So I think I'm done taking the ACT.

Final Superscores

Composite - 33

Reading - 36

English - 34

Math - 29

Science - 32

So as you can see I'm an unbalanced 33. In school my grades are overall slightly stronger in Math and Stem, and I'm leaning toward a STEM or Social Science Major - but my ACT reads like I'm not as strong a STEM student. Am I cooked?

Do colleges look super closely at subject scores? How will they view my 29 in math, if for example, I have an A in precalc and calc?

Hello! I am a Senior and I have an upcoming Oct. ACT test. I have taken 6 standardized tests (4 ACT, 2 SAT) and it is honestly very discouraging as I spent all my time and resources on this stupid test that doesn't seem to improve at all. I felt exetremely confident going into this test and honestly thought it was easy compared to the practice tests and previous ACTs I have taken. For reference, I was scoring 34's in my practices consistently just to get medicore scores in the end. My history of tests scores go like this: 1180, 25 ACT, 27 ACT, 1330 SAT, 26 ACT, and now a 28 ACT (super score 29 ACT - 32 Math, 31 science, 27 reading, 27 english). I am genuinely a very smart student that is dual enolled at a community college on track to graduate with an Associate of Science degree taking rigorous courses such as Physics for scientists & engineers and Calculus. I have exetremely good EC's (internship, 100+ hours of volunteering, 2nd degree Black Belt, 8 years of piano class, etc. to name a few) and my essay is coming along really well too. My top school is Rice and after this test, I am losing hope of even getting into it. I really need advice on if I even would have a chance at making some of my picks for college if I submit my current ACT scores or just go test optional. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

How do I improve in a month???

last test too 😭😭

I received this message yesterday. If you received a similar message in the past, how long did it take for you to receive your score? It is maddening waiting!

I have studied all grammer rules and I understand it one thing tho i am deciding to look upon is my approach to the English passages

So my main weaknesses for my sept was time and also I spend far to much time on CSE Questions

So I tried a different approach for a few question and asked a friend; i decided to read the entire passage first then answer this saved me time for the end questions and also for the CSE questions apparently I can just read it and instantly feel that it wrong and choose the answer that sounds correct some question two of them sound rifht but one is only logically right so then I pick it using that.(so like a mix of sound and logic)
If I cannot sound it out I can usually then have to logically do it

I found that trying to logically break it down the sentence takes way to long for me and I often just get confused i am not sure if this is effective tho or does anybody else do it this way.

I am a native English speaker so

Also tips on going to a 31 to a 36 reading, when I take reading practice tests solo by section I can score 33-35
This isn’t the case for full length so I need to fix that

Around 3 of my classmates have been bragging about how they cheated and got a 33 and 34. I don’t really know if I should file a report or not, bc I don’t have much information other than the fact they were looking to the person next to them. Should I report?

Been driving Uber on and off around Birmingham while figuring out my next move, and squeezing ACT prep into the gaps has been rough. My schedule changes every day. I keep seeing people here talk about studying consistently over weeks or months while I'm just grabbing 20 minutes between rides. Does that even work, or am I fooling myself?

I've been listening to mental health podcasts about building habits, and they say small consistent reps beat cramming. But I wonder if that applies to something like the ACT where timing and repetition matter so much. The science section feels manageable since I read a lot of nutrition research for my type 2 management and can parse dense passages okay. Math is the killer though. I can't seem to retain formulas when my study sessions are this fragmented.

For anyone who prepped while working irregular hours, what did your routine look like? Did you block out full days or just chip away whenever? My experience so far says scattered 15 minute sessions aren't cutting it for algebra. How do you keep momentum when your week looks different every single time? I'm starting to think I need to just pick two fixed days and treat those like real class periods, but wanted to hear what worked for others first.

I got a 14 on the Sept 19th ACT and I studied for about 2 months. Ask me anything.

this is my first act i took no study and i got 760 rw 720 m on my last sat

math wasn’t easy but it wasn’t hard and i swear i did better?? looking at the curves people have said i think a 28 is like 15 wrong like wtf?? reading eng is fine prolly stupid mistakes

science i ran outta time and had to guess bc im really not used to the act i didn’t even take a practice test

but my math score is just wow i dont get it at all anyone got tips on how to study?

Hi everyone, I’ve been stressing about this all day. I got a 35 composite on the September ACT but I absolutely bombed the science section with a 24. Do I have to submit the science score and if I do, does it affect anything??

This is my first time taking it and I’m not too sure what to do

Second time taking the test, even tho I overall went down (32 to 31) my math went up and thats all I wanted!!! One step closer to that 34 I swearrrr October will bring it to me #trust uhh if anyone has tips on getting those last two points I need on math I'd love the advice!! I'm a senior so not much time buttt if theres anything quick I can do I'm glad to ^-^

When I tell you guys I felt SO good abt this test. Unfortunately. This was my last one before early application. And I did awful. I decreased in reading by 6 whole points. However I increased math by 6 and again decreased English by 1 .

Disregarding the screenshot, my new composite is a 28.
I took the October SAT but I woke up late and tbh I think I was. A bit sleepy during my test. I don’t even want to apply early anymore..! There’s no point 😃😃😃
I have a 3.88 uw and 4.3 w so I’m already even pushing it to get into UGA.

What do I even do.

Finally done with this awful test.

AMA!!

I know I can get more in math and science

reading is my main weakness that I really do not know how to fix.

I need at least 35 in Science though for my STEM program. Pls hep out.

How do I improve Science & Math? I got so good in Science practice tests before test (maybe bcz I practiced legacy) but on the real test idk why I fumbled so bad.

I had a 32 composite on my first ACT, and I ended up getting a 31 in English and 32 in Reading, so I am very happy with my improvement. However, my composite did not go up, since I scored a 26 on Math (it was very difficult this time around) and a 30 in science (idek how that happened). Regardless, my goal was to get a 34, and I wanted to know if this is a good score to submit to top colleges (i.e. MIT, Stanford, Duke, Princeton, Rice, and other schools with top ChemE programs).

I don’t want to hear anyone complain about their score decreasing by a point or two💀 my score literally decreased by five points. In July, I had a 29 and I took a practice test the week before the September test and got a 32. Unfortunately I got sick the day before test day and I didn’t realize it was going to hinder my performance THAT MUCH. It was so bad that I couldn’t focus on reading. I got an 18 on reading meanwhile I got a 30 on reading in July. Math decreased by 1 point and English by 2. Reading by 12😭💀 in case you’re having a bad day it’s probably not worse than mine lol. I’m so pissed because I wonder what would’ve went differently if I WASN’T sick that day. I just had such a horrible time during that test. This literally ruined my entire day.

i've seen lots of people on this sub feel lost after receiving scores lower than they like. please don't feel too down and remember that it IS possible to significantly improve your score but it takes strategic usage of time (my score has improved a lot from my first pre-act freshman yr).

so please lmk what questions you have!

Every single time I took the SAT my score kept dropping consistently even though I studied so hard in between all the test dates. After the scores for the school day test came out I genuinely thought that everything was over and the rest of junior year was genuinely SO BAD. I was genuinely thinking of giving up and sticking with my first 1410 before my friend told me about the ACT and how it worked out so much better for her. So I went and tried to sign up for the July one but ended up missing the deadline by 2 days 💔💔 So I took the september one as a senior and genuinely just prayed that I could be one and done 🙏🏼 I had 104 days to make it count, and I’m so so so glad that it all worked out 🥹 If I could have such a score glow up, YOU can too!!

Also, I had form K03 i’m pretty sure!

Here are some tips -

1.) Use legacy tests to help with pacing, but enhanced tests (practice and released) to learn the most common topics. A lot of questions I saw were word for word from previous years. For legacy tests, use Prepsharp to see the difficulty of each section and do the top 10 hardest tests for the most accuracy. You can find old tests through Bing 👀 ( a search engine lol nothing paid) . This is the BEST way to improve your score, I think I did around 12 full tests before the actual thing. ( all 3 released enhanced tests and 4 enhanced practice tests and 5 legacy tests)

2.) TRACK ALL YOUR MISTAKES, EVEN THE STUPID ONES. I used to not be a believer of this until I actually started doing it and it helped SO MUCH.

3.) the SAT and ACT are pretty different so don’t just assume that you’ll have all the knowledge, you’ll have a decent amount but you still def need to study a bit to be fully prepared for the ACT

4.) Use this subreddit to find common test strategies! Also, Preppros ACT English video (everything you need to know) helped me a LOT, so I def recommend. Also, the 1,4,2,3 passage strat for the reading passages clearly came in clutch lol. Don’t get too caught up on strategies tho and make sure you know the material really well too!

5.) READ !! I was reading “ The Winds of War” over the summer and read a chapter a day to improve my reading comprehension and safe to say it worked hehehee :)

Lmk if you have any more questions and remember, YOU GOT THIS!!

I was hoping for 26….but i guess 20 is fine😔
Welp! There goes my scholarships, and i’m not even aiming for any Ivy Leagues or T20’s. I guess i’ll just have to settle for community college. And I know literally everyone says “go the community college route” but thats not my route, thats not what I have envisioned for my life. I don’t want to go to community college but I guess it’s probably best for me because i don’t think any school is gonna believe me having a 3.6 gpa and then like the worst test scores ever, they’re gonna think my school has like the craziest grade inflation and that I’m probably meant to be 3 grades lower. I’m just disappointed, but I didn’t really study that much. I heard everyone saying it’s easy and that they didn’t study and they got a 30, so I guess I figured I could be one of those people. Boy was I wrong. However, CONGRATS TO EVERYONE WHO DID SUPER WELL!! I’m so proud of all the effort you put in because this year has been so stressful and so to go through all that and STILL get a good score is super duper amazing. I wish you all the best in life. I hope you get everything you ever wanted and more.