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Zhenrui
Certified ACT English Tutor
Zhenrui
BA Columbia University in the City of New York
1+ Years Tutoring

Zhenrui earned a perfect 36 ACT composite, which means the English section's trickiest question types — sentence placement, redundancy traps, and transition logic — are territory he's already mapped out cold. His engineering training at Columbia reinforces a rule-first approach: instead of debating what sounds natural, he teaches the specific punctuation and rhetoric patterns the test reuses so students can move through all 75 questions with a clear decision framework.

ACT ScoresPerfect Score
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SAT Scores
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Jackie
Certified ACT English Tutor
Jackie
BA Vanderbilt University
6+ Years Tutoring

Scoring a 35 ACT composite while studying Business Communications at Vanderbilt means Jackie lives in the overlap between standardized testing strategy and real editorial skill — she knows the punctuation and rhetoric rules the English section recycles because she applies them daily in her own coursework. She's especially sharp on the passage-level questions about redundancy and paragraph organization, where a trained communicator's instinct for cutting unnecessary words gives students a concrete decision-making framework instead of vague guessing. Rated 5.0 by students.

ACT Scores
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Certified ACT English Tutor
Ziyu
BA California State University-Long Beach
9+ Years Tutoring

I'm an affable chemistry-loving person whose joy come from delivering knowledge :D

ACT Scores
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Certified ACT English Tutor
Michael
BA New York University
1+ Years Tutoring

Most ACT English mistakes come from overthinking — students second-guess a correct "NO CHANGE" or add commas where none belong. Michael, who scored a 35 ACT, drills the specific punctuation and sentence structure rules that appear most frequently, then teaches students to trust the simplest, most concise answer choice.

ACT Scores
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SAT Scores
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Certified ACT English Tutor
Raquel
BA Case Western Reserve University • Doctor of Dental Science, Predentistry UCLA School of Dentistry
7+ Years Tutoring

I am currently attending UCLA School of Dentistry. I have spent a big chunk of my life tutoring. I had 600 hours of volunteer experience tutoring 5th graders in language. I also was the Tutoring Head of the Science National Honor Society in high school and spent every week tutoring high school level biology and chemistry. I spent one summer working at Kumon tutoring children in basic math and reading. In college, I spent two years tutoring adults to pass their GED. I was also an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (UTA) for a development and physiology biology class, as well as a Peer Tutor for other intro level biology classes. If you chose me as your tutor, I look forward to working with you and helping you be the best student you can be!

ACT Scores
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Certified ACT English Tutor
Sarah
BA New York University
9+ Years Tutoring

Journalism training at NYU means Sarah edits for a living — cutting filler, tightening transitions, and enforcing parallel structure on deadline, which is essentially what the ACT English section asks you to do 75 times in 45 minutes. Her 35 ACT composite backs up an approach rooted in treating each passage as a rough draft that needs a fast, systematic copyedit rather than a grammar quiz. Rated 4.9 by students.

ACT Scores
Composite35
SAT ScoresPerfect Score
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Certified ACT English Tutor
Christina
BA Northwestern University
1+ Years Tutoring

Punctuation rules and rhetorical strategy questions trip up different students for different reasons — some rush through commas and semicolons, while others second-guess every paragraph-organization question. Christina diagnoses which ACT English question types are costing the most points and drills those patterns until the right answer feels obvious. Her own 34 ACT composite means she's been through the timing pressure firsthand.

ACT Scores
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Certified ACT English Tutor
Neunika
BA University of California-Davis
9+ Years Tutoring

I am passionate about living life to the fullest and making a difference in the lives of others.

ACT Scores
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SAT Scores
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Certified ACT English Tutor
Ema
BA Harvard University
10+ Years Tutoring

I am a recent graduate of Harvard University, where I received my Bachelor of Arts in English Literature with an emphasis on screenwriting. Although I love literature and writing, I am most passionate about tutoring math. I have five years of experience as a math tutor, during which time I helped students ages 3-17 with math ranging from basic arithmetic to pre-calculus. My favorite math topic is algebra, particularly because of its usefulness in solving real-world word problems. In addition to mathematics, I find joy in teaching/elucidating Shakespeare to high-school students. As a classically trained actor, I find it fun to tackle Shakespeare’s dense texts from a performance and character-driven perspective. In my spare time, I enjoy vegan baking and roller-blading.

ACT Scores
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SAT Scores
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Certified ACT English Tutor
Ben
BA University of California-Santa Barbara • Current Grad Student, Philosophy Biola University
10+ Years Tutoring

Scoring a 33 ACT composite means Ben already knows how the English section tries to trip students up — especially on rhetorical skills questions where every answer choice is grammatically correct but only one fits the passage's purpose. His English degree and graduate-level philosophy writing give him an intuitive grasp of sentence structure, transitions, and concision that he can make explicit for students still building those instincts.

ACT Scores
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SAT Scores
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Certified ACT English Tutor
Kevin
BA University of California-Santa Barbara
8+ Years Tutoring

I am a 2018 graduate of University of California Santa Barbara, with a B.S. degree in Biological Sciences through the Honors Program. I consider education to be tremendously important not just during development, but also throughout life. I believe it's critical to establish the right attitude toward learning; a feat that once accomplished can improve a student's long-term output in school. Education is an integral part of my career choice: I aspire to become a physician, a career intertwined with knowledge and education. However, teaching and learning are present in every career, and every part of life for that matter.

ACT Scores
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SAT Scores
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Certified ACT English Tutor
Chandler
Current Undergrad, Chemistry Occidental College
1+ Years Tutoring

I am a current undergraduate student at Occidental College, where I am majoring in Chemistry. I have a passion for teaching and engaging students with their education. There is little that is more rewarding than aiding a struggling student successfully. In high school, I was a member of the National Honors Society and relished the opportunities that organization provided me to tutor others. I love learning, and I love sharing that with others. What better way to engage others learning than tutoring?I enjoy video games and other computer related tasks, baseball, basketball, and I love to read.

ACT Scores
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Heejin has been very patient with me. I work a full time job sometimes even on the weekends. It has been a slow process with my Korean classes, but Heejin has been wonderful and patient.

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Worked with an ACT English Tutor

I've been working with my tutor for a few months now and the progress has been remarkable. The personalized attention and tailored lessons made all the difference compared to in-classroom learning.

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Michael Chen
Worked with an ACT English Tutor

The flexibility of scheduling combined with the quality of instruction is unmatched. I can get help exactly when I need it, whether that's late at night or early in the morning before a test.

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Worked with an ACT English Tutor

My daughter went from dreading her sessions to looking forward to them. The tutor made the material engaging and built her confidence in ways I never thought possible. Highly recommend.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Score improvement depends on your starting point and commitment level, but most students see meaningful gains within 8-12 weeks of focused preparation. Students who work with tutors typically improve 2-4 points on the ACT English section, with some advancing even more if they identify and address specific weak areas like grammar rules or rhetorical skills.

The key is targeting your individual challenges—whether that's misunderstanding question formats, rushing through passages, or struggling with particular grammar concepts. Varsity Tutors connects you with expert tutors who can pinpoint exactly what's holding your score back and create a personalized study plan.

The ACT English section gives you 45 minutes to answer 75 questions across 5 passages—roughly 9 minutes per passage. Many students rush and make careless mistakes, while others get stuck on difficult questions and run out of time.

Effective timing strategies include: reading passages quickly to understand the main idea rather than every detail, flagging difficult questions and returning to them later, and practicing with the official time limit repeatedly. A tutor can help you identify whether you're spending too much time reading, answering, or second-guessing yourself, then build habits that work for your pace.

They're challenging in different ways. ACT English tests grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and rhetoric—skills you can practice and master systematically. The Reading section requires speed, comprehension, and inference across unfamiliar topics, which feels harder for many students because it's less formulaic.

Most students find ACT English more improvable through targeted study since the rules are clearer. If you struggle with English, focused tutoring on grammar patterns and question types typically yields faster score gains than Reading section prep.

For solid ACT English preparation, aim to take 3-5 full practice tests under real timing conditions, which helps you build stamina and identify patterns in your mistakes. More importantly than quantity is quality—reviewing every single wrong answer to understand why you missed it matters far more than rushing through extra tests.

Varsity Tutors connects you with tutors who can guide your practice test strategy, help you analyze your results to spot weak areas, and adjust your study plan based on what the data shows. This targeted approach is much more effective than just taking test after test hoping your score improves.

ACT English focuses on practical grammar rules that appear consistently: subject-verb agreement, verb tense, pronoun consistency, comma usage, sentence fragments, run-ons, and modifier placement. You also need to understand rhetorical questions about word choice, transitions, and sentence placement within passages.

The good news? These rules follow patterns you can learn and practice. Rather than memorizing every grammar rule ever created, a tutor can help you master the specific rules ACT tests most often, then teach you how to spot them quickly on test day.

Most students start seeing noticeable improvements within 2-3 weeks of consistent tutoring, especially if they're studying between sessions. Meaningful score gains usually take 6-10 weeks depending on your starting score, the score goal, and how frequently you meet with a tutor.

San Francisco students juggling school, extracurriculars, and college applications often work with tutors for 1-2 sessions per week. Your tutor will create a realistic timeline based on your current performance, target score, and test date, then adjust the plan as you progress.

Test anxiety often comes from two sources: fear of the unknown and rushing. You can reduce both significantly through repeated practice and building confidence with question types. When you've seen dozens of similar questions and know the strategies that work, test day feels less frightening.

Tutors also teach breathing techniques, time-management strategies that reduce panic, and how to skip difficult questions without spiraling—practical tools that help you stay calm and focused. Many students find that their anxiety drops dramatically once they trust themselves to handle whatever the test throws at them.

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