<p>My sophomore daughter took the ACT for the first time on Saturday and is very upset over not finishing the math or science sections. Is it typical to not finish a section? I know she has plenty of time to retake it, but she's pretty worked up about it so I wanted to get more info. Thanks for your help.</p>
<p>I’m also a sophomore, and I also took it on Saturday! I also didn’t get to the last two math problems and didn’t finish that test, which of course isn’t ideal but it probably won’t bring her score down that much (assuming she didn’t guess them correct, which could’ve happened) depending on how much she didn’t answer. I’d tell her to not be worked up until the scores even come back, but she really has nothing to worry about considering she can retake it in the fall or next spring or even June (although that leaves little preparation). If she is really stressing over not finishing, have her just google strategies for finishing on time, especially for the science. It’s hardly possible to finish the science section without knowing some strategies. The ACT is a really time-stressed test, the math was 60 questions in 60 minutes, and some of those questions are difficult! Just taking it as a sophomore and seeing what the test is like is giving her an advantage for taking it again her junior year. </p>
<p>The reason you take the ACT multiple times is to figure out things like this…it won’t happen next time because she will be much smarter about the test structure (and tutors can help with this too). My D took it 2nd time on Saturday…and she whizzed through…but there were shocked/stunned kids all around her every time the buzzer went off…</p>
<p>Most students should NOT be finishing the math section. For example for a student currently scoring 20 in math on practice ACTs I recommend attempting about 36 questions. This is enough to take you to the next score range while pacing yourself appropriately. As your performance improves on practice tests you can increase the number of questions you are attempting.</p>
<p>Note that there is no guessing penalty on the ACT so just because you are not actively attempting all those questions you should ALWAYS bubble in random guesses for the ones you don’t get up to.</p>
<p>For the science section I always recommend doing the Charts and Graphs sections first (3 sections), the Experiments second (3 sections), and then if you have time, the Arguments questions last. Once again just bubble in answers for the questions you don’t get up to. You can save a lot of time in science by going right to the questions instead of trying to read the passages. This is especially true in Charts and Graphs questions, and works for most Experiments questions. Even in the Arguments it’s better to spend time going through the passage searching for answers rather than reading a passage without even knowing what you’re looking for.</p>
<p>It is a common misconception that you should answer every question on a standardized test. For most students this only lowers their score. Standardized tests are very different from tests you take in school. They require completely different skills, and completely different strategies for doing well.</p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
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<p>Unless your D is in precalc, that was kinda dumb. (The ACT has 4 trig problems on it, and trig is usually taught in precalc…) But also, it was kinda dumb to take it ‘just for practice’. </p>
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<p>Absolutely not. Never take a standardized test until the student is ready. Why waste time and money?</p>
<p>Buy a book online and take practice tests at home. Note, the science section is ALL about speed. Practice against the kitchen timer. Chunk up the test. Try taking one passage+questions in say, 5 minutes, to build speed.</p>
<p>Thanks everybody! I think I’ve convinced her not to stress about it at least until she gets her scores. And we will surely work on time management before the next time.</p>
<p>Yes, she is in pre-cal but thanks for being such a little ray of sunshine. It’s not a waste of time or money. That’s just silly.</p>
<p>Everything that most students will need on the math test is taught in Alg 2 / Trig. I’m in that right now as a junior, as are most of my “normal” level peers. So far we’ve covered everything that can show up on the math test of the ACT.</p>
<p>of course Pre-calc would help, it isn’t necessary.</p>
<p>@TXKismet, if you look around on this site, it’s not hard to find posts of kids worrying about their “bad” scores they took “for practice” as an underclassman being seen by colleges, or kids anxiously asking how many sittings is too many. If she hadn’t already taken it, I would have suggested you stick to practice tests until you feel she’s done prepping.</p>
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<p>You see, that is the thing. Every high school has different math curricula. Not all combine trig with Alg II. Some high schools put trig in with precalc. </p>
<p>But the point is that there are 4 trig problems on the ACT-M. If the student has not been exposed to trig, they will have a mighty hard time “finishing” those 4 questions.</p>
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<p>As would HS GC’s and nearly every test prep teacher I have ever met.</p>
<p>It really depends what you mean by the phrase “not finishing”. </p>
<p>It is not a big mistake to intentionally skip question you don’t know as long as you come back and guess. </p>
<p>It is a big mistake to not see every question. </p>
<p>If you don’t get to the end of the test you are letting the test makers choose which questions you answer. Being a strategic test taker means allocating time towards questions you should get right in the least amount of time. </p>
<p>If you spend 5 minutes on an early math problem just because you “know how to do it” you might end up giving away 4 question towards the end of the test that you could have gotten right but never got to see.</p>