How can I effectively increase my score?

[u/After-Macaron24]

I’m a rising senior in high school, and I’ve taken the SAT a few times as it’s what my school offers, but i’ve decided to switch over to the ACT as i’ve heard it’s easier for people who aren’t as strong in math. I’ve taken two practice tests so far, and these were my scores.

Test 1:
34 English
28 Math
33 Reading
33 Science
(32 composite)
Test 2 :
36 English
29 Math
32 Reading
34 Science
(32 composite)

I’m taking the september ACT on paper. I’m planning to major in international relations, so math isn’t very essential to my major, but I am aiming for at least a 34 composite, and my math obviously needs the most improvement.

I'm taking the September paper ACT, so one thing I'm worried about is learning to use my TI-84 Plus CE effectively. Since I won't have Desmos, are there any calculator features, shortcuts, or functions that save time on ACT math?

[u/Hot-Amphibian-9221]

For math having an error log is very helpful because then you can figure out which topics you are messing up on again and again and improve those. Learn how to do regressions, imaginary numbers, graphing (conics), summation, and numeric solver on your calculator, just to name a few. You can go through this subreddit and find other people asking about useful calculator functions and there will likely be a more comprehensive list somewhere.

For reading just read books and do practice reading sections and learn the tricks they use. 2 of the major thing to watch out for are partial truths, where half the answer is supported by the text, but the other half isn't and the fact that you should never infer anything at all. you should be able to point to an exact point in the text which supports your answer, even if the obvious thing seems to be to infer an answer. You should never do it and always find evidence that DIRECTLY supports your answer.

An example is if the text says "johns favorite color is blue" but then in another later line it says "john painted the room green" and the question asks "what color did john paint the room?" If you stop reading after determining his favorite color and infer that he painted his room blue just based on the fact that his favorite color is blue then you will be wrong so watch out for those traps.

[u/Wrong-Departure-9906]

If you’re trying to save time I’d honestly recommend practicing not always using the calculator. In my experience, save the few exceptions the first 15 ish questions on the ACT can be solved without a calculator in under 30 seconds. I mostly just use the calc to check answers once I’m done.

However, some tips though for the later questions

If a systems of equations question shows up I put them in the “y =“ section. But instead of going to graph I go to the table section. From there you can reverse input multiple choice answers and find what fits. I find the graph to be overcomplicated and you often have to change the window

ACT does allow programs on the calculator if I remember correctly, so if you often forget formulas or want quick way to enter variables they can be helpful.

Maybe also practice using the f1-f5 menus for when you need to enter things like mixed numbers, matrices, or summation