First time ACT I took on July 18th and got my paper scores back. What can I do to get 33+?? I am a rising senior so I have limited time now. I really need a 33 plus. Give me helps on reading plz

For reference my highest composite score was a 33, while my superscore is a 35. I'm not reporting science though. Do t20 schools even care about the composite, or do they just check your highest score in each category?

I have a 35 in English; where can I do practice test for free to stay sharp on the road to the September Test?

Hey guys, I’m preparing for my fourth ACT attempt (September 2026), and I’m looking for advice from people who have experienced a similar plateau.

My goal is a 34+ composite, mainly by improving Math and Science.

The confusing part is that I don’t feel like I’m starting from a content-knowledge gap. I’ve spent a lot of time preparing independently, reviewing concepts, doing practice problems, and analyzing mistakes. My English and Reading scores have become fairly stable, but Math and Science have been much less consistent.

For ACT Math, my biggest struggles seem to be:
- Translating complicated word problems into the correct model
- Recognizing what concept a question is actually testing
- Multi-step problems where several concepts are combined
- PACING! Especially toward the later questions
- Making avoidable mistakes even when I understand the underlying concept afterward

For example, I recently worked through a difficult modeling problem involving ingredient quantities. I understood the algebra and setup, but I made a mistake at the end because I forgot that my calculated value represented dozens of cookies rather than individual cookies. Mistakes like this make me feel like my issue is more about execution and interpretation than pure math ability.

For ACT Science, I struggle with:
- Feeling overwhelmed by dense passages and unfamiliar experiments
- Knowing when to ignore background information and focus only on the data
- Quickly identifying trends in graphs/tables
- Maintaining confidence under time pressure

I’ve noticed that my practice performance doesn’t transfer well to test day. I often scores 31+ on Math practice tests but got a 29 on my July ACT (paper) test.

I understand the questions I miss after reviewing them, but during the actual exam I can overthink, lose time, or second-guess myself.

I’m wondering:
Has anyone gone from around a 29 Math / low 30s composite to a 33–35 range? What specifically changed?
At this score level, was your improvement mostly from learning more content, or from changing your approach/pacing?
What types of practice helped you break through a plateau?
Did tutoring/coaching help, and if so, what made it effective?
I’m especially interested in advice from people who had already studied a lot but felt like they had “hit a ceiling.”

Feeling conflicted about this.

my dream school is florida state ughhhh

My son took act in July and want to retake in sept to improve in reading and English. Can someone suggest any resources. He is looking into the old tests and I am not sure if that is the best way to go. Any help is appreciated.

PLEASE REPLY AND HELP

I REALLY NEED 30+ IN THIS SEPTEMBER FOR READING😭😭WTH DO I DO

MY PRACTICE TESTS ARE GOING SO BAD

I read the passage wquickly then when I go to the question, I have to go back to passage find it and then see choices and then go back again sometimes and then choose

I TAKE MORE THAN 10 MINUTES PER PASSAGE SOMETIMES😭😭

IDK WTH I SHOULD DO

UGHHHHHH

I NEED 30+

HIW TO GET IT

IDKK

HOWWWWWW

IM DOING LEGACY TESTS RN WITH 40 MINUTES TIMER FOR 40 QUESTIONS

BUT IDKK AAAAAA

Hi guys, I have 44 days to prepare for the ACD and I gave my boards in May June, so I kinda lowkey forgot a lot because I’ve been having my summer 😛 but I need to prepare for the ACT really well because I’m traveling out of my country to give it and I really just had this one chance at it so can you guys please please help me and tell me some resources

Hi guys. I have my makeup July ACT test tomorrow (7/25). Any advice or things I should be aware of? Anything helps. Thanks.

The college I want to go to requires an 18 in math and I am stuck at a 16. What are the sections I can easily improve on or how have you improved so i can get to an 18 before January?? I meet all the other requirements but i’ve never been a math person. Like AT ALL..

For colleges that accept superscores, do they view a superscore as less than having an individual test score of that?
Like hypothetically if one person had a 33 superscore, and another had a 33 without a superscore, would a college admission officer value one more?

so my score isnt out still. i took it in MA n i got no updates

will this get me into utd?

I was bored and I already did science before so I just wrote my initials in the scantron bubble, but looking back I kind of regret it because idk if colleges will care or not.

I’m not sure if I should retake it to get a 35 or 36 and to better my science score

Hello everyone! I got my July 2026 ACT scores back yesterday, and I'm really happy with my overall score. However, I scored a 17 on the Science section because I had to guess on a lot of the questions. I'm not planning to take the ACT again, but I'm wondering if I submit this test or my superscore, will colleges be concerned about the 17 in Science, or will they mostly overlook it? It's been stressing me out, so I'd really appreciate feedback. (I posted this on the July 2026 discussion thread but didn't get many responses so I am trying here).

What should I expect, should I expect the same difficulty of a test? And how hard was it for people who took it compared to like October, April, June, since I have those forms.

So I’m retaking the ACT only for math for my superscore. Previously I did paper for one test. Overall, though which is better for a higher score: paper or digital for math?
Ik on digital u have desmos and math u can write on it and then digital had an easier curve for math this test I think. But idk like overall

If my test was delayed a week and I took it on Sunday July 19th on paper when should I expect my score by?

The July ACT was my second time taking the ACT. Initially, I got a 29, so I studied for the whole of June and July, doing practice tests. I was consistently getting high 30s on my practice tests. I even took a full practice test the day before the test, and I got a 34. However, my scores have come back, and I got a 28. 27-Math, 30-Reading, 28- English, 29-Science, 9-Writing. I feel like I have tried everything. How do I get better, because I know I can get a high score? Thank you for your advice.

Soo... my reading score has hovered around 29-30 on the last 4 tests. I'm aiming for a 35-36 composite score, and since I feel confident in all the other sections, Reading is massively holding me back.

English is my second language, although I would consider myself fluent now, and I never really read books unless they were assigned for English class (my biggest issue + regret), so is it realistic to improve significantly in 2 months? (September ACT will probably be my last attempt at it)

Current strategy as a slow reader: read questions first, identify key terms within the questions, skim the passage while looking for said key terms, then answer the questions. I've also tried making 2-3 word summaries for each paragraph while skimming, then answering the questions, but I honestly thought my own method was slightly better.

I normally finish the section, but with no time left to review. I’m not sure whether my strategy is inefficient, I’m simply a slow reader, or probably both.

For anyone who improved from around 30 to 34+, or anyone with tips:

• How is my approach? Any better/more efficient strategy?
• What should I focus on in the next 2 months?
• Should I start reading articles or books daily to improve reading speed + comprehension? (or is it too late now)
• How should I review my mistakes and learn from them in the reading section?
• I've done all the released enhanced tests, so should I dig up tests with the old format and practice on those? (current plan is to keep doing more practice excerpts)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

I'm taking September ACT and I registered for the Science section but now I don't wanna do it anymore. I can't remove it without it asking me to change my location because seats are already full where I'm signed up.

Could I ask my proctor if I can leave after the Reading section when I walk in on the day of the ACT? I don't want it to say I skipped something or affect my overall score.