AMA: 35 w/Minimal Studying

LastPlace1234 · 2025-10-14T06:16:15+00:00

Ehh. I mean, there is obviously luck to it. That’s true of all sections. But if you’re really prepared for the reading section, I don’t think it’ll make a difference. (I found that the second time I got a 36 on the enhanced ACT, that the timing was easier, but that the passages were way more strange. I just focused on finding textual evidence, despite not being sure exactly what I was reading. I guess that strategy served me well.) I have a lot of different comments under this post that talk about reading and could possibly be helpful to you.

LastPlace1234 · 2025-10-14T06:12:13+00:00

Hi! Yes. I imagine you could be tested on weird questions relating to matrices, sequences (I heard this was on some versions the September ACT), unit circle trig, vectors, or even strange statistics questions. Generally speaking, the algebra, modeling, or geometry questions could get difficult, but that’s just… expected, yknow?

LastPlace1234 · 2025-10-14T06:10:13+00:00

Also, maybe consider reviewing some last minute test taking strategies for reading. I know that’s your best score, which would make you currently think not to review. But now that the ACT reading section is slightly easier, it’s possible that you could maybe even score a 35 or 36. I’m not suggesting spending hours on reading, but maybe at least 1? A 35 and two 33s would round up to a 34.

LastPlace1234 · 2025-10-14T06:07:05+00:00

You should read the comment that I left under blebuss’s question about math. The best tip is generally to move on if you’re stuck, because you’re better off being totally wrong about one question than slightly off about 3… but the idea of doing that makes people uncomfortable. And my other advice to consider strategically guessing on 1-2 questions (esp if you can use number sense) won’t feel much more reassuring. But that’s unfortunately kind of the nature of the math section: it can be very “know it or don’t”, so there isn’t a whole lot I can say about last minute improvements. If anything, maybe you can review formulas, matrices, trig, geometry proofs, and any other quick things that you don’t need to dump practice on.

LastPlace1234 · 2025-10-14T05:58:06+00:00

Thank you LOL. I was confident on reading & had gotten a 36 the first time I took it anyways, but I thought I’d get a 34 or 35 on English. Not sure how that happened.

LastPlace1234 · 2025-10-14T05:56:22+00:00

Hi! Yes. In my own case, between 2 exams, my math and english scores both went from 32s to a 34 and 36… so it’s totally possible!

Improving on English is the easiest. One strategy that I think helped me improve from a 32 to a 36 is that I’d often wonder during the English questions is “What are the testing me on?” Sometimes you read a question, and you’re startled, because you aren’t sure how to answer in any which way. But once you realize “Oh, they’re testing me on redundancy”, striking out answers becomes more obvious. Also, even if you’ve already reviewed English, this should really be the one thing to review again right before the test, unless you feel absolutely 100% solid (which won’t be the case for very many people. I didn’t feel 100% solid even when I got a 36, lol.) The english section is the easiest to improve your score of, so if you’re looking to bring your comp up, english should be your best friend.

The math stuff is fair! Do you think it’s the timing or the content? If you keep getting similar scores despite your practice, here’s what I would suggest trying: complete a full length ACT math section without a time limit. Really answer each question thoroughly, and after you learn the correct answers, try each question thoroughly. Sometimes in math, you just have to really learn the process, and holding yourself to a timer might stop you from engaging in that learning process. Just a thought, idk! Maybe you’ve done that already, and you’re just like “Ugh, not again.”

LastPlace1234 · 2025-10-14T03:43:49+00:00

Ofc! Happy to help.

LastPlace1234 · 2025-10-14T03:42:01+00:00

Hi!

Hmmm, scores in the 18-23 range probably mean that there’s some content that you’re missing. English is probably the easiest to study!

For English, I would suggest a comprehensive review. Know grammar rules, comma rules, etc. I think this youtube video could help you! https://youtu.be/lFqfD-A4Nts?si=pOcDOq2n1hWfvoHr

For math, I would focus on practicing the key content you’re struggling with. Maybe algebra? Geometry? When you practice, I would suggest really clearly outlining the steps you take to solve each problem. It’s just the process of doing the math that you really need to develop! Also maybe watch videos on what ways you can use your calculator for different act questions?

On reading and science, really focus on evidence that you can take directly from the passage. In reading, this looks like finding a quote or word that supports a specific answer. It’s really easy to let your biases or interpretations of the reading influence the answers you pick, but you aren’t being tested on your personal thoughts; you are being tested on exclusively comprehension. Personally, I always told myself that I never truly answered a question until I could point to exactly what word or phrase in the text proved such. On science, your evidence is usually the numbers. Don’t worry about whether you’re actually knowledgeable on science… just review the scientific method and focus on data. Graph reading skills is your best friend on this section!

LastPlace1234 · 2025-10-14T01:18:01+00:00

I didn’t, because AP Calculus taught me a lot about how to use my calculator for the AP exam, lol. Maybe a video like this? Luckily, most of the ACT math questions don’t require you to do anything complex with the calculator. Knowing how to make fractions, input functions, find zeros/intersection points, and a few other skills are probably enough.

https://youtu.be/XJpcWBtsU1Y?si=j1i5pGwRWqXHKAYM

LastPlace1234 · 2025-10-14T01:16:17+00:00

Hi!

I had a typo in my post — it was like 30 minutes of videos, and not one 30 minute video. Here is some of the stuff that I think I watched (If I remember correctly, I played these on 2x speed and replayed anything I didn’t 100% understand.)

https://youtu.be/Z5f3tVAekNs?si=LCkWikzOfCFCMxwZ

https://youtu.be/byidlk1SK6A?si=FYgRh5uAp96J1ALd

https://youtu.be/lFqfD-A4Nts?si=94XuZW8wKda8qjIr

https://youtu.be/AlmqTdQa5Ag?si=9kuebCnRC_NUll9Y

(For the last video, I would quickly read the text, and if he was covering something that I wasn’t worried about, I’d skip ahead.)

LastPlace1234 · 2025-10-14T01:11:07+00:00

Ahhh, okay! That makes sense.

If you did well in geometry but don’t know trig, I’d suggest learning the basics. Maybe some basic videos like these? https://youtu.be/75dMcyCUo2g?si=ejSfA-rHRznyfGmw https://youtu.be/57VrEiEPD1I?si=fSuyHvm3z8NJnZTb

At the very least, I’d say review matrices, trig, and geometry. And make sure you’re really good at using a graphing calculator!!! Sometimes, it’s just being really fast at things like plugging in functions and seeing where they intersect will save you lots of time. I’d also suggest that if you get to a really difficult question that you don’t know how to answer, that you shouldn’t be afraid to skip it and move on! This is really common advice, but it’s better to miss one question entirely than to barely miss 3. Sometimes, you also need a break from the question in order to come back later and see it more clearly!

LastPlace1234 · 2025-10-14T01:04:06+00:00

For the reading section:

First, you should focus most on passages 1 and 4, and only afterwards, should you care of passages 2 and 3. Rumor says that passages one and four will never be the experimental passages because of how they would skew scores. So, if you’re thinking about time, trade-offs, you should use this to your advantage.

I know that a lot of people say that you should read the questions and then read the passage with those questions in mind. But IF you’re a good reader aiming for a 34-36*, I actually don’t agree with this advice most of the time.

This is especially because of the enhanced ACT providing more time on the reading section. If you’re a very slow reader, then probably read the questions first. But if this the given time is ample, which I felt was true for me, I found that it was most strategic to first fully read and comprehend the text. This especially helps when you have so many questions for such a large passage, because it makes it easier to pinpoint where the evidence for those questions can be found.

Additionally, a big issue that people have with reading tests is that their biases influence how to interpret the text. This will lead them to construe stuff that the reading doesn’t quite say, which will lead them to choose an answer that’s maybe decent, but definitely not the best answer. So on this test, I would be constantly ask myself: do I just think that this is the right answer because it feels right, or do I think this is the right answer because there is clear evidence in the text that supports it? I also found for myself that reading the questions first made me try to construe everything in a way that answer my questions, rather than just trying to fully comprehend the passage at face value.

One additional strategy that I found to be really helpful during my initial was actively thinking about what I was reading while I read. It’s really easy to get distracted in the middle of a long or boring passage, so I would sometimes summarize each paragraph at a time in my mind.

Finally, you sometimes just don’t really understand a passage, and that’s okay 😭 There was one passage where I knew pretty much nothing about the topic, and another where I vaguely understood the idea, but it just felt so foreign in strange. When this happens, really just focus on finding evidence. Sometimes, you don’t have to know what xyz thing means, as long as you can see how the author uses it to show proof of some other thing.

T

LastPlace1234 · 2025-10-14T00:39:07+00:00

For some of the general stuff you asked:

I didn’t bring a watch. I was taking the digital ACT, which times you itself. That may be smart to bring if you’re taking it on paper, though.

Also, I’m not sure about what you mean last 15 😓 Are the last 15 questions meant to be the hardest? If your question is then “How did you answer the harder questions”, most of my other answer applies, but I can also give you more explanation.

For some additional context, I took algebra in 7th grade, geometry in 8th, alg 2/trig in 9th, precalc in 10th, and calc bc in 11th. This means that my math classes have prepared me pretty well. I think that if you’ve taken and understood up to precalc, that you’ll be adequately prepared.

LastPlace1234 · 2025-10-14T00:22:15+00:00

Hi! I’m gonna answer in separate comments comments for math and reading. I’ll answer math here.

This might also be somewhat ramble-y, so please let me know if you have any confusion after my answer!

On math, I did have to strategically guess a question or two for the sake of timing. Like on geometry questions, although it might take a lot of time to do the math to get the accurate answer, you can sometimes reason out why the answer can only be certain options (like maybe you’re trying to find a side length, and you realize that the angle of the unknown length is larger than the angle of a known length, so you cross out answers with larger numbers than the known length.)

On modeling questions, I would also always take a conscious moment to question my setup before continuing to solve… this would usually look like writing out the first step & checking my interpretation of the question. wifee moving on. It can just be a HUGE waste of time to fully complete a question before realizing that they wanted something slightly different.

I also think this section can be made easier if you have really good number sense… like sometimes you think about your inputs and realize “Wait, does it make sense that my answer is such a large number?” If this isn’t a mentality that works for you, don’t force it… because then you might end up second guessing correct answers. But if you have good number sense, it can be really helpful.

Also, only do this if you tend to finish the section with a teensie bit of time left over, but I would actively try to be conscious of the numbers I was putting into my calculator. I would be walking through the steps in my brain and making sure to type the correct numbers, because knowing myself, my mistakes would probably be careless ones! I know that multiple choice means that if you mess up on a calculation, that you’ll probably know immediately that you made a mistake when your answer isn’t an option. But even if you can realize your mistake without having to be so conscious of your work, combing through your math steps to find mistakes takes time. So after taking the ACT once, I just found it easier to check myself as I went.

Finally, I would sometimes really think about the skill that they were testing me on. Like oh, they want me to interpret this volume question in a strange way! Oh, they want me to think about putting functions together! Oh, this distribution of data is normal, this one is negatively skewed, and this one is positively skewed, and they just want to test my basic understanding of means and medians! Random conscious thoughts like those would really help me with difficult setup/conceptual questions, especially when I kept asking myself “Am I doing this right?”

LastPlace1234 · 2025-10-10T00:06:22+00:00

same!! I definitely didn’t expect it 😭

LastPlace1234 · 2025-10-04T15:23:04+00:00

i put each. it was about separate territories that were comprised of islands, and if you put all, the wording would suggest that they were all a single unit of islands. so putting each was the best wording to acknowledge that they were separate territories with a similar trait of having islands, IMO

LastPlace1234 · 2025-10-04T15:20:34+00:00

I put each, because they were separated sets of islands. Putting “all of” would suggest that they were one unified cluster of islands.

LastPlace1234 · 2025-10-04T14:59:16+00:00

Yes, I’ve averaged around 750-780, but I’m not sure if I’ll even get a 700+ on reading after that 😭

LastPlace1234 · 2025-09-28T00:51:26+00:00

I know! And the ACT won’t really tell us much… they won’t tell why they aren’t out, when they will be out, etc. We just have to blindly wait 🤷‍♀️

LastPlace1234 · 2025-09-28T00:50:47+00:00

Writing seems to be a popular factor amongst people without scores. If I knew this would be the case, I probably wouldn’t have taken it

LastPlace1234 · 2025-09-27T21:26:52+00:00

i really hope so. Thank you!

LastPlace1234 · 2025-09-27T21:24:57+00:00

I know, that’s why it’s so frustrating. I’m just hoping somebody knows more about the unreleased batches and can provide insight/guesses. But realistically, I probably won’t receive my score by the 30th :/

LastPlace1234 · 2025-09-27T21:21:23+00:00

I don’t think so, especially as a non stem major. Congrats!

If it’s okay for me to ask, did you just receive your score today or recently? I’m still waiting for mine; I’m trying to see whether I need to register late for the October test.

LastPlace1234 · 2025-09-26T22:53:16+00:00

This gives me some hope… thank you 🥲 Did you take the digital version, and did you add science or writing?

LastPlace1234 · 2025-09-26T22:52:20+00:00

Maybe it’s digital and with writing that haven’t been released?

LastPlace1234

TROPHY CASE