Finally got the score I wanted !!!!!!

Finally free…

I scored a 35 on the June ACT. Here's my top tips!

1. Learn how the test works. The Black Book by Mike Barret is worth it, even though it's old.

2. Practice only with tests made by ACT.

3. Focus on learning from mistakes rather than taking more tests.

4. Read everything carefully. Every question counts.

5. English tests mostly grammar rules and is an easy section to improve on.

6. Most math questions are simple but presented in a complicated way.

7. Every reading answer should be found in the text.

8. Know your calculator and use it to your advantage.

9. Bring an analog watch and set it backwards so it counts down time remaining. For example, English has 35 minutes, so you would set the watch to 11:25 and start it at the beginning of the test. Your time will be up when the watch says noon.

Good luck!

I'm a rising senior. This is my 2nd test my math has been 26 and now 28. I am good with desmos because of SAT, is it worth switching to digital to fix math or is it doable on paper? Also should i focus more on reading to get that 34/35 superscore. Please help!!

I want to apply for CS at like big engineering schools (GT, UIUC, MIT as a long shot lmao) so I really wanted to hammer in the math and I’m not completely sure but I’m guessing a 35 is probably enough. The elephant in the room is science, but since it’s optional, I was planning on not reporting it in case that’s not like a super big no no. The main thing is I don’t know about is if my English and Reading is sufficient enough for the schools to not care too much about them (e.g how I’ve heard that MIT focuses a lot on having perfect-ish scores for SAT math but isn’t too heavily focused on RW as long as you get 700+) so I just wanted to know what people think the move would be.

I'm a rising sophomore and I really want to get a 36 and improve my score. Any tips would be greatly appreciated

It seems everyone posting here got 30+.
Anyone actually get less?!

My son got 24 (much worse than all his practice exams) and is devastated. He thinks he will not only never get into any college on his list, but into any college at all now!

I took the July 11th act and got a 25/27 on the reading. I've seen posts from other people who had that same score but ended up with a 35. For context I had the passage with albert and the music lessons, the dude comparing translation and making crossword puzzles, a lady watching as a new couple moves in and paints the house white, and the duel ab one about cells and memory.

I’ve taken the sat a total of 3 times and have score between 1230-1310 but when i took the act once i got a 31 with my weakest section being math and science. I don’t know if my act studying would translate well if i took the sat again because i know the math sections are very different. should i double down and just lock in and take the sat a few more times or try studying for act math. not sure if its worth mentioning but my dream school has an average act rate of 32-35 so thats why act is more appealing to me.

When I was in high school, I thought a perfect ACT score would open a lot of doors.

I got a 36 ACT and was nominated for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, one of if not the most prestigious general academic award a high school student can achieve. Perks of winning include an all-expense trip to D.C. that involves going to museums, hearing major policy addresses by senators, cabinet members, officials from the Departments of State and Defense, and other federal agencies, as well as participate in meetings with the president and a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. You also get personally awarded a medal by the President of the United States of America, even if it's Trump currently.

I did the full IB Diploma with HL Math AA, Chemistry, and Physics. I spent two summers doing computational biology research, tutored standardized tests, volunteered for years, and had strong extracurriculars.

My cumulative high school average at the time I applied an A.

I still got rejected or waitlisted from every T40 school I applied to.

The rejection that hit me the hardest was Texas A&M. As an in-state student, I genuinely thought I'd get in. When I didn't, I was devastated. For a while, I honestly thought that if I couldn't get into A&M, I wasn't going to get into college anywhere I wanted to go.

Now that I've had time to reflect, here's what I've learned.

1. A perfect ACT is no longer a golden ticket. Thousands of applicants have near-perfect scores. It's impressive, but it's just one piece of the application.
2. Grades over four years matter more than one test. Even though my cumulative average before applying was above a 90, admissions committees care about trends and consistency. My junior year wasn't as strong as I wanted it to be, and a 36 ACT couldn't completely make up for that.
3. Admissions are holistic, whether you like it or not. Essays, recommendations, course rigor, institutional priorities, geography, intended major, and plain randomness all play a role.
4. You can do almost everything right and still get rejected. That's probably the hardest lesson. A rejection doesn't necessarily mean you weren't qualified.
5. Prestige means something, but definitely not everything. I ended up committing to a top 70 university with a half-ride. It wasn't where I expected to go, but it's still a place where I can build relationships with professors, do research, prepare for medical school, and create opportunities for myself.

Looking back, I spent too much time believing that admissions results determined my worth. They don't.

If you're applying this year, don't make the same mistake I did. Aim high, but build a balanced college list. There are far more qualified applicants than there are seats at highly selective schools.

Your acceptance letters don't define your potential. What you do after you enroll matters much more.

I'm still ambitious. I still plan to work hard. My path just looks different than I imagined a year ago.

This was my first time taking the ACT after preparing for roughly 3-4 weeks. I’m a rising senior and I’m desperate for a 36 in order to receive a scholarship at my state school. I will be taking the ACT again in September and I’ll probably just leave science as it is. Please give your best advice below (even if you didn’t score a perfect)!

I am a rising senior who spent the last year trying to improve her own math score. I got it up from a 17 to a 31. Im still stuck at a 21 on the English and I can't get out. First time I took it I got a 23. The past two have been a 21. How can I increase my score on the english? Also, feel free to give me tips on the reading because I want to at least get a 33+ on the reasing.

Tips? Advice? Pep talk?

Took the ACT twice already, both paper. Thinking about doing my next attempt digital since I want to improve my Math score and the built-in Desmos calculator seems like it could really help. Since all three would be Enhanced ACT just different formats, superscoring should combine fine across them, right? Anyone have experience with this or know if certain colleges treat digital differently?

Hi everyone, I took the digital July act, J09 I believe, and was just wondering when I can expect my writing score to release, is there a defined date like there is MCQ release?

pls let me know i’m so impatient

*The june test was digital and the july test was paper

I have gotten 30+ reading on J01, J08, and the MC series

I also do the 4,1,2,3 (passage order) strategy, mark the question #'s in the passage in the lines and take mental notes of what key terms the questions ask for first, then read the passage. However, I always run out if time, and skimming the passage doesn't seem to work.

On my ACT I got a 31, with good english and reading scores but a 24 on my math. I want to do something STEM in college, so should i retake the test one more time?

Hi everyone! I’m taking the ACT at the end of September and I need some major advice. It has been a very long time since I’ve done any math— I graduated high school 12 years ago and basically don't remember anything. I took the ACT last year and got a 19 on math, but that was literally from guessing on almost every single question. I know they changed a lot of things with the new enhanced ACT format. Here are a few questions I have as prep for the new format:

1 . Where do I start?
2. What topics pop up the most on the enhanced ACT math section that I should prioritize?
3. I know the ACT doesn't give you a formula sheet on test day. Which math formulas are 100% essential to memorize?
4. What are the best free tools, apps, or YouTube channels for learning math from zero as someone who’s been out of school for a bit?

1. English 30. Reading

Still haven’t gotten my June scores back where I feel I did significantly better on. But how tf do I get my math up? My parents have been paying sm money on tutoring and I was scoring in the 30s then. I scored higher overall every-time during tutoring idk how my score is this bad

So basically for my superscore I have a 35 in math that it takes from my June test but I also got a 35 in April and I would rather take it from there since my science and english also come from April so then id only have to submit 2 scores is there a way to do that in myACT? Or can it only be done when applying and how do i do it when applying?

Also, is it true that they will see the entire score for the dates put into the superscore like for July my reading comes from there but then my science is july was really low and I dont them to see it so do they see the entire score? Sorry if these are stupid questions cause im only a rising junior so Im not too familiar with the application process and how the portals look.

As someone who has taken both SAT and ACT, I must say I think the ACT is much easier. I got a 1520 SAT and a 35 ACT, and the ACT is both a better score and took less practicing. I think as long as you can get around a 32-33 math on the ACT, a 34 is easily achievable, because the reading and English is so much easier on the ACT. I have friends with 34's who wouldn't break 1370 on the SAT. Does anyone here disagree? I think the only caveat is that there is far more free SAT practice then free ACT practice, but I used free one prep for all my ACT studying and got a 35.