I am a sophomore in high school and have recently taken a practice ACT. Mind you, the ACT contained many materials I have not yet learned. Anyways, I guessed on more than half of the questions… my brain simply thought “this isn’t real, you’re fine,” which was completely wrong. Is a 19 ACT score good for a practice in which you: haven’t learned many of the material yet, guessed on nearly all the questions, and were not putting a lot of effort?
I plan on going to a school with averages of 27-31 avg. ACT scores; and also plan on majoring in Biology. I have a 3.8 GPA, and am in honors math classes, science classes, English classes, and AP American History. ANY HELP IS APPRECIATED! I’d just really like to know if a 19 is ok, regarding everything.
Taking any tests such as the sat or act in sophomore year and scoring low is ok. You haven’t learn a lot of the information at all yet. Most colleges recommend take your first sat in junior year especially towards the end because you would have developed your skills more by then.
I took a practice sat in my sophomore year and did horrible. I took one in junior year and scored 200 points higher than my practice. I took another 1 in senior year and scored another about 50 points. Taking again soon.
So don’t sweat it. I and along with everyone else did horrible in 10 grade sat and colleges don’t even recommend taking the act/sat in sophomore or freshmen year.
However keep studying and take practice tests to get your score up
19 is perfectly fine for a sophomore. Not great, but also not awful at all. However, you probably won’t get that much better simply by going to school hoping that you’ll learn more of the content on the ACT. I highly recommend taking as many practice tests as possible before you take the real thing. Maybe consider studying with an ACT prep book or using Kahn Academy’s free online prep. I’d also recommend trying out the SAT and see which one you do better on or which one you feel better on. The SAT and ACT are not in any way a reflection of your intelligence or potential, and in my opinion they’re pretty arbitrary. I know really smart people who’ve done awfully but also some really dumb people who’ve managed to get above average scores. But the only way you’re going to get better at the test is by studying for it! Good luck.
I wouldn’t worry about it as a sophomore. The ACT is a time pressure test so strategy is important. You might find that you are better suited for the SAT if you don’t do well answering quickly. My two daughters took the ACT as juniors. The oldest got a 30 and the younger got a 21. They both performed identically on PSAT and SAT Bio subject tests. The oldest focused on the ACT and improved to a 35 on her next testing (with tutoring). The younger, I suspect, will favor the SAT.
If it makes you feel any better, I got a 24 on a mock ACT my sophomore year. I was all stressed out about it because the school I want to go to had an average of 31-34. I’m a junior now and I just got a 1520 on the real SAT. Don’t worry. Its possible you haven’t covered all the content, the SAT may better fit you, and studying greatly increases your score. Good luck to you.
One of my friends improved from a score in the low 20s as a Junior to a 30, so it is definitely possible to improve. I would definitely recommend that you start studying and taking practice tests now and you won’t be as stressed about it when senior year rolls around.