<p>There’s exactly one month until I take my 4th ACT. I’ve been constantly trying to hit that 27 mark or higher. However, no matter what I do (I do, in fact, practice often), I can’t seem to break my barrier of 23. (On practice test, I can get as high as 26) It’s just frustrating. I’ve even taken tutoring.</p>
<p>I finally concluded that practice makes perfect. I think that reading books such as the Red Book and Princeton’s Review is useless unless I can’t utilize the information. That’s why I think I should do this: I’m planning on take a practice test every other day. And the days that I’m not taking a practice test, I’ll review every problem I answered incorrectly. </p>
<p>Will this help immensely? Or will it just tire me out? </p>
<p>In conclusion: Would it be better to spend my remaining month of summer trying to absorb and read ACT books (Red Book, Princeton Review, etc)
or
Practice non-stop and look for my own mistake and learn to avoid them next time?</p>
<p>that method would work… but it just seems really inefficient to me.</p>
<p>After a couple practice tests, you should get an idea of what you need help with in general. Study tips and tricks for those sections in general. For example, when doing practice science sections, i realised I had very little knowledge of physics. I had only taken bio and chem in school. So, I looked at basic physics formulas and studied basic physics concepts.
On the actual ACT for the science section, I got a 36.</p>
<p>What are your subscores and GPA at school? It’ll help in judging roughly where you could be scoring and what you could be doing to increase your score.</p>
<p>GPA do not mean anything. The materials on the ACT barely test predict how well you will do in college. </p>
<p>Since you usually score in the 23 range. It seems to me that you probably run out of time and such. Taking practice tests will help you but do not except a 4 point jump on your next try. Maybe you should take give yourself less time than normal so you could pace your self faster. I have a cousin who finish the reading section with about 10 min left over and he ended up making a 32 on the reading.</p>
<p>Also, a 23 indicates that you don’t know some concepts. You may want to have a grammar crashcourse. </p>
<p>My advice is to do practice tests AND read through those books. People with 33s or mroe essentially know everything they need to learn for the ACT, but at a 23, it will definitely help to learn some stuff.</p>
<p>I disagree. I made a 29 on the English April test but I made a 23 in English in June because I lost focus. In science and reading, it is mainly based on speed and focus. In math, even if you know most of the concept tested. Some of the harder questions, requires in-dept thinking.</p>
<p>@DivineGrace819 I know GPA does not mean much… but it gives a hint to roughly how well someone will be prepared for standardized testing, as well as which sections they will do better in. A person with a higher GPA will supposedly understand math, science, and english concepts better than a person with lower GPA. This will allow them to speed through sections easier. If a person’s GPA is lower due to a low grade in … math … for example, that gives them a hint as to which section they should study more.</p>