just have to be keen on possessing enough grammar skills to know that a comma should not be placed between the subject and the verb.
Here are just a few more tips for the english section to help you trek along:
Active voice trumps passive voice. Never is there an instance where you will find the right answer being in the passive voice. If a sentence can stand without a word, remove the word. If there are any redundancies in a sentence or passage, eliminate them.
Take a couple of english practice tests to get the gist of it. After each attempt, circle the wrong answers and write yourself a little note about why you got it wrong. After a couple tests, you'll pick up on mistakes you make repetitively, and you'll be able to eliminate them.
Math: 60 questions - 60 minutes
The math section contains three subscores that cover the following: pre-Algebra/elementary algebra, algebra/coordinate geometry, and plane geometry/trigonometry. The math section is perhaps the only section of the ACT where tips and tricks will not weed out answers for you, but rather, you will need to do tons of practice. That being said, the best strategy is to understand the format of this section. The 60 questions will be in order of increasing difficulty. The first 20 will be remotely easy, the second 20 will be a little more difficult, and the last 20 will test your limits. My advice here is to take advantage of practice tests. This test, in my opinion, is the only one where if you practice enough times, the test becomes a sort of second nature.
Take your first practice test without any time restrictions. Do not worry about finishing in time, but worry about answering as many questions correctly as possible. The speed at which you compute answers improves as you go along, and there's no need to stress yourself out about it the first time you take it. Find the answers you got wrong, and note the type of question it is. For example, when I practiced math I recognized that I usually got coordinate geometry specifically dealing with circles wrong a majority of the time, so I went over that, and was able to eventually stop myself from getting them wrong. I'm guessing it worked due to my perfect score on the math section. Once you recognize similar incorrect answer choices and get a feel for the test, begin to impose your time restrictions.
I have a few tips about how you can prevent yourself from running out of time. The first word of advice, is to take advantage of your calculator. Where math can be easily done in a calculator, use it. There's no point in trying to compute math in your head, and running the risk of doing it incorrectly because of time. Manage your time efficiently by setting yourself bookmarks of where you need to be after a certain amount of time. If you get stuck on a question, skip it. The math section works that you can still get two answers incorrect, and still get a perfect score. Don't spend time trying to get every single one you come across right, when time can be spent answering more questions.
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