<p>I have a few test prep books, and I have been taking several practice tests as well as drills in the book.</p>
<p>But my score continues to remain the same, so I am wondering if I should change my methods. My weakest area is math, so I have been doing the Barron's math drills.</p>
<p>How did you go about studying for the ACT? What methods did you use?</p>
<p>learn to speed read. not joking.</p>
<p>For Math, you need a strong core of knowledge (up to Advanced Algebra) before you start fine-tuning your methods. First work on grasping the material and then work on speed and accuracy.</p>
<p>For math, you may need to review trig as well, which may be included in advanced algebra (not 2 sure)</p>
<p>As for studying, I went through princeton review, which I thought was very good, and then did the 10 practice tests offered in McGrawHill--thought this book is not the most reliable source, it still gives good, consistent practice!</p>
<p>At the end, I went through the Real ACT book three of four times.</p>
<p>But, it all depends on what you are comfortable with. :)</p>
<p>john, you sound like you know what you're talking about. if this stmt is borne from experience as an ACT test taker - vs a ACT test preparer - what was your ACT test scores (composite and sections)?</p>
<p>french, what is your current score and what is tour target score?</p>
<p>My current composite is in the 27-29 range. I really want to pull it up to a 32. My weakest points are math & science. I know I can improve on science by doing more tests, but math kills me everytime, even with review.</p>
<p>math was also my weakest subscore, but I improved it through practice. getting faster makes it so much easier because then you have time to go back and check!</p>
<p>the best advice I could give is to learn to read quickly. ACT (for me) was all about extracting information as quickly as possible without becoming bogged down by the actual content. I nearly aced the science portion - though that was also a weak point of mine - because I only took time to understand what was absolutely necessary to get the right answers instead of wasting time trying to remember extraneous info about protein synthesis. </p>
<p>so to sum it up: practice, but practice with the goal of becoming a faster, more efficient reader. good luck!!</p>
<p>also: my projected was 27-31 on the PLAN test and I got a 34 on the real thing.... you have hope to score much higher than projected!</p>
<p>The best way to improve your math is through practicing. WHat I see with ACT is that the pattern is the same, exactly the same. So once you are very familiar with the pattern, u can increase your score. Sometimes, u know the pattern so well that you dont even need to read the qeustion; you just see the numbers and off you go- an answer! Through practicing, I've increased my math score from a 27 to 33. Yes, it helps!</p>
<p>That's really encouraging! Thanks for the tips. I will put aside the drills and go through several PR practice tests and then move on to the Red Book.</p>
<p>for me, Math</a> - Brightstorm was pretty helpful to boost the score.
though i took ACT, not SAT.</p>
<p>For the Math, you should try to figure out what you keep missing and why. If you can manage to isolate your weaknesses, your studying will be much more effective. Remember, it's not necessarily about how much you study as much as how effectively you study. </p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that what works for someone else might not work for you. Don't become frustrated if you follow our advice and it doesn't help. I saw someone mention speed reading for the Reading test above, but for me, that never worked, and I had to figure out my own strategy for finishing the test in time. It paid off in the end.</p>
<p>I'm sure you have the potential to make your target score, you just have to figure out how. Good luck!</p>
<p>@lblock:</p>
<p>"speed reading for the Reading test above, but for me, that never worked, and I had to figure out my own strategy for finishing the test in time. It paid off in the end."</p>
<p>What helped you in the reading? How did it pay off - What was your starting and ending scores?</p>
<p>how would you increase your science score?</p>
<p>by using the advive i give in my guide</p>
<p>@future, thanks. pretty dramatic delta in your scores. I like how you were a mid 20 person and went up so much. I have seen too many on CC already starting with a 3 in the 10s place and wanting to get closer to even more garish numbers.</p>
<p>roderick: it all comes with practice those people with sub 20's have the easiest time improving because they are so much gap to fill but after good prep they can get 20+</p>
<p>ohh that looks like it will help. i sure hope so cuz im taking it this saturday</p>
<p>im taking saturday too its just i want a 35 because i dont a 34 is going to help me much. my goal is a middle ivy ex. cornell, columbia, UPenn</p>
<p>It is important to develop personalized strategy. D. took ACT once, but I am sure if she did not prepared, her scores would be lower. Her strategy was to prepare for math only by taking practice math tests. That took about 1 hour/day for one week. She made sure to go over every mistake and understand concepts that questions cover. Your strategy might be different based on your strengths and weaknesses. Math is D's easy subject. She wanted to make sure that she gets as high score in math as possible to compensate her low score in Reading section. It all happened the way she planed and she did not need to take ACT more than once. Self-assessment is very important.</p>