My oldest is finishing his freshman year of HS. He took the April 2015 ACT. His only previous attempt at the ACT was in February 2013 for Duke TIP. His composite score improved from a 24 to a 30. I expected his math score to improve the most given that he has since completed Algebra I and Geometry, and is taking Algebra II currently. Math went from 20 to 30. English improved 8 points to 33, Science 4 points to 30, and Reading 2 points to 27.
He didn’t do any special preparation for either test. (The main reason to take it now this early is in anticipation of applying to Gatton Academy and/or Craft Academy next winter, and Governor’s Scholar program after that.) Sophomore course load will include Precal, Honors Chem, AP Physics, Honors English, AP World, and Spanish III. Junior and senior year will be as rigorous as possible, mostly AP classes. Relatively average public suburban HS. Motivated energetic competitive kid. Despite encouragement doesn’t like to read novels, classics, etc. Reads a fair amount but for information primarily.
He seems to want to shoot for either a highly selective college and/or competitive merit scholarships down the road. This is my first go around with this, but if these are his goals based on what I have gathered it would be helpful in maximizing his chances if his score climbs to at least 34 or higher.
This is what I am curious about. Given the above, do you think it is likely he will get there without a lot of special prep or effort? Are there certain HS classes you think were most helpful? What happened with your kids in terms of seeing their scores progress during the HS years? In one sense, my attitude is whatever happens happens. At the same time, I want to help him reach his goals and don’t want to look back and realize he just missed the mark and there were some simple things we could done differently that would have improved his shot.
TBH, he’s doing all the things he needs to right now - being engaged, taking a challenging course load, enjoying what he’s doing. If he keeps his mind open to merit aid as well as the highly competitive schools, he’ll be fine.
It’s worth taking a few weeks’ prep course if there is one available in your area, closer to his test date. I wouldn’t sweat it too much now though. Congratulations on your smart kid.
Both my kids had big gains from 7th grade SATs to 10th grade, and big gains from 10th to 11th grade PSAT. It’s always hard to predict. Neither of my kids studied much for the tests.
I wanted to reassure you that it’s okay not to read novels if he’s reading. My older son did very well on a diet of computer manuals, sci fi and fantasy and my younger son did almost as well minus the computer manuals. He’s already got very good English score, not familiar enough with the ACT to know how to improve reading. I think for the SAT its a combination of a naturally good vocabulary and being able to read fast.
Though she also took the PSAT/SAT, my D focused her efforts on the ACT, just doing the practice tests put out by the ACT people and the tests in the Red Book. I encouraged that because she was getting too stressed out with SAT Subject Tests after taking AP tests each spring. Going the ACT route allowed her to relax a bit regarding the results of her Subject Tests because she knew that if she performed well enough on the ACT, she could forego submitting SAT Subject Tests to the (selective) schools that required them.
As you may know, the primary challenge with the ACT, once the student has mastered the subject matter, is time pressure. You might suggest that your S practice section-by-section, focusing on understanding the types of questions and increasing speed with accuracy. That’s what my D did and by the time she took a full ACT in April 2013 (10th grade) she scored a 34 with her first sitting. She sat for it again in April 2014 (11th grade) and scored a 35 with not much more prep except having completed Trig. By then, she was finishing each section with 10-20 minutes to spare.
I suggest you do a bit of searching in the ACT threads to undercover some tactics that have helped students increase their speed without sacrificing accuracy.
Also, make sure that your S does prep on the ACT Essay, which requires a far different approach from the old SAT Essay. I don’t know what the new SAT Essay will require but I understand it will require a more analytical approach.
My son had a similar experience with ACT - 25 in 7th grade, 33 in 10th, 36 in 11th. His math score on the #2 test was a little low for the engineering schools he is planning to apply to so he re-took it. He studied only for the final one in the areas where he was weakest (math). The math section requires you to know ratios and tricks to quickly answer the problems. I would get a copy of the real ACT book, barrons, and grubers . And get plenty of sleep before the test!
Also, practice the essays if he takes the writing option. Most colleges require it. It is very formulaic - look a the prep books.
Some colleges frown on students taking the ACT or SAT more than 3 times. With the ACT you can report only your best score (they charge for every report) on a specific date. The SAT sends every score from every test, but you have the option not to send all (score choice). Some colleges require all of your scores. If he doesn’t like poetry and novels, he’ll probably do better on the ACT than SAT. ACT questions are more straightforward.
The PSAT is important for college applications (national merit scholar looks good on the resume). You also have to take the SAT to quality and apply. You may get $2500 toward college, but there are many restrictions on it. My son went from 187 to 221 between 10th and 11th grade. If your schools only gives it in 11th grade it would be worth studying a bit for it.
If your son is mostly in AP classes improvement in the ACT should follow
Do kids really take ACTs this early? I thought all kids take it in 11th grade.
Kids take it in 7th or 8th grade for national Talent Search like Duke’s TIP program.
Got it. I am not familiar at all with the Talent Search Programs so missed that.
Kid should always prep for the “real” test. Dd had 32 (iirc) in 8th grade, no prep, because it didn’t matter, and 35 in 11th grade, mild/mod prep because it did matter. DS went from 20 something in 7th grade, no prep, to 35 in 11th with heavy prep.
The easiest sections to improve from low scores to high scores are the math and english. It really shouldn’t be too hard to get a 36 math. He’s probably a smart kid if he got a 30 with no prep.
I didn’t get much out of prep myself, as my Reading and Science scores (which were both pretty low the first time I took it) never really increased much, and I had 36 Math the first time I took it. The only section where I was really able to see some benefit from practicing was English. I don’t remember all the scores but I think the first time I took it I got a 25, then 27, then 28. I think English went from 24 or 25 the first time I took it to 33 the 3rd time I took it but I could be wrong in remembering these numbers.
If I remember correctly there was some trig on the math, so if he hasn’t seen any trig yet that’s probably why his score is lower there than it could be.
I don’t think you can attribute a jump from 32 to 35 between 8th grade a 11th to prepping. Not that yoy shouldn’t prep if you want to. But between 8th and 11th grade they will cover a lot of material and that alone will often improve a score.
My son’s score Improved a bit every time and he never did any prep. His biggest was a 5 point improvement in just a few months from junior year to summer. He had kind of an off day with his junior year test, I think. It was only a couple of points above his 7th grade score. He came home from the test not feeling good about it.
The ACT score will improve with preparation. The HS academics has a bit to do with it, but not much. The ACT math specifically primarily is based on the middle school math. The problem with the ACT math section ( more so for the advanced kids) is in the fact that they neglect to re-fresh their middle school math material.
On the other hand, ACT does not require a whole year of preaparation. About 5 hours of preparation which is customized to the personal needs of the student is enough to get sufficiently good score. Customized plan should be based on the facts that everybody has different needs in preparation and some scores cannot be improved, so the focus should be on other section(s) for compensation purposes.
My D. took ACT one time. After getting generally familiar with the format in each section and taking practice test in each, her customized plan was:
- There is no way she could improve her Reading score. Might as well accept the fact that she is a slower reader and the Reading (Verbal?) is going to be her lowest score. No preparation beyond getting generally familiar with the format will make any difference.
-English is basically a common sense that also does not need preparation. Expected score is very high
-Science section has no scientific facts to be prepared for, it is basically a slower reading section. No preparation is needed, expect a high score
-Math is a key section where preparation is required to re-fresh the middle school material and to make sure to compensate for predicted low score in Reading (Verbal)
Again, this is an EXAMPLE of the customized plan. Everybody should be able to develop their own based on personal needs. D’s preparation took 5 hours - 1 hour / day in the last 5 days before she took ACT. The result was in line with her goal, she did not need to take the ACT second time. Her section scores were in line with predictions, with the lowest in Reading seciton and the highest in English section. This was also in with all previous testing in her life as she has always scored the lowest in Reading and highest in Writing (English). The total score was 33.
If I were you I would RELAX. This is a lot of pressure on a kid even if he is motivated and driven.
For what it’s worth, my D took the ACT at the end of her junior year and again at the start of her senior year. My S took it at the start and end of his junior year. In both cases, no extra prep was done and they both improved their scores.
[If I were you I would RELAX. This is a lot of pressure on a kid even if he is motivated and driven.]
No pressure from above here. Just a kid and his goals, and if I can help him reach them I will always try.
When John Quincy Adams was fourteen, he was part of a diplomatic envoy to the Court of Catherine the Great in Russia, trying to convince her to recognize America as an independent state. Now that is pressure.
Again, I would not rely on improvement without prep. It may or may not happen. The more reliable approach is to prep. and should not take more that few hours. Prep. should identify the “weak” parts of test and correct it. Again, some parts may not be possible to correct, which also should be identified with more focus and time devoted to others that could be corrected easily. It is not a good goal to have to improve by 1 point. The goal should be a certain score and until this score (+ approximately 2 points) is not reached during practice tests, I am not sure if there is any reason to re-take the test at all. The kid needs to know where he/she stands BEFORE taking the test not AFTER.
DS took another shot at the ACT earlier this month, this time as a sophomore. Great improvement! Composite up from 30 to 34. Every section improved, English +1 (34), Reading +7 (34), Math +3 (33), Science +3 (33).
On the previous attempt, he ran out of time on the reading section and had to just fill in blanks at the end. He was rushed a bit on other sections as well I think. This time he approached reading differently, skimmed the questions first and noted what they were looking for before reading the passages. This conserved time. Plus I think just knowing that you need to move at a decent clip is useful. He said this time he was able to finish every section with excess time.
Miami’s advice is probably good, but he didn’t follow it. He did not do any prep.
Why is he taking these tests so many times? Colleges frown on too much testing.
Kentucky has a program known as Governors Scholars. You apply in fall of your junior year. If chosen, you attend a summer program on a college campus in Kentucky between your junior and senior year. There are about 1000 kids chosen each year, and all of the state schools in Kentucky including U of K and U of Louisville have automatic full tuition for every Governor’s Scholar. ACT score is a big part of the selection criteria. The 30 may have been good enough, but expecting improvement it was worth being sure.
I get it that the most selective schools think that way. We balanced that with the above, plus the timing of where he is in his math sequence (precalculus this year), moving onto AP Calc AB next year, and that he could start getting rusty on algebra and geometry. I don’t think there is anything beyond pre-cal on the ACT.