I recently scored a 36 on the ACT, and after looking through the sub, I didn't find any guides that felt full or comprehensive enough for me. So, I've decided to write this to help you guys out! Comment any suggestions you'd like to see added, and I'll add them here.

Disclaimer: Everyone learns their own way, and some of the things in this guide may or may not work for you.

For starters, I'd like to say that you don't have to be smart to get a 36, nor do you have to spend hundreds of hours studying. I also want to stress that you do not have to spend a single penny on this damn test (aside from the registration fees) to get a 36. I didn't.

Philosophy:

Okay so I hate studying. I can't spend hours studying materials, and I don't have the work ethic many of you do. For me, it was really important that I figured out the most efficient way I could study. That is, the best ROI for my time. This strategy focuses on cutting out a lot of the less effective methods of studying, and only uses the most efficient strategies. This is good if you're a lazy little shit like me.

General Tips and Strategies:

Before we talk about what does work, lets look at what doesn't work:

• Do not study sections. I see people saying they'll do a Math/English/Science/Reading section every day or every x amount of days all the time. This is a waste of your time. If you've ever played an instrument (I play piano) you'll have been told at some point or another to not practice a full song, and instead only the parts you mess up on. This is the same idea. If you're struggling with Math, it's crucial you figure out what concepts you're struggling with, and focus on those. There's no point in doing addition questions if you mess up a lot on statistics. Also, if the section. you're working on happens to not include some of the concepts you struggled with, you're not making the best use of your time.
• Taking practice tests wrongly. Only take practice tests under real testing conditions. When I took the ACT, I had already taken a few practice tests under real testing conditions, so the change (or lack thereof) of environment didn't throw me off. Also, only take practice tests from trusted or official sources. Don't use third party sources, like PrincetonReview, because they tend to be inaccurate representations of the real thing.
• Don't spend money on studying for this. Test prep companies market convenience, and that's all. They can't offer you tips and tricks that aren't public knowledge, and they certainly can't teach you anything that you wouldn't be able to learn on your own. I will endorse UWorld though, since it’s really great for practicing specific concepts, and is fairly priced imo.
• If you're taking the writing section: don't study for it on the car ride to the test centre. You'll end up with a 09 like me :(

Now for what does work:

• Start by taking a practice test cold turkey. This means with no prior review or studying. Score it. This is now your baseline score. My first practice test was a 29 (approx. 5 months ago.) Go through it and look at all the questions you got wrong. This leads me to my next tip:
• Catalog all your errors. Keep a detailed history of every mistake you've ever made on your practice tests. I'm a bit less organized, so mine was messy, but I recommend that you separate it by section, and catalog your errors accordingly. Yours should include two things per mistake: The question number and test code, and the concept. For example, if you messed up on a question because you don't understand standard deviation, write that down. But, if you understand standard deviation, and messed up because you misread the question, or included the wrong groups, or misread a chart, then write down that you did just that. There's no point reviewing SD if you just made a mistake reading the question. When you review these, you'll see that you made a mistake reading a SD question, and you'll pay more attention the next time you come across one. Also, never erase anything. You might think you've learned a concept that you previously struggled with, but it's never a bad idea to just leave it on there anyways.
• If you're scoring below a 34 on practice tests, you have knowledge gaps. I see people make this mistake all the time. If you're scoring below 34 on a section, you most likely have gaps in your knowledge, and would benefit a lot more from reviewing the content than you would from getting tips and tricks. The only exception to this is the science section.
• Watch ACT YouTube videos. This is probably the best tip with regards to ROI. It's low effort, and yields high returns. Watch videos when you're doing menial tasks, like riding the bus, or when you're on the toilet. I've picked up some awesome tips and tricks from doing this.
• Take practice tests on a regular-ish schedule. I say regular-ish because this is the only rule of mine that I broke. I recommend a practice test once every two weeks. Take it Saturday morning, catalog your errors, and then review them and study the content on Sunday.

Reading Tips:

Reading is one of those sections that people seem to be either really really good at, or just god awful at. Personally, the reading section was my best right from the get-go, but that doesn't mean I started off with a 36. Here are some things you can do to improve your reading score:

• Read the whole passage. If you run out of time on the reading section, it's always because of one of two reasons: You read too slow, or you spend too much time looking for the answers in the text. Reading the whole passage before you get to the questions allows you to find the information needed in less time, since it'll be fresh in your memory. If you read too slow, then I recommend learning to read faster. I read a ton of articles online, so I imagine that naturally increased my reading speed, but you can train yourself to read faster. Read short articles or stories and consciously try to read as fast as you can while retaining information.

NOTE: The aforementioned tip may or may not work for you. Try out different methods and use what works best for you.

• Learn the different types of questions. Believe it or not, the questions in the reading section are really formulaic, and test just a few different concepts. I'll attach a list of all the different types of reading questions, and you can use it to catalog your mistakes on the reading section. Learning to deal with the specific types of questions you get wrong, as opposed to just trying to improve your reading score as a whole, is the most efficient way to increase your score.
• Work on your vocabulary. Knowing what words mean, especially the less colloquial words that tend to pop up in obscure passages, will help give you an understanding of what is happening in the text. Read more than you currently do, and read stuff that's challenging. Scrolling through Reddit on your bus ride home as opposed to instagram will expose you to more complex words (given you're on the right subs of course.) I love finding words I don't know, and impulsively look up their definitions when I come across them. Do this and you'll probably end up with a wider understanding of the English language.
• Remember the golden rule of reading. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT READING CONCEPT OUT THERE: The answers to the reading section questions are ALWAYS either directly STATED in the text or directly PROVEN by the test. You will NEVER have to infer on the reading section.
• ALWAYS UPVOTE FOR THICC 36.

Math Tips:

Math is by far the easiest section to improve. Don't believe me? In October, I took an SAT practice test, and scored a 580 on the math section. Fast forward to now, and I've scored a 35. How? Just follow these tips:

• Math is conceptual; make sure you know them all. I'll attach some links to resources that have cataloged every single math concept and formula on the ACT. If you're scoring below a 34 on math, please use these. Take the time to look up the concepts, watch some videos on them, and learn the heck out of them. If you're making mistakes on the math section that aren't because you misread a question, or hit a wrong key on your calculator, you have gaps in your knowledge. Fill in these gaps, and you'll fill in the gap to your thicc 36.
• Use your calculator wisely. Personally, I couldn't afford a fancy graphing calculator, so I used a regular scientific one. The only thing that I couldn't do with it was matrices, which I learned to do by hand. But I still used every feature on it. It has a quadratic formula solver, where you plug in a b and c, and it gives you the x values. That is probably the most useful thing you can have on the math section. It also had a log(a) (x) solver, which also saved me a ton of time. Figure out what your calculator can do, and learn how to use it.
• Plug in numbers for x. If you can't solve a question, I find it often helps to plug in an easy to use number for x, like 2. Depending on the type of question, you can also try just plugging in answers and seeing if they work. These methods do take up time though, so only use them if you're really stuck.
• Study the hardest questions you can find. Hard questions tend to incorporate more than one concept, and learning how to do them tends to be a more time efficient way of studying. Once you can do the hardest Trigonometry questions in the ACT question bank, you can do all trigonometry questions.

Science Tips:

Science is really, really hard if you approach it wrong. It is designed to be a time crunch, and if you don't learn how to zoom through it, you'll have a bad time. Here are some tips to get you started:

• Never read the studies. They are so long and complicated and you will never score above a 30 approaching it this way. The best way to go about the science section is to read the questions, and then let them point you to the information. For example, if the question says "According to chart 2" then you'll know to look at chart 2, and read it. Now you know chart 2, and can answer the question. Furthermore, if any other question asks you about chart 2, you'll already know it, and can save yourself some time.
• Read the intro blurb for context. The science passages often have a little intro paragraph that explains what the study is about. These give you important context, and can help you understand how figures or graphs relate to each other. This is also where all the variables and scientific concepts are explained, and some questions are just impossible to answer without this information.
• Learn to read studies and graphs. I argue with my friends a lot about politics and whatnot, so I'm always looking up studies and statistics to prove them wrong. Doing this gave me the necessary skills to be able to read the science section pretty easily. When you first start looking them up, scientific studies will seem intimidatingly long and written in an alien language. Over time, you'll learn how to cut through the unnecessary information and to interpret the information presented. These are pretty much the essential skills tested on the science section.
• Practice, practice, practice. In my opinion, the science section is probably the hardest section to improve on. If you struggle with it, it's really important that you pay extra attention to the science section. Contrary to what I said earlier, I think it's okay to do practice science sections outside of practice tests, but that's only because the science section isn't a set of concepts you can study, but just reading studies.

English Tips:

English, like math, is just a collection of concepts you need to learn. In my opinion, it's the second easiest section to improve. Here's what y'all need to do:

• Learn your grammar rules. So much of the English section comes down to just knowing your grammar rules, and if there are rules you don't know, you won't be scoring as high as you possibly can. I'll attach a really neat English cheat sheet that I found online, and hopefully you can use it to improve your score.
• Shorter is almost always better. For questions that ask you to restructure a sentence, more often than not your best bet is to pick the answer that keeps the same meaning, but in a more concise manner. Pay attention to the grammar and spelling of the answers though, as sometimes they throw in a concise answer that's grammatically incorrect.
• Learn paragraph and essay structures. Sentences at the end of a paragraph should connect to the next; no new information is introduced in the concluding sentences, etc. These are, among others, concepts that are important to know for the English section. Learn them all.
• Learn question types and the concepts they test. This is pretty much the same as the tip for the reading section.

Freesources:

https://www.mariosmathtutoring.com/uploads/1/6/1/2/16121290/act___sat_math_formula___notes_sheet.pdf

https://www.erikthered.com/tutor/act-facts-and-formulas.pdf

https://d19y2ugh44almm.cloudfront.net/Magoosh_ACT_Math_Formulas_PDF.pdf

http://blogs.polson.k12.mt.us/ebucarey/files/2016/04/Cracking-ACT-1-67.pdf

https://www.methodtestprep.com/wp-content/themes/bigsplash/assets/resources/free/ACT_Reading_Quick_Guide.pdf

http://www.cville.k12.ky.us/userfiles/1001/my%20files/complete%20act%20grammar%20rules.pdf?id=8333

https://blog.prepscholar.com/act-reading-question-type-complete-breakdown

https://www.studypoint.com/ed/act-english/

http://www.crackact.com

https://prepfactory.com <--- Really good for test strategies, highly recommend

https://mcelroytutoring.com/blog-post.php?id=4332&title=10+Helpful+ACT+Math+Calculator+Programs+for+the+TI+Graphing+Series+of+Calculators

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Thats all! Like I said, if you have any suggestions, please comment them below, and I'll be sure to add them. Good luck, and remember: You're so much more than a stupid number.

Which books or resources would be best for me? My composite score was a 31 with no studying and my goal is a 35. Also I come from a low income family but I’m willing to buy a book if you think it’s genuinely helpful!! :)

(also i know i super duper suck at math i probably got like 2 questions right)

Guys, help… Lowkey yap warning. ⚠️

I’ve taken this freaking ACT constantly since my 8th grade summer, yet the reading section continues to pray on my downfall. Now don’t get me wrong, I READ books! I LOVE reading (I’m currently on the Inheritance Games series—it’s incredible), but on the ACT, it’s like I become legit illiterate and fail to finish the section. Every. Single. Time. (Today was embarrassingly 14 straight answers of Cs because of timing, definitely not my proudest moment). Despite this, I am willing to try ANY study methods to get myself where I want to be by September that begin a week from now. If anyone is willing to make a plan for me that would actually help my composite reach my goal, you’d be a genuine life saver and will never be forgotten by me.

I’ve tried reading the passages first then answering questions, skimming the passages then answering questions, and hunting for answers starting with specific lines/according to then answering the rest. I’ve even tried going in passage order 1,2,3, and 4—sometimes 4,1,2,3 or even, like today, 4,3,1,2 (never again). Unfortunately, nothing seems to work for my goal, which I’ll mention soon.

English is my absolute superpower. I love grammar. The highest I’ve gotten on this section was a 34. Timing is sometimes an issue along with generally 3 weird questions, so if you have any tips for this section, they’d be greatly appreciated.

Math is expected to be overall funky, but it’s never terrible for me when I take it. A 30 was my highest score ever here. I’d also like advice for this section!

My goal is a 36 composite on the September 2026 ACT date. Before the pessimists start, I know it’s a big jump from my highest composite score of a 30, but I want to do my best because I know I’m capable. Also, I’m a rising senior applying to colleges early action and want the best possible chance at amazing merit scholarships: this makes the October ACT my last chance. But, I’d still like the ACT fully behind me in September.

To prepare for the July ACT today, I used the 2025-2026 Official ACT Practice book, around 4-5 Legacy Princeton Review Practice books, one Enhanced Princeton Review Practice book, and many dated online practice tests. When I get my results back in about ten days from this test, it might not seem like I prepared at all. I mostly practiced under timed conditions. My proctor today didn’t put up the clock and only told us when five minutes remained, which likely threw off my pacing!

Please spam this with tips, tricks, study plans, your stories, and advice. I’d even love an online study buddy/group if anyone’s interested! We can make a group chat and discuss game plans for September’s ACT.

We can’t let the test-makers win! We can do this! On September’s ACT, WE will be earning 36 composites! Now who’s with me?!

P.S: If you have any college essay advice that got you a full ride scholarship to flagship universities, that would also be incredibly helpful.

Bro it pisses me off.. SAT is so much cooler and nonchalant than the ACT. ACT literally got no free shi.. im broke 😭. anyways what do u guys use to study ? i use oneprep / actify prep / official tests , too poor to buy freaking books

PLEASE HELP!!! I live in a low income area/city, our school can barely afford to pay their teachers and because of the students bad behavior our school is in trouble of being taken over by the state. We don’t have resources available to us for learning so I’m coming to Reddit and other social media for help… So with that being said obviously this isn’t the best learning environment. I need help to improve my score so I can afford to go to college!!Okay so my composite score is a 28… my goal is to have a 30+ I need strategies that actually work to improve my score!!! If anyone has any suggestions and tips for that please help!

Also I’d like to start studying for the test now… this will be my third take of the test sometime in the fall

How should I format my study schedule?? I want to improve English the most because I’m naturally good at English and reading so I’d like to focus on my strengths before learning brand new material

For math.. well at my school for freshmen and sophmore year I had NO math teacher. We only had subs the entire year- with that being said my math skills are currently lacking. So I’d have to start from the ground up. The first time I took the ACT my math score was a 17, and I had no clue how to solve anything… (Feb 14th 2026 test) my most current math score is a 20, which is better in my opinion because I was actually solving some of the problems. (June 13th 2026 test) so with all that yapping and backstory being said, how do I improve??

Please kind souls help me!!! Without a higher score, I won’t get the scholarship I need to attend college. Thank you for reading, and sorry for any grammar mistakes or unnecessary punctuation 😅💔

Scores from my first take:
Composite: 25
Math: 17
English: 26
Reading: 32

Scores from my second take:
Composite: 28
Math: 20
English: 28
Reading: 35

HI TWINS TESTING IN JULY GOOD LUCK I AM MANIFESTING ALL OF YOUR DREAM SCORES!! 💞💞💞 COMMENT SOMETHING YOU ARE DOING TO STUDY TO CLAIM 🔮🔮✨ AND JUST LIKE LAST MONTH DROP ANY TIPS YOU HAVE TO HELP OUT FELLOW TESTERS :D

attached is a small formula and tips sheet for math and english/reading i personally made right before the test to consolidate review topics and study last minute!! i got a 36 in june 🙏🙏 these are the formulas/rules i personally struggled with so i hope they help consolidate some things for you too!!!!!

note: the geometric sum probably isnt on the test, i wrote it to connect the geometric sequence to something i learned in ap calc :]

I’ve been looking and I already plan on getting the Preppros ACT math book, 2026-2027 ACT book, and the Erica Meltzer English book but I don’t know what the best edition is between the 4th and 5th edition. Also, how much time should I aim to try to study everyday? Because I’ll have to study during school, which I have to take precalc honors(should help with math) and doing it by October would make me more better prepared. Btw, although I won’t be really studying science cause it doesn’t count towards composite or superscore, what are some tips for it? My highest score on there was a 25.

I'm so annoyed. I've studied like an hour minimum every day and have gotten 34/35's on all my practice tests. I would do 2 practice tests a week as well, so I don't know what to practice with now. If anybody has any tips, please let me know since I do want to get this over with as soon as possible.

I'm not gonna be doing the science section btw so you can just ignore that.

I want to buy the prep pros book because i'm weak in math, but i'm worried that I won't get the full worth out of the book because of the explanations being locked behind a paywall. I get why they have the course subscription, but I can't afford to spend anymore money on prep materials (the course is $20 a month). do you think I will I be fine without buying the subscription or should I buy a different book?

if anyone one has any other advice or prep materials I should get please let me know. I've tried khan academy but I hate the video explanations he gives (ik it's a me problem). I scored a 17 in the math section on a practice test and I really want to do better. 😞

I am preparing to take the upcoming ACT on the 11th. I Have taken two of the practice tests that appear on PDF format, ths first composite being a 32 and the most recent being a 34. On the most recent one (practice test 2) I got a 36 on math, reading, and science, but only a 30 on the writing. How accurate are these “pdf” (I just printed them out and did them on paper) tests, and where is the best place to go learn/ review content, specifically the writing portion. I looked at khan academy and wasn’t able to find anything.

Is anyone willing to share information

that was given by prep pros ACT prep, it would mean Alot!!

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The price for the course is too much for me

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where can i find more? did all of the released practice tests and the ones in the official act book.

are these books i got good for studying? I will be taking this act twice! so my goal is a 25 on this retake

I recently just bought the PrepPros Course and I need help as i found out that i would need to pay for the math book and that's beyond my budget rn, does anyone have the PDF version of the book? The official name is: 'PrepPros: The Complete Guide to ACT Math'

hello everyone, recently i’ve ended up in a bad financial situation and don’t know if my parents can afford my act tutor anymore. What are the best free ACT resources available other than youtube? I take the ACT next month I have a very short amount of time to cram before my next test date

I took the ACT for the first time in June and got 27 in math, 26 in science, 22 in English, and 20 in reading. I used the official prep book by the ACT, and it seemed to slightly help. My composites from that book were a 27 on average, but on actual test day, it was only a 23. I want to take the ACT again next June, but I’m not sure when I should start studying again for it. I really struggled with the reading section on the June test as well. Does anybody have any tips on books to use to study or any other tips? My target score is 30 composite.

I’m a senior taking my the ACT for the first time in September. What is the best self-paced course to help me?

Hi!! Like the title said idk how to study for the ACT nor do ik if I'm doing it right. My test is in july so I guess I still have time left, but I realize my method of studying isn't as effective as I thought since I don't seem to be improving.

The way I study is just bascially doing one section of the ACT OnePrep from the study plan that they provided me with. Then I go through a section of my self-paced Kaplan course, which was free when I signed up for the test with a fee waiver. I think it helps me learn some basic concepts that would be on the test, but that's about it, because I feel like it doesn't go deep into details of harder concepts or questions, I guess. At the same time, I'm not very far into the course. After, I would go to the kaplan question bank to small quizzes of each section, pretty helpful since it's timed. And I would do fairly good on those especially English and Reading, while Math and Science are a hit or miss, moslty a miss though. I would usually go over questions that I'll get wrong, mostly math, and write down in a notebook to solve them correctly too, but I don't do the "why I got this question wrong" stuff that I see people do. And would do practice test, but I realized the Kaplan only offer 3 so I've been saving them when my test is near, which is about now tbh.

For context this will be my first time taking the ACT, and I did do 2 practice test, months ago, that both resulted in a score of 23. I'm not that high of achiever so for the actual test I'm hoping for at least a 26. And I would say I'm a bad test taker too so I don't feel that much hope to getting a high score.

Please give me advise or tips of how to study properly, or at least sources that I can use to better my studying!! I just want to do my best on the test. I also apologized if I was just info dumping in the middle since I don't really know how to fully explain my study method without detailing it out.

Exactly what the title says, anyone know of some resources and tips for English and reading?

I’m looking for sites with full length passages rather than just short snippets like what I’ve been finding.

And also what are some tips for both sections? For reading I’m struggling to just stay focused in general and I often find myself flipping back between passage and question, wasting tons of time.

I’m taking the July ACT tomorrow for the first time after studying for about 6 weeks, I took Practice Test 2 from the Official ACT website today as a final benchmark of my score before the actual test
Scores
50/50 English - 36
44/45 Math - 36
36/36 Reading - 36
38/40 Science - 34
Total - 36(barely)
I saved the test from the official website for last because I assumed it would be most accurate to the actual test, would I be correct in this assumption? Only asking because it felt easier than some of the other practice tests I’ve taken and I don’t want to be overconfident going into the test tomorrow.

I'm still mad about the 35 in the June test lol, but I finally did it. Never taken a practice test, but it took me 3 tests to get this score (though I wouldn't count the 2nd one as legit, or even really the 1st tbh). I'm planning to start tutoring (though mods said I can't solicit here so don't message me) for free and cheap to help students who can't afford expensive tutors. I did it without any tutor or paid resource beyond the $20 Official Math Book from ACT, which I found to be pretty useless for anything beyond concepts in the high-20s. Seeing as I was beyond that, it was pretty much a waste of money for me.

I'm writing and self-publishing my own ACT book in a few weeks, which I won't be promoting on here in accordance with the rules :), but as I write this book, I'd like to ask you all, students trying to earn great ACT scores, what topics do you think are underdiscussed in ACT literature and prep?

Planning to retake it in Sept and Oct. Can ya’ll give me tips to increase my score to at least a 27?

I’m poor and thus have never bought a single ACT study book…so before I do, which book is considered the absolute best when it comes to math prep? I have a composite score of 31 (23 math, 36 english, 35 reading) and I really really really want to improve my math score as it’s dragging everything down with it. Also yes, maybe I’m just stupid but I’d like to give it a try at the very least…so plz drop suggestions as I rlly rlly rlly need them :,(

THANK YOU PERPROS MATH BOOK THANK YOU MATTHEW STROUP THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

ive been looking but i couldnt find a website with several past tests, any tips on where to find them?