I know you just bought a book but my son’s tutor used this and it was awesome
https://www.manhattanprep.com/college/act-5lb-book/
It really explains sections well and many tips /tricks.
Also the ACT is a very fast test so the tutor worked just on timing for a bit. Once you get the timing down then the test becomes more manageable.
ACT and I believe your goal is very reasonable 3-4 points at top end of scale is achievable.
Has anyone’s kids used the tip to skip around and answer the easy questions first in the Math section? I also see this advice for Reading (to read what the student deems to be the easiest passage for them first) and in Science (to do the wordy passage last and to jump around within the other sections to answer easy questions first). Personally, I feel like I would freak out doing this and lose my place on my bubble sheet but, if that can be overcome, it seems like good advice. I don’t think D21 has ever done that on any standardized test. Thoughts?
I’ve never given this advice to kids who I tutor but most of them are shooting for high 20s and, weirdly enough, most of them don’t have problems with the timing. When they do, I usually suggest we come up with a time limit per passage so they move quickly enough. Or some of them even plan on not finishing English, Reading, or Science and just making sure they are confident in the questions they do answer. Since D21 could very well answer all questions correctly on a section, she doesn’t have the luxury of pacing herself like that and just guessing on the last few. I’m hoping practice itself will make her faster but I do think she’s going to maybe need to employ some tricky to get to her highest score.
D19 did not do the skipping around, her tutor didn’t recommend that. Plus we were all scared she would mis-bubble, which IMO is a real risk to the skipping around strategy, especially given a test that is so time challenged.
Also taking full tests like every weekend 5 weeks prior to the tests helps many people really achieve higher scores but even doing a few full tests would be helpful.
If you have her subscores where does she have the best chance of improving to up her total score? For my son math was the easiest section but also the easiest for him to improve to bring up his total score. English was his worst section. His tutor had him concentrate on these two sections since he knew with a few tips! Tricks he could raise his English scores. For math his goal was a 36 (he got a 35 and told me he knows which ones he got wrong… Lol). But his overall score climbed with this technique. Your the tutor. I am sure you have some things you might suggest. Always harder when it’s your own kid.
@Mwfan1921 Thanks. I’m going to have D21 study content and do practice sections and then we will see where she is on timing. Moving faster also just comes with being more familiar with the test.
@Knowsstuff Haha yes I’m the tutor but (1) I’ve worked with the SAT a lot more and (2) it’s very hard to tutor your own D for sure. I have to try very hard to keep emotions out of it and, when she reacts emotionally, I have to just keep a straight face and take a deep breath. Plus S19 was a very good test taker so that’s in her face. He only took the SAT so it might be best for her to take the ACT so she’s not always comparing!
Her English and Reading scores are the highest. Math not too far behind. Science low.
And yes to full practice tests. I usually have kids do them every other week for the eight weeks prior to the test. They love that. Lol.
I will second, third? the advice of having her retake a practice test for just the science section and DON’T read the passage. Read the questions and look for the answer in the graph/figure. My daughter did one practice test and the science section was the only one she struggled with time on - she’s a very fast reader. She realized that the answers were NOT in the reading passages, but rather in the figures and charts. She took the actual test and scored a 36. I really don’t think the science section has anything to do with content, it’s about your ability to read figures and charts and answer questions.
So in reality she only needs a few more correct questions to get up to a 33/34. This was our strategy as stated above. Maybe have her work the top three sections and just try to keep science status quo. That seems to be the hardest one to improve if she doesn’t have a good base knowledge of the material. Maybe there’s a subsection of science that she can try to master?
Let’s us know what you finally end up doing. I was a dad coach for baseball /football and learned to stay away from my kid… Lol…
Deep breath and maybe a drink later on… ??.
I agree that science doesn’t test science. I’ve tutored kids to not read the passage. Go to the questions. Yes it works. I didn’t want to give her much advice before she tried one for the first time and just wanted to see how she did. Also, the science section just makes me angry if I’m honest. I don’t know what it’s supposed to test exactly. The graphs are made to mess kids up and good science wouldn’t even use graphs that are so convoluted! I still feel like the SAT just tests true knowledge better but, if she can raise her score faster on the ACT, then I’ll keep my mouth shut and let her use that test instead.
@scholarme that Black Book is awesome! I just read all of the intro and the tips for each section and I think D might choose to do the ACT now. The explanations of the answers were way better than ACT’s explanations and helped her see her mistakes very clearly on her practice test. The author also suggests focusing at first on the sections that are her best because those scores show she has the knowledge and just has to learn how to answer ACT-specific questions. She read the suggestions and took a second Reading test and thought they really helped. And her score was two points higher. I thought we’d be shouting but for the Sept test but I think she may give the July one a go.
I second the thought that if your D got a 30 with no prep she should be able to raise her score 3 or 4 points. Worst case scenario is she doesn’t like her score and can always switch to SAT prep. You are well ahead of the game. D20 is stuck on 32 and will take a practice timed SAT to see if she would do better on that exam?
@socaldad2002 oooh. Let us know if she does any better on the SAT. 32 is a darn good score though!
If your daughter has a preference, I like the advice of focusing on that test. She’ll feel more positive going in and have more confidence.
Our S20 also has identical scores on both so far. We’ve been considering which to submit. I looked recently at the 25-75th percentile scores at several of his potential schools and was surprised to see they were not at all equivalent. At several schools, his SAT scores put him at a much higher percentile relative to the reported scores than his ACT scores. Not sure why that is or if that means he’d be better off submitting the SAT scores. I suspect most admissions offices would simply convert one score to the other system so they have a consistent reference point. We’ll get the advice of the admissions officers at his schools, but I’m curious if others have run into this situation.
@Andrew2199 I stand by my thoughts that it’s harder to score well on the SAT. That would be why your D’s SAT score might look better when looking at SAT scores. Lots of kids getting a 33. Not as many getting a1480 which is equivalent.