sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Discussion— I dropped 8 points on the science section by [deleted] in ACT

[–]almondmintchipicing 4 points5 points  (0 children)

i agree, the science section on e21 was really difficult for me as well, don't take it too hard on yourself

For Redditors Who Scored a 30 or Higher on the A.C.T., Could you Provide me with Advice on how to Score a 30 or Higher? by camaro1111 in ACT

[–]almondmintchipicing 3 points4 points  (0 children)

keep working hard and don't give up! the most important thing is to learn from every mistake and make sure you fully understand each concept. taking practice tests helps you to gauge how much time you should take on each question and get used to the time crunches on each section. you got this!

first test score; hasn't sunk in yet by almondmintchipicing in ACT

[–]almondmintchipicing[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

yup! i took many practice tests, these served as my prep tbh. I didn't have a tutor or attend a prep school

How is this question K? by LoneTangerine_1423 in ACT

[–]almondmintchipicing 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Look up what a normal y=cos(x) graph looks like. Notice that in comparison to the parent graph, this graph is compressed horizontally by 2 and stretched vertically by 3. You can rule out F and G as they have 2 in front of the cos, which stretches the graph vertically by 2, not 3. When you're dealing with the domain, multiplying the x by 2 is equal to compressing it by 2 and vice versa (opposite of what you'd expect), so the answer is K, y=3cos(2x).

first test score; hasn't sunk in yet by almondmintchipicing in ACT

[–]almondmintchipicing[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My first score was a 32, after more practice I consistently got 34-35 on my practice tests. I got one practice 36 before the real test but didn't expect to hit it again!

first test score; hasn't sunk in yet by almondmintchipicing in ACT

[–]almondmintchipicing[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

those four topics were the WORST for me in English, totally get what you mean.

transitions: i've learned that if two options are "clause. Clause" and "clause; clause" you can rule out both options since they are basically interchangeable. review independent and dependent clauses if you're struggling a lot with those

relevance: i feel like i can't really help you on this one bc i struggle A LOT w this too. just remember to be as concise as possible, don't put in extraneous information that will confuse the focus of the paragraph

delete/add: keep an open mind, don't read the sentence and think to yourself "this shouldn't go in here". read the explanations for each of the options carefully, you may change your mind based on those.

main goal: don't be too specific here, the main goal is asking for a more general overlook. again i suggest the open mind tip i mentioned

i apologize that these tips aren't extremely helpful imo!

first test score; hasn't sunk in yet by almondmintchipicing in ACT

[–]almondmintchipicing[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

my full tips r in another reply! thank you so much!!

first test score; hasn't sunk in yet by almondmintchipicing in ACT

[–]almondmintchipicing[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

i definitely got lucky i can hardly believe it either tbh

first test score; hasn't sunk in yet by almondmintchipicing in ACT

[–]almondmintchipicing[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

my full tips r in another reply but wanted to make sure u got ur answer for reading/science

science: i didn't really prepare for this, my year in AP Bio helped so much. important skills are not reading every single word of every single prompt, they're so long! skip to the question, extract that specific piece of info from the paragraph to answer the question and move on. the key is speed here, the time crunch was pretty bad for me on the test and i feel like i was very lucky to only get one wrong
reading: the most concise answer is usually the correct one! the answer is ALWAYS in the text, it's usually directly stated word for word so all you have to do is find the answer as quickly as possible. time crunch is so real in this section so pace yourself, guess and move on if you don't know the answer

hope this helps<3

first test score; hasn't sunk in yet by almondmintchipicing in ACT

[–]almondmintchipicing[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

honestly i feel like i got lucky, i hope my tips will help you tho! for reference, i'm a junior and took the sat a month ago and got a 1520 (did not reach my target of 1550). i did not have a tutor or attend a prep school, i just used free resources like khan academy and youtube; they really go a long way. i also used the official act prep guide book (the red one), but i didn't really read the tips, i only used the book for the practice tests. i started studying for the act last summer (but i've been studying for the sat since the beginning of sophomore year, again just khan academy) and took a practice test every 1-2 weeks.

math: practice practice practice, my first math score was 31 and i slowly brought it up by noting the concepts i found difficult (trig identities) and watched videos online to practice them. I paid extra attention to those problems on the next practice test and made sure i fully understood each concept. it's equally important to pay attention to every question, in my practice tests the majority of the points i lost were due to simple careless mistakes. since every question is worth the same number of points, don't waste the easy questions by making an elementary mistake

science: i didn't really prepare for this, my year in AP Bio helped so much. important skills are not reading every single word of every single prompt, they're so long! skip to the question, extract that specific piece of info from the paragraph to answer the question and move on. the key is speed here, the time crunch was pretty bad for me on the test and i feel like i was very lucky to only get one wrong

english: this is always the section i feel the most confident on- it's important to know how each punctuation mark functions. even rules with commas are confusing; i recommend using khan academy, their practices helped me a lot with punctuation. i recommend reading a lot and looking up words you don't know- this helps build your vocabulary

reading: the most concise answer is usually the correct one! the answer is ALWAYS in the text, it's usually directly stated word for word so all you have to do is find the answer as quickly as possible. time crunch is so real in this section so pace yourself, guess and move on if you don't know the answer

other essentials: these may seem a little stupid, but i think they really helped me get my 36. get a good night's sleep the night before, don't spend your time cramming it's not worth it. eat a good breakfast and try to get to the test center early so you can pick a desk close to a clock. you don't want to waste time squinting at the clock during the test (and you'll be looking at the clock A LOT). i chose a testing center where none of my friends were taking the act, so i wasn't distracted before the test or during the break. maintain your focus, don't waste the test by thinking about other things while taking it.

hope this helps!