<p>My 10th grader is taking a fairly casual ACT prep class but they are working toward the April ACT. He is taking al AP classes and should be fairly well preapred for the test. Is there any downside to letting a sophomore take the test? It looks like the student chooses what scores to submit to colleges, so it does not apeear as if a bad 10th grade score would ever be seen by colleges? </p>
<p>No downside. The practice is helpful, and even if a school did see a bad score from sophomore year, as long as there is improvement in later years, they would consider that natural.</p>
<p>Some schools require applicants send in all scores. If practice is what you are looking for, why not get a test prep book with retired ACT tests and (time-measured) practice at home? </p>
<p>Don’t really see a downside. In my opinion the sooner you get the score you decide and can stop taking this test the easier senior year becomes. My gosh there are seniors in my daughter’s class still testing, trying to improve their scores for state colleges— these kids are hating their senior year. They were not prepared, but it seems your son is in a very good starting position. IMO get it done before the senior year if possible.</p>
<p>I took one as a sophomore, just to get a control for future test taking endeavors. I didn’t study or anything. Turned out to be beneficial. </p>
<p>The “Official” time your kid takes the test should be junior year of fall of senior year. A lot of the material is learned in school and he will do better after prolonged exposure to the material and especially that above it.</p>
<p>Here is a dumbed down example. Say the test is on addition/subtraction. If one studies add/sub for a month, then studies multiplication/division for a month, taking the addition/subtraction test after two months in going to be MUCH easier than after one month.</p>
<p>I am a sophomore right now and I think it’s really helpful to get the standardized tests out of the way earlier, in december I got a 31 (lower than what I wanted) but I think in April I could get the score I wanted and then I wouldn’t have to worry about it later!</p>
<p>@VaishS Same, I’m a sophomore as well. Took it in December and got a 30. Not satisfied, but it is a decent score… the overachievers. I think taking the test in my sophomore year really gives me practice. </p>
<p>@TommyD36 yeah! I am waiting for my Feb score tonight if it isnt a 35 or 36 I will take it in April again, but that will surely be my last! (I think i can get a 36 by then)</p>
<p>Wow, that’s really high! I’m shooting for a 33+ this time in April. @VaishS </p>
<p>Mind sharing any extensive tips? Hahaha</p>
<p>@TommyD36 Haha I have a lot of work I still have left to do but I could share some stuff that I do that does work! The ACT is all about TIMING! This is the hard part because it is different for everyone, some people know how long they can take per passage (for example 7:30 per reading passage) and make a plan from there. If you don’t practice you won’t know what works for you!
Specific advice:
English: USE BARRON 36 English section, it has everything you need and it’s easy to understand, other than that just do practice questions until u think ur good</p>
<p>Math: I personally think gruber’s math is helpful but people think it’s hardif you just review all of the concepts listed on there website you will be good, after that u need to get the timing down (I would say 45 seconds per question for questions 1-30 and just over a min for the second half since the second half is harder, but again everyone is different)
Reading: this is just practice practice practice! After a while you get a good feel for the questions and how they want u to think abt it!
Science: again practice practice practice! This is just like the reading sections! (I keep track of an average of 5 min per passage on this section)
Some good practice books:
PR books
Barron 36
Red book
Kaplan (not the best)
And get the online for red book if u need even more practice!</p>
<p>I don’t think there are any negatives to taking it your sophomore year. I just took it, and I’m fairly happy with my score but I will be taking it again (34). It was good practice and helped me see how I’d perform in a real testing environment. I also have a score to fall back on if I don’t improve any more.</p>
<p>Children, please. College admissions at this level is not about who ever gets the highest score wins. Once you cross about a 30 or so, the admissions people are looking for what else you bring to the table. If a school is not going to admit you with a 31 or a 34, getting a 36 is not going to help. The reason you don’t get admitted with 31+ has to do with demographics, your ECs, your essays, interviews and a 100 other things you may not even consider important. Stop seeking this sort of perfection.</p>
<p>For the record, S1 is a NMF. Got a 2220 on SAT (no prep 1 shot) got a 34 on ACT (no prep 1 shot) (did take Duke TIP ACT as a 7th grader and got a 23, but did nothing after that to prepare). Had opportunities at multiple Ivy schools, but simply could not afford them. </p>
<p>Shooting for 36 may be good for ego or bragging rights, but it means absolutely zero to admissions people when comparing to people with similar scores.</p>
<p>If you want to put it into ‘smart people’ terms, it is not a statistically significant difference and other factors are a much higher predictor of success in school.</p>
<p>Go enjoy life and get your nose out of prep books. Spend the time discovering something, inventing something, helping others. Go outside!</p>
<p>I took ACT with writing in 10th grade and got 34 composite score and 9 on writing. Do I need to take it again in 11th grade or I can just use it for college application?</p>
<p>@123PSAT I’d say use it if you fall into or above the ACT profile of the school. If not then I’d take it again (but that seems unlikely since you have a great score!) </p>
<p>Thanks Totally Trudy! I’m a little disappointed about the low writing score (it’s the lowest, I used to get 11-12 on practice test). I felt pretty good about the easy I wrote, but I got a surprise low score (9). I wish I know why :(</p>
<p>@123PSAT, congratulations on the nice ACT score. If my daughter got a 34 in her sophomore year (she took it in June of her sophomore year), I would have told her to NOT retake it. FWIW, my nephew got 2290 on his first time on the SAT (for college purposes). He was applying to MIT early. Everyone in the family told him to hold there; no reason to retake. He got in. </p>
<p>@boatlift - the <em>only</em> reason not to take the ACT now is that the test is getting reformatted in 2015. I don’t know how that affects the current ACT prep class.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reassurance! I will hold there and use my time for the PSAT this month and SAT in January 2015.</p>