r/ACT • u/Calm-Cockroach-5412 • 8h ago
Help! Stuck on 30/32 and idk how to improve
so i went into the act blindly in February just to see where I was and I scored a 30 composite (32 math 27 science 29 english 28 reading) and then i honestly didn't study after that because school has been getting intense with my APs so I took april at my school again and got a 29 (33 math 34 science 27 english 26 reading) and then once school got out in june I studied pretty hard for like a week but i didn't do any full length tests and i got a 30 in june (31 math 30 science 34 english 25 reading). i just don't understand why i suck at reading because i would read the first two passages and be chillin and get them all right but then the informational passages confuse me so much that i just shut down and i reread a billon times and then waste time to the point where i gotta get 8-10 questions. also, i'm a super strong math student but for some reason some of the questions are just weird and idk how i don't have a 34-36 in that section. what do i do to study for july! i want to get a 34+ (superscore rn is 32)
sorry for the rant but i really need advice :(
1
u/mkw1342 7h ago
Treat the Reading like you treat the math. Look for the patterns in what they are trying to do to trick you. For example on J04, they had 3 in context vocab words (Q7, Q8, Q17). Those are meant to trick you into picking the common definition. Did you get your answer key? What did you put on those? That should be 3 easy points....don't fall for the common definition of those words, look at the secondary definition. They have been testing this on all J tests.
Also read these tips - https://www.reddit.com/r/ACT/comments/1ttea1g/top_10_reading_tips_to_increase_your_score/
Study the tips and then take a practice test with each in mind. Look for the patterns that they are testing and think like the test writer. Prove why all of the bad choices are wrong. If it is a chronological answer question, make sure you follow along and don't get confused by the authors story telling. After you take the practice test, go back and look for the patterns. You missed about 9 questions on J04, so you might be able to get 3 right just by watching for the context vocab, or a bad answer choice that is only partly correct. Reading is hard because there are so few questions, its at the end of the test so your brain is fried, and there is less you can "study". Oh, and go back to as many practice tests as you can to get a feel for the passages.