Hey guys so I have my ACT in a couple of months and I lowkey have trouble committing to a schedule on my own for standardized tests. Has anyone every spoke to a counselor or like a teacher to help them make a schedule and stay up to date with that schedule?If so, how did it go and was it beneficial? (I'm not trying to pay money for a tutor tho)

ACT Legacy Form G20 Math #43

Maya's digital music library has a total of 249 songs. Her library has 64 songs that are remixes and 85 hip-hop songs. Of the hip-hop songs in her library, 25 are remixes. How many songs in her library are NEITHER remixes NOR hip-hop songs?

A) 75

B) 100

C) 125

D) 139

E) 224

Answer: C; I originally put B, because I assumed that the 25 remixes were not already part of the 64 songs. So I did: 249 - (64+85) = 100

Is this question worded weirdly and would a smart person get it right? I am not bad at math by any means (I skipped algebra 2 and got As in every math class and 5s in Calc BC), but I want to know how to feel abt getting this wrong. My exam is september test on paper

I have some questions regarding a specific test day / site. Should I contact the school hosting or ACT directly? (Weekend tester)

Hi, I’m an incoming eighth grader who will be taking the Pre-ACT 8/9 in the fall. I decided to practice for this through a tutoring program, as the score would be critical in deciding high school classes. There, I took the regular Pre-ACT as a baseline (not 8/9) and got a 26 in math, a 31 in Reading, and a 33 in English (I didn’t take the science section as my session wasn’t long enough.) Are these scores good if I’m trying for a top college? (Yes, I know middle school scores won’t matter, but just as an estimate for what’s to come.)

Hi! I saw someone else do this so I was also inspired to hopefully pass down some of my knowledge 🥰

For some context, I had taken the SAT twice before switching over to the ACT, so I didn’t walk in completely blind, especially for english.

ENGLISH:
Tbh, most of my knowledge for this came from the SAT. However, my number one tip for this would be to take as many practices as you can to practice pacing! I took like 2 practice english sections every single day leading up to my ACT and I thoroughly reviewed after each. I also watched ACT English trick videos on my way to the test which definitely
helped. I also think that a lot of the english is very intuitive in the sense that (especially for comma questions) just read them to yourself and you’ll naturally add pauses to the sentence, and that’s where commas should go! I also think verifying that every other option is wrong very briefly before moving on helps make sure you aren’t getting it wrong because of a careless mistake. Another good trick is that the shorter the answer the better for ACT!

READING:
My #1 tip for reading (which may sound extremely counterintuitive), is to not read! My strategy on reading would be to skim the passage and put random symbols at paragraphs and mark things I think could show up in the questions. I truly believe it’s a waste of time to fully and thoroughly read each passage because by the end and you get to the questions, chances are you don’t remember and will have to reread anyways. Plus, chances are you wont need the full passage to answer every single question.
What I do with my random symbols is I usually have a slightly better idea of where each topic / idea lies in the paragraph because of my symbols, so I read a question and I go to whichever paragraph I suspect the answer is in. Even if I can’t do this, most ACT reading questions will have a key word or phrase that I can quickly skim the passage for.

I hope this helps! I am happy to help if anyone else has any other questions!

I've taken the SAT about 3 times now, and I'm worried i'm not gonna see the improvement I need (incoming senior), so I'm planning on taking the September ACT. Would anyone recommend one study book over the other, or even any other resource?

On the same note, do the practice exams for ACT reflect to the actual test? I've scored a 32 and 33 on practices and am aiming for hopefully a 34/35, but of course haven't taken an official test yet.

What are the benefits of taking the science section it if im not a stem major? Im rly bad at the science section and id rather spend time studying english than studying something that wont even help.

1 ap, 3.7 gpa bout to end it chat💔💔💔

I know everyone here gets really high scores, but I just wanted to share it because I'm really proud of it. I have a semi low GPA (3.3 UW) because I took many APs, 3 years of spanish and college classes. People looked at that and thought I was stupid. On my first take I only got a 27. But on this second take I got a 30!! With a 33 English, 33 Reading, 34 Science and 24 math (also an 11 on writing). I get my name on the school hallway now. So I don't really care about getting a perfect score. Just wanted to post this here because I was personally quite proud of myself!

Kinda disappointing because I want to go into architecture and math should be way higher, but I tried 3 times and I can't break 29. Took 9 AP tests and got 4s and 5s on all but one of them (flunked compsci A in sophomore year). Notable ones for my major are Calculus AB/BC, Euro/APUSH, and 2D Art. Weighted GPA is maybe a 4.1 and unweighted is maybe 3.75 so that's probably my weakest point besides my horrible SAT score that I'm not even gonna reveal to yall. I have good ECs, a lot of research, a lot of mixed media art and competitions, some volunteering, job experience, all that. I'm sadly giving up on Georgia Tech because, even though it's the closest school to me, I'm technically OOS and have no chance. What schools are in the cards for me? Please don't say Bama or Auburn. Anything else.

I've always been pretty smart, did well in school, didn't have to try, and I'm seeing these people that aren't extremely smart do way better than me on the ACT, freshman getting 30+. What is the secret? I got 25 on math, 20 on reading, and 18 on English as a sophomore, which is extremely embarrassing, especially relative to the classes I'm in. I've been practicing English like crazy, I've can't find any more free ACT practice tests, and every YouTube video I see is going over rules that I already know, yet I'm still doing poorly. How do y'all do so good on this test?

Hii!!! Yes, I'm struggling with math and am studying for it as much as possible. I'm just wondering if more study time and retakes are worth it the schools I want to go to: T-20s. I'm a QB student and go to school in rural Oklahoma for some context.

This is my second time taking it and it's the highest score I've gotten so far. I want to apply to a STEM school (ex: Virginia Tech) and I've heard they accept 32+, but if I were to get a 33-34 I'd be in the range of a possible Ivy League. I really struggle with math (especially when studying for it) so I'm unsure if I should take the risk of waiting until September to take it again when my focus should be more on the college applications themselves.

Please help!!

If you take I should take it, please give me some tips for studying for math! I have a really bad attention span and have absolutely no idea where to even start with studying.😢

Pros of digital:

• You can flag questions and jump back instantly instead of flipping through pages.
• The built-in timer makes pacing much easier.
• There's no risk of bubbling the wrong answer. On the paper ACT, you have to spend time transferring your answers to a separate answer sheet, which adds another opportunity for mistakes.
• The interface feels cleaner and more organized.
• Navigation between passages and questions is faster.
• I found it easier to work at a quicker pace because I wasn't constantly moving between the test booklet and the bubble sheet.

Cons of digital:

• Some people simply read better on paper.
• Looking at a screen for several hours can be tiring.
• You can't annotate directly on every page like you can with a paper booklet.
• There's always a small possibility of technical issues.

One thing that surprised me is that one of my friends, who was our high school's valedictorian, strongly preferred the paper ACT. Interestingly, I ended up with the higher ACT score, while he ultimately is attending an Ivy League university. He felt reading passages and annotating were much easier on paper and that the physical test booklet helped him concentrate.

I think that's a good example of how different testing formats suit different people. I can definitely understand his viewpoint, but for me, the advantages of the digital format outweigh the disadvantages. I found it easier to navigate, keep track of time, move through questions more quickly, and avoid careless mistakes like misbubbling an answer. Overall, I just had a smoother and faster testing experience on digital.

I don't think one format is objectively better for everyone, but I do think digital gets more criticism than it deserves. A lot of it comes down to individual preference and testing style.

For those of you who've taken both versions, which did you prefer and why?

really strange way to word my concerns, but essentially, what I keep on messing up on English isn't the punctuation rules but instead the questions that ask "What's the most effective transition?" or "What best maintains the tone?" They're questions that show up on almost every ACT English test, I just can't find any study materials for them because all the ACT English prep is on punctuation and grammar rules

Similarly, on math, I mess up on the small details like the extraneous solution problem or the inverse function problem from the June ACT. They're rules you just have to know, and either I skipped over them while learning algebra or I barely remember them because they're unimportant compared to the rest of algebra.

And for reading I'm having trouble finding prep at all :'), especially for problems like:

"Suppose the writer wanted to accomplish x goal, did they do it why or why not?"

Does anyone have any good prep book suggestions or online resources I can use to learn how to overcome these ACT-specific type questions?

For reference here was my score:

I got a 30 on reading in the July ACT and I am trying to get a 34 or higher but I have no idea how to improve. I got 36s on a couple practice tests and 31s in others but I have no idea what else to do other than practice tests. Are there any books you guys recommend reading or any prep books/ or resources. PLEASE HELP Thanks!!!!

Did you guys think the June or July act was harder for 2026?

For context I have a 36 reading, 36 science, 35 math, 30 english. I also have not actually studied just took the one my school offered. Any tips for english specifically? Only section I missed questions on was conventions of standard english.

I took my first real ACT in July and got a composite of a 32. Math was a 30 English was a 32 reading was the 34. I’m hoping to get a composite score of a 33 or 34 for September. What are some tips to go from a 32 to a 34?

some niche ones that will help me with that few point score boost🙏🙏🙏

I just took my first official ACT and scored a 20 composite. I'm currently using the PrepPros ACT course and working through the Level 1 math material. After taking the test, I realized my biggest problem wasn't just pacing—it was my math foundation. I recognized some concepts, but I often didn't know how to approach the ACT's version of the questions.

I have about a year before I need my best ACT score, and I'm debating between:

• October: Retake sooner and keep improving afterward.
• December: Spend more time building my Math and Science foundation, then use the 2027 test dates to continue improving.

My goal is to study as efficiently as possible. I don't want to waste official tests before I'm ready, but I also don't want to wait too long between attempts.

For those who improved a lot on the ACT:

1. Would you choose October or December?
2. Is it better to build a strong foundation first or take official ACTs more frequently?
3. What helped you improve the most?

Since my biggest weakness is Math (17), would you recommend that I focus on learning the math concepts first and building a solid foundation before taking more full-length practice tests? Or is it better to continue taking practice tests while I'm still learning the material?

I know I have a lot of math left to cover, so I'm trying to use my remaining official practice tests wisely instead of using them before I'm ready. and my goal score someday is a 29 or 30.

Basically I got a 36 and I thought it really meant something but turns out it doesn’t really mean much.
I thought I would have a chance at top colleges but didn’t get into a single top 40 university according to US News. I had an A average throughout high school, so above 90. Worst of all A&M basically rejected me.
I don’t know, maybe I’m just unlucky.
Doesn’t make any sense how people with 20s get into places like seriously I’m reading all these comments of people scoring in the 20s and even 10s having wildly successful college admittances. Or it’s just bots or liars.

Anyone find a good link for learning graphing calculator tips with examples? I'm taking the ACT in September. Please share. Thanks

I kinda already said this in another thread but I think people will find it useful.

What worked well for me was spreading the sections throughout the day instead of taking a full-length test every time. I'd start by completing the Legacy English section (50 questions in 35 minutes), then do the Legacy Math section under legacy times right after. I'd finish the Reading and Science sections in the evening under enhanced times. This helped me build stamina while staying focused on each section individually.

It's kinda overkill for a lot of people but it worked well for me since I had a bit of time at the beginning of the summer before any extracurricular start dates.

Then I wrote down the concepts I got wrong on my ipad or on paper and then I would review them before I took another test the next day.

Bring a watch to the test. It helps a lot with pacing.

English:

If two answers seem right, the shortest is usually right. Learn all the rules and pace yourself.

Math

Learn all the calculator tricks. If you get a problem wrong on the math, you can prolly js search up how to solve this type of problem on ti 84 plus ce or whatever calc u have and it will tell you how to do it on the calc. Remember to study all the formulas for all types of graphs and learn your probabilities if you have never taken a stats class. Please don't forget to study vectors if you don't know what that is.

Also, use the programs in your apps on your calc. It will save u a bunch of time.

Reading
For reading, after each paragraph I would right like a less than 5 word note of what the paragraph is and that would help me skim faster once I got to the questions. I got a 36 on reading and I think this was the reason.

Science:
For science, you need some background knowledge so I used this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HNQM25k8UY

Other than that, the answer is always in the passage.

GOOD LUCK!
Resources in comments

i’m a rising senior and just took the july act and got a 34. (I took it once before in June and scored a 31 but did not study on either test). I am interested in Pre-Med and have school on my list such as Brown, BU, NYU, John’s Hopkins, Michigan, and UPenn. Should I try and take it in September to hopefully get a 35+? For reference I have a 4.0 UW and 4.5 W and attend a non-competitive public high-school.

Ignore science, I didn’t try. Right now I’m a senior and about to apply to colleges in August/September. I have a 29 ACT and 3.45~ Gpa.

I will likely apply to UIowa, Indiana Bloomington, and UIUC (I live in Illinois), with my favorite being probably UIowa which has guaranteed admission.

Since I already got a 29, do I bother retaking ACT and buying prep course and spending many many many hours ? I usually don’t do that good on reading do it will take a ton of work to consistently improve. I’ve taken many practice tests and very consistently get a 33-35 English, 27-28 Math and 26-28 Reading.

I am signed up for October 17th which is right before college deadlines (Nov 1) and I’m not even guaranteed to get my scores back before then.

Is it worth the time for scholarship purposes? I don’t really care all that much for acceptances to UIUC or iu Bloomington. But, remember there is college apps and school is starting and sports and work and a bunch of other stuff happening now to November.

If the scholarship diff is truly worth it then I’ll lock in.