How Many Questions Can You Miss for a Perfect ACT Score

How Many Questions Can You Miss for a Perfect ACT Score SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Lots of students strive for that perfect 36 ACT composite score. You might think you need a completely perfect test, but that's not the case. You have some leeway in how many questions you can miss and still get a 36. In this article, I'll explain my research into official ACT grading scales, and I'll tell you how many questions you can get wrong and still get that 36. How Is the ACT Scored? To understand how many questions you can get wrong and still get a perfect score, you need to understand how the ACT is scored. For a more in-depth explanation, check out our other article: How is the ACT Scored? In brief, the ACT is made up 4 sections: Math (60 questions), Reading (40 questions), Science (40 questions) and English (75 questions) plus Writing (1 Essay). The essay is not factored into your overall composite score, so I am not going to discuss it further in this article. If you're curious about the essay, read our other article: How to Write an ACT Essay: Step by Step Example. Unlike the SAT, you do NOT get points deducted for wrong answers, so it is to your advantage to bubble in any questions you can’t answer since you won’t be penalized for wrong answers.For each section, you are givena raw score, which is simply the number of questions you answered correctly, and then that raw score is converted into a scaled score. The raw score to scaled score conversion varies each ACT test date, but the ACT provides a table in their Preparing for the ACT guide that estimates how each section’s raw scores will be converted into scaled scores. Here it is: Once you have the scaled scores for each section, you simply add the 4 section scores together and divide by 4 (aka averaging) and then you have your composite score.If your score ends up with a decimal, it is rounded. i.e. if it is a 35.4, it is rounded to 35, and if it is 35.5, it is rounded to 36. Now let's get back to the original question. How Many Questions Can You Miss and Still Get a Perfect 36 Composite Score? The answer is a little complex (and I will explain it further), but you can typically get between 0 and 2 questions wrong in total across all four sections.The reason the answer is more complex is that the scoring for each section of the test is different, and the scoring for each section varies by test date (as you can see in the chart above and as I will explain further below). If you want to get a 36, you need to get a 36 on at least 2 of the sections.Here are the breakdowns: (36+36+36+36) / 4 = 36 (36+36+36+35) / 4 = 35.75 (rounds up to 36) (36+36+35+35) / 4 = 35.5 (rounds up to 36) (36+36+36+34) / 4 = 35.5 (rounds up to 36) NOTE: you cannot get a 33 on any individual sectionif you want to get a composite score of 36. As I said, the scoring of each section varies by test date. So, to give you a better idea of the typical number of questions you can get wrong for a 36 in each section, Ihave analyzed 5 different ACT score charts: Section Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Test 4 Test 5 English 0 0 0 0 0 Math 0 0 0 0-1 0 Reading 0 0-2 0 0 0 Science 0 0 0 0 0 You can see that to get a 36 in English, Reading, Math or Science, youtypically need to get 0 wrong. Occasionally, a test will allow 1 or 2 mistakes, but that is a rarity, so you should plan for 0 wrong to get a 36 in any of the sections. Since you can get up to two 35s on individual sections (if you get 36s on the other sections, as I showed above), I have also analyzed the same tests for thenumber of questions you can get wrong for a 35 in each section: Section Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Test 4 Test 5 English 1 1-2 1-2 1-2 2-3 Math 1 1-2 1 2-3 1-2 Reading 1 3 1 1 1 Science N/A* N/A* 1 1 1 *Science sections labeled N/A means you are not able to score a 35 on those tests in the Science section. 1 question wrong drops you to a 34 in Science on those tests. Since the scoring varies so much between test dates for each section, to be safe, you should aim to get at most 1 wrong in any section to get a 35. While you may, in fact, end up being able to get more wrong, you cannot be sure have harsh or easy your test grading will be and should plan for harsher grading. Since you can get up to one 34 on an individual section (if you get 36s on the other sections, as I showed above), I have also analyzed the same tests for thenumber of questions you can get wrong for a 34 in each section: Section Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Test 4 Test 5 English 2 3-4 3-4 3-4 4 Math 2 3-4 2 4-5 3 Reading 2 4 2 2 2 Science 1 1 N/A* 2 2 *The science section labeled N/A means you are not able to score a 34 on that test in the Science section. 2 questions wrong drops you to a 33 in Science on that test. If you are aiming to get a 34 on 1 section and 36 on the rest to get a 36 composite score, you should aim for at most 2 wrong on that section. As I said before, while the scoring varies, and you could technically have gotten up to 4-5 wrong on certain sections on certain test dates to get a 34 on that section, you need to plan for the worst case scenario, so plan that you will get a 34 if you get 2 wrong. Any way you calculate it, you can miss or skip a maximum of 2 questions to get a 36 composite score.That's not a lot, so if you're hoping for a perfect score, you will need a lot of practice. What Does This Mean If You're Aiming for a 36? For the whole test, you need to have the pacing down and make sure you can finish.You cannot afford to miss or skip many questions, so first and foremost make sure the timing will not be a problem for you. You should determine which sections are your strongest and weakest.For example, if you are excellent in Math, Science, and Reading and weaker in English, focus on getting the Math, Science, and Reading close to perfect to get a 36, so you can afford to miss or skip 3 or 4 in English and get a 34. What's Next? Need help preparing for the ACT? Check out guides to the ACT Reading, Math, English, and Science sections.Taking the ACT very soon? Read our guide to cramming for the test. Not sure where you want to go to college? Check out our guide to finding your target school.Also, figure out yourtarget ACT score. Thinking about getting a job while in high school? Check out our guide to the 8 best jobs for teensand learn how to find yours! Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep classes. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by ACT experts. If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Try it risk-free today:

LinkedIn Profile Summary Tip Distinguishing Yourself from Your Company

LinkedIn Profile Summary Tip Distinguishing Yourself from Your Company Are You Conflating Yourself with Your Company? One of the biggest mistakes I see people make in their LinkedIn profile Summary is that they do not distinguish who they are from who their company is. I call this â€Å"conflating† yourself with your company. â€Å"Conflating† is a completely natural thing to do, especially if you, like so many of us, identify yourself very strongly with your company. It just doesn’t work for your readers and potential customers. When I read a Summary on LinkedIn, I want it to tell me who that person is beyond the great professional photo up top. If I wanted to hear all about a company, I would go to the company website or LinkedIn page. I’m looking at your personal profile to learn more about you! Why You Should Separate Your Companys Accomplishments from Your Own Here’s an example from a LinkedIn profile Summary I reviewed, along with my commentary: Over 17 years of expertise providing social networking strategy consulting and implementation in organizations such as Motorola, BF Goodrich, ATT, American Express, Medtronic, CNA, UBS and hundreds of emerging companies looking to build key account relationships with large organizations, innovate new products or build their brands through social networking. Did you make it through that one? It was difficult, wasn’t it? Not only is this otherwise impressive list of credentials a run-on sentence, but it leaves us confused: Is this person talking about herself or her company? Does she have 17 years of experience or does her company? After reading this entire paragraph, I’m still wondering†¦ who is she? Her next paragraph goes on as follows: We offer a unique, exclusive and cost-effective process to build leadership, sales and customer networks to grow revenue exponentially. Recently Crains named me the best networker in Chicago. I am also the author of eleven books (just working on book twelve)†¦. Do you see where in the middle of a paragraph she switches from the subject â€Å"we† to the subject â€Å"I†? Again, who is she vs. who is her company? The above networking expert has stellar credentials and recommendations and is up to big things – but we might not ever get around to reading past the first two lines of her Summary. Its Possible to Sell Yourself AND Your Company Now, here’s an example of someone who does a great job of distinguishing himself from his company, and who succeeds in selling both: I am a research professional and LinkedIn trainer with more than eight years of combined market intelligence, competitive intelligence and Internet recruiting experience. My focus has been on deep web sourcing, executive interviews and online social networking. I enjoy networking with professionals from any industry on a global scale and encourage you to contact me at any time. Thanks! See how this entire paragraph is about the person himself? It works! We’re right there with him! His second section reads as follows: Current Phelps Research Services Initiatives: * Networking with business professionals in the greater Milwaukee, Madison and Chicago areas * Selling and conducting targeted LinkedIn training to corporations. Here he clearly makes a switch from talking about himself to talking about his company. We get that he is the principal in the company and we know who’s behind these initiatives. We stay engaged and wanting to read more. I encourage you to look at your LinkedIn profile Summary. Have you conflated yourself with your company? If so, it’s time to re-write that Summary and distinguish yourself and who you are. That’s what we go there to discover. If you are interested in working with The Essay Expert on your LinkedIn Summary, Headline or other LinkedIn strategies, please let us know! Take a moment to learn more about the LinkedIn profile writing services we provide. A LinkedIn profile review is a great place start! Category:LinkedInBy Brenda BernsteinAugust 23, 2009