Have a 29, Need a 30, 3 Weeks to Prepare #PushForAPoint

Test Preparation
1

Hey all,

The June ACT date marks my third time taking the ACT Test. I am an outgoing junior and will be a senior next fall. I want a 30 on the test to qualify for extra scholarship money from the University of Missouri, where I will be going to major in Journalism.

From my April test date (my second) until now, I was guilty of entering the “loss-of-motivation-because-it’s-the-end-of-the-school-year” phase and got lazy with my ACT prep, which will be primarily through BetterPrepSuccess for my June date. Now, I am just over three weeks from the June date, out of school and gone from most of my major responsibilities. I’m not freaking out over it, I just need a refresher on what to look out for and improve my scores. My scores are, for where I want to go, pretty solid already. I just need that little extra “push” in a couple of areas.

I want to get first dibs on housing from Mizzou, so I would preferably want to apply (with the 30, of course) before the early admission applications are accepted on Aug. 1.

My first two tests were as follows:

December 2015
Composite: 29
English: 34
Math: 24
Reading: 32
Science: 25

April 2016
Composite: 28
English: 33
Math: 20
Reading: 32
Science: 27

June 2016 (Goals)
Composite: 30+
English: 34-36
Math: 26-29
Reading: 32-34
Science: 27-30
(Note: Getting the bear minimum of these scores will be enough for a 30. I’ll always take more, of course, but these are projections).

So, what should I look out for? For my work with BetterPrepSuccess and their online courses (which I will follow religiously for the next few weeks), I will be focusing mainly on Math and Science rather than English and Reading. I’ll be skimming and reviewing my English and Reading, too, but after I’m getting back to the scores I was getting beforehand for good, I’m focusing all my attention on Math and Science. Where do I start first? What am I looking for?

Any and all help is appreciated, and thanks for taking the time to read!

2

When looking over your ACT score, your math scores are the weakest. Yet you are planning on a major increase in this area. Look at the breakdown in scores in math to identify your weakest area to shore up that material. O

3

I agree, I would focus all your energy on math, any chance you can get a classmate with a high math ACT score to tutor you?

4

Oops. Must have hit post by accident. The growth in math may be attainable. However, you will need to not only work on your areas of math weakness, but also improve on your overall math performance.

Apparently, you are also seeking modest improvements in the other areas. If you can identify something special such as vocabulary I might look over that to ensure I new the words in vocabulary lists. Otherwise, I think about problems such as time management or bubbling the wrong dot or line and fix that.

You already have earned 1 composite of 30 so you seem to have attained your stated goal. 30 doesn’t seem like a huge stretch if you tidy up some areas of difficulty. If you don’t have things that come to mind…

Remember that you will be taking an entirely new exam that may include items that are easier and others that are more difficult for you. Luck can cut either way. Unlike school tests for which you can specifically study and progressively earn higher grades, retakes of standardized tests such as the ACT are scored on the basis of the number of items you answered correctly on a particular version. Consequently, you may also have a small decrease in scores for any section. In essence, your lowest scores are the floor and you hope to have a higher ceiling than previously. Statistically, you are wanting to score on the higher side of expected scores that were predicted on the basis of your earlier performances.

I hope you get the scores you need for the scholarship. If you have something specific that is a problem, fix it in three weeks. Otherwise you are taking another chance and the amount of time between retakes is probably neither here nor there in either direction.