My daughter got a 21 on the ACT. I bought her several of the highly rated books and flash cards. I know she studied them, but I don’t know exactly how diligently or often. She is very disappointed and knows that this score is very average and with that score will not get into any of her top schools. (WUSTL, Carnegie Mellon and University of Illinois). She is a great student taking all honors classes and has a 3.65 GPA right now. She feels like a total dunce right now.
So, we’re going to sign her up to take it again in June. From what I read here previously, the prep classes are not really worth it. However, given my daughter’s situation/score do you think it would be worth signing her up for the forced study time?
I knew I was capable of getting a high score (SAT for me), but I just couldn’t set time aside for myself to study. I would highly recommend a top rated ACT class if it doesn’t strain you financially. It really helps to have several hours each week set aside for classes, and then homework on top of that. I started out with an 1850 and raised my score to a 2240 after classes.
So I’d recommend browsing/asking around about the best ACT classes in your area.
Really, it seems like the best thing to do is take the practice tests (timed) and review her scores. Work on the areas where she is having trouble. Look at the strategies for each section in the prep books. It’s something she has to set aside time for. Even one section at a time will help.
Also, did you get the test results and answers from the ACT that your daughter took? My daughter was very disappointed with her first score but looking at the answer sheet, we realized she had mis-bubbled half of one section (doh!). Being more diligent the second time around plus focused work on her weak areas allowed her to raise her score from 25 to 32 in about 6 weeks.
I would recommend a personal tutor if she wants to really consider raising her score. I’m kind of in the same situation. When I started taking ACT practice tests, I was scoring around 23. I now have a tutor and after two weeks, I was actually able to raise my actual ACT score to 29. I’m planning to take the ACT one more time, allowing me to have much more time to spend with my tutor. We only meet twice a week for about 90 minutes, so it’s not very time consuming. Although I can’t promise you that you’re daughter will have the same results, I can almost guarantee that her score will go up. Of course, if hiring a tutor is to expensive, I would recommend taking practice books. Those alone help a significant amount. The program I got my tutor from is Academic Approach. Good luck! If you or your daughter have any questions, feel free to message/reply to me.
I’ll give you my shtick. Pass these notes on to the leading lady.
The best way to practice is to take practice tests under realistic conditions. No peeking at answers, 10x breaks, etc.
The hidden beast of the ACT is speed reading comprehension. This is true for all sections. Would recommend reading a couple of fun novels at a quick pace to speed this up. The questions aren't that hard, the timing factor is.
Make sure to have a good graphing calculator. Ti-84 or your favorite flavor of the highest allowed. Stuff it full of notes and programs for the math section. It's perfectly legal.
For the science section, read the questions first and read FAST.
Xiggi’s and Silverturtle’s advice in this forum http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/ holds for the ACT, too. Look at those pinned threads. Also, have her try the SAT. Some people just do better on one test over the other.
I agree with others - if you can afford it, get a tutor. The ACT is all about time management, if she is the kind of student that takes a lot of time to finish her work, I would think about moving to SAT. I know the new SAT is new and unknown, but there are 4 official practice tests on the College Board site. If she does substantially better on that test (there is a lot more reading on that test- even the math section), you may want to consider prepping for that one.
If she took a ACT on a cycle where you can get the test answers (so she can see what kind of questions she is making mistakes on) - also she may have test timing issues. The science section is being able to read the question and know where to look for the information (ACT will give you two pages of info to look through, but you can’t waste time reading through all they show you). On ACT, you strengthen your good areas and pull up your weak areas. Some kids have more experience with multiple choice, and can see the answer quickly.
My DDs both took ACT prep classes, and we paid for individual test tutor time - one DD did practice test sections for tutor (on DD’s time) and review with tutor to examine the type of questions missed.
Both my DDs started at end of sophomore year with ACT 23/24 and both raised scores - one had large amount of tuition scholarship, the other had Presidential at state flagship (full tuition for 8 semesters) and additional automatic engineering scholarship.
Look at what your student wants to study. See where she can realistically go financially. Her HS GPA is good, but will suffer at a competitive college and esp if she is in a challenging curriculum. Look at various school NPC.
Look at what students ahead of your student have attended - what is available in your state. If your student has the opportunity to save $$ locally (CC or commuter public university, or perhaps even LAC that is private) - if not able to attain a 4 year academic scholarship (which is what you weigh out). I know students who have obtained scholarship at local CC/local state university - and some students are also working part time jobs. My UG was private but in Milwaukee, and local parents saved on room/board - and no local parents had kids in the dorm.
My DDs were able to go away - but if they could not afford to go away, would have been able to complete their UG degree locally as commuter students.
Have your DD also take the SAT - she may be better on that test. Both my kids found they could move the needle on the ACT.
I guess I should have come back to update this thread! She re-took the ACT and got a 27. We just found out on Friday that she got into University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign.
ah - just realized someone resurrected this thread. Congrats @Scylla! Would you like to share which method helped you bring up your daughters score from 21 to 27? Tutor?
Actually, no, she didn’t have a tutor. I bought her an ACT prep book/CD set and ACT prep flash cards and she did the practice tests that came on the CDs. I also compiled a bunch of the ACT test taking hints others had posted here. Maybe not the most tried and true method, but it worked!
That’s great @Scylla . I used the same method for my son - basically became his ‘tutor’ by setting aside some time each week to do 2 sections of each practice test, then making sure he reviewed every one he got wrong or guessed, for about 6 weeks. Rinse and repeat! I also printed off lots of tips from this site. His time improved dramatically…we’ll see how he does. He sat for the ACT this past Saturday, Feb. 6th.
For many students, seeing some of their classmates that test very easily, they need a lot of encouragement and motivation. Our DD loved her test tutor, and she was really motivated by her.
I agree with the above posters that taking practice tests is the most effective way to prepare. She should take official tests released by the ACT, not the third party ones made by prep books companies. There’s a bunch of official tests here: http://blog.prepscholar.com/printable-act-practice-tests-5-free
