<p>Sorry for the horrid grammar. I didn’t really proofread this. =/. I hope you still understand it. </p>
<p>I got the 22 in the beginning of freshman year. I received the 34+ (not telling actual score for privacy reasons) at the end of junior year. Now, many of you are probably skeptical, but it did happen, and I’m proud of it. I remember looking at the 22 from the Practice Test in freshman year and feeling utterly defeated. It was then that I vowed to myself to study hard and pick up an ACT book. I would study the English section, and then the Science Section, followed by rigorous Math and Writing drills. </p>
<p>It didn’t work.</p>
<p>My score wasn’t any better by just memorizing things. Truthfully, it only helped my English score, but even then, it wasn’t stellar. It was actually implementing it into the test that was hard. For example, I knew all the rules of a triangle, but when a word problem came up that involved a triangle, I would panic, or I would pick the wrong formula. </p>
<p>How I improved:</p>
<p>A. Read the books for the grammar rules and math help. </p>
<p>I didn’t even bother reading the science tips and reading tips (more on that later). You should focus as much as you can on the actual rules rather than HOW to decode to the test. If you’re not a stellar test taker, like me, then you might want to look into how to make a question less confusing (that helped a lot actually), but otherwise, the tips on Science and Reading are almost useless unless you’re exactly like the writer of the textbook. </p>
<p>B. Get help from a peer, not an adult. </p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong. Adults are awesome. They just won’t help you as much. Example: The competition at my school was the hardest thing to overcome. People didn’t want to give out their tips on how to score a higher score. However, the best tips I did receive were not from the books themselves, but high schoolers. My brother gave me one math tip that helped me out a lot. He told me to go slower on the easier problems, and on the harder problems, decode the question into mathematical terms before trying to get the answer. It stopped me from making stupid mistakes, and I still finish on time. So talk to kids who are just like you, who grew up in the same environment as you, because chances are that they will give you tips that make you go “AH-HA!” instead of adults who are trying to teach you their old-fashioned way. I believe in tutoring, but in my opinion, high schoolers can teach you how to do well on these tests a lot more than a teacher, but because of our similarities.</p>
<p>C. Take practice tests not to learn more about the test, but to learn more about you.</p>
<p>This isn’t a Mr. Miyagi thing. Once I learned this (I actually came to this realization on my own), I raised my score from a stubborn 29 to a 34+. This was the last step. I knew all the rules and all the math, but I still couldn’t pull off a 34+. So I decided to start from Base 1. I’m not saying I forgot everything I learned, but I disregarded the strategies that Barrons taught me. Instead, I started testing my own. And my score improved. A lot. Instead of getting 2-3 questions wrong per passage on the reading section, I lowered it to an occasional 1. In the end, the Barron’s or Real ACT should just be a guideline. They don’t know how you think. You need to create strategies for yourself. Using their strategies will only help you if you think like they think. You probably don’t. </p>
<p>D. Don’t worry about timing until you got the test DOWN.</p>
<p>I kept freaking out about timing during my first practice tests. Then I got a book with around 6 practice tests, and because my parents forced me to go through them all, I decided to take it slow, in order to go through them with a lot less stress. I got a higher score, obviously, but I also learned more about the test. After my 3rd or 4th practice test (the tests become so relaxed if you don’t worry about timing), I realized that I was finishing under the time limit. </p>
<p>How to find your strategy.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Only do this after you think you’ve memorized most of the rules and math. Find different techniques. I had around 4 techniques for Reading, since it was the hardest one. Take the practice test, one passage at a time, trying out each one. Don’t pick the one where you got the least wrong. Pick the one where you feel the most comfortable. The strategy I stuck with was the one that made me freak out a lot less. Experiment with multiple things. </p></li>
<li><p>Once you’ve found the strategy you’re most comfortable with, use it. For English, do one passage at a time. For Math, do 15 questions at a time. For Science, 2-3 passages at a time. You want to break it up so you know what you’re doing wrong before you forget your thoughts behind your answer. </p></li>
<li><p>Learn from mistakes. Retake practice tests. I know this sounds silly, but you should really retake them as much as possible. You’ll see if you realized your mistake. If you didn’t, slap yourself. Then try your strategy again.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>My Strategies</p>
<p>These are fairly stupid-sounding, because that’s how they worked for me. I dumbed down everything and made it really easy.</p>
<p>Overall strategy: If I was iffy on a question, I’d put a tiny dot next to the question on the answer shet. If I had extra time at the end of the test, I’d look it over. For now, put down the answer you think is best, and move on. </p>
<p>Math: Go slower on each question. I was able to finish the math section in under 35 minutes, but I’d still get a low score because of all the mistakes I made.</p>
<p>English: Go slow on each question. There are 75 questions. If you make one mistake, you’re probably not going to go back to it, since you only have 45 minutes. Go slow. 45 seconds per question is actually a lot more than you would think. </p>
<p>Reading: Read the first two questions (I can only remember two questions at a time). If they’re thematic, find another question that’s more level 1 info. If you can’t find a simple text-to-text question by the fifth question, read the passage completely. If you can find two text-to-text questions, go on to the passage. If you find the answer to a question, pick another text-to-text question to answer. When you’re done reading, go back to the more thematic questions are answer them. </p>
<p>Science: My science score SUCKED. I learned this one really amazing strategy that worked for me and got me straight 35-36s each time I took a practice test. I called it the finger method. Basically, I took my finger and pointed at the references in the question. For example, if the question asked: “In Figure 1, what was the difference between the height of Plant A and Plant B”, I’d point to Figure 1, then to the bar that said height, then used my remaining two fingers to find Plant A and Plant B on the graph, and that’d help me find the answer. IT’S STUPID RIGHT? I thought so too. Then I stopped getting wrong answers and couldn’t believe how much that idiotic strategy worked. Lesson of the day: No matter how stupid something sounds, if it works, use it. </p>
<p>Conclusion: Everyone is different. Learn about how you learn and find your strategy to destroy the test. Stop using techniques from books if you’re not comfortable with them. </p>
<p>P.S. I’m also giving out free tutoring to anyone who needs it. Got nothing better to do over the summer.</p>
Thank you. Really appreciate it.</p>