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2 years ago
Juniors

ACT tips?

Hi! I took the ACT in December and got a score of 26, which I am unhappy with. However, I'm keeping a positive mindset about it, because it helped me understand the format of the test, and what specific things I need to focus on when I take it again.

The last couple months I have been overwhelmingly busy, but I have now designated time for the next 6 weeks specifically to prepare for the April ACT. My goal score is to get above a 30 (dream school's are UMich or UCSB) but I'm kinda having trouble on how to study.

So far, I've deciphered what English skills I'm weak at, what kind of math problems I need to refresh on, which order I will read the Reading sections in, and which kind of Science passages I should attack first.

My original plan was to take an entire length of a practice test on Saturday, then analyze the problem areas and then do practice problems for those on Sunday, hopefully taking about 3 hours on ACT prep on both Saturday and Sunday. However, I'm not sure how good that plan actually is.

If anyone has any ideas on how to improve my study plan, or any other ways I can improve my score, please let me know! I have a little bit of time during the week, but not 3 hours, so if there are any other ways I could study for the ACT that might not be as time consuming but still effective, also please let me know. Thank you!

ACT
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2 years ago

Hey there @dancer3270!

It might be beneficial to do only the questions in sections you did poorly on when you take the practice ACT. Then, you can make flashcards, study sheets, etc. for ones that you got wrong. For math, focus on formulas and strategies. The best thing you can do for science is to try to learn as many formulas for chemistry and physics and you can, but biology is a lot of reading and analyzing. The best thing you can do for English and reading is to practice.

Khan Academy has a whole bunch of SAT prep questions, but you can use some of them to prepare for the ACT too. The ACT website also has free study guides you can use. You can also get the test prep guide from their website, watch ACT prep videos, and answer practice questions for each specific subject. (This is great for studying subjects you're not as good at.) I've linked the page down below.

https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/test-preparation/free-act-test-prep.html

I haven't taken the ACT yet, but these are just a few ideas I thought of. I hope they help. Good luck!

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SAT: 720 math
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