<p>anyone have any experience with this book?</p>
<p>my DD went from a 26 to a 24 in reading.</p>
<p>: /</p>
<p>Okay.</p>
<p>We get it.</p>
<p>Here’s a novel idea: </p>
<p>Make her read and take a load of practice tests!</p>
<p>Look. This is what I advise you do:</p>
<p>Buy Cracking the ACT and the “Real Guide to the ACT”. Cracking the ACT (made by Princeton Review…I’ll now refer to this book as ‘PR’) is very good for helping you refresh or even learn the math/english material that will be on the test. They have chapters for you to read and review while also supplying you with a few practice problems at the end of each specific section. Its practice tests are very good as well. The math, english, & reading are all very similar to the real thing. The science is harder than the real thing (I got 20’s on both PR practice tests, but a 29 on the real thing), but that’s okay as your kid will still get accustomed to the time constraints. </p>
<p>I know a kid that got a 36 on his ACT, but when he first started practicing for the ACT, his science score was around a 23. He raised that science to a 35 or 36 (forgot which) by taking around 10 science practice tests. The point here is that taking the PT’s under the time constraits are what helps you the most.</p>
<p>When it comes to reading, there is no magical wand or book that will raise your score. The best advice is this: READ THE PASSAGES AND THEN ANSWER THE QUESTIONS. From there, you can answer about 6 or 7 of those questions without even referring back to the passage. The questions that refer to a specific line in the passage are usually about the only questions in which you’ll have to refer back to the passage, although you may need to refer back in case you’re wavering on two different answer possibilites. So, the only other SIMPLE THING that I advise to do is to UNDERLINE proper nouns and dates while reading. That way if a question refers to a guy named “Bob”, you can easily find in the passage where you underlined “Bob”.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, in those two books I told you about, there are a total of 5 practice tests combined (that’s 2 in the PR and 3 in the Real ACT). If you didn’t know, there is also a free test given out in those ACT packets where you physically sign up for the ACT. Those are usually found in a counselor’s office. If you can get one of those, that’ll give your kid 6 practice tests. </p>
<p>I advise your kid to study the week before and the week of the test (That’s Mon-Sun, and Mon-Fri…totaling in at 12 days of studying). I recommend taking an English & a Reading to start on Day 1 and a Math&Science PT on Day 2. Alternate this day by day. Your kid will then essentially be taking half of a test a day. Considering you have 6 practice tests and 12 days to do this, it works out perfectly.</p>
<p>One other thing:</p>
<p>Recycle your practice tests. Do not write in the books. Use paper. That way your kid can re-take the tests and not have to worry about cheating his/herself.</p>
<p>um … thanks?</p>
<p>you see, we have the real act book. and she did take some practice tests. i am not sure if she took them all or not …</p>
<p>just kind of discouraging for her to prepare a good amount and really not increase at all. </p>
<p>she did increase science by 4, but either stayed the same or went down on all the other sections. : (</p>
<p>it would have been nice to get even a one point overall increase, you know.</p>
<p>and, you are right, it is a great idea to use paper instead of writing in the books! : ) great idea!</p>
<p>Well, what do you think it is to “prepare a good amount”?</p>
<p>I guarantee you if your daughter follows that study schedule I just laid out for you, she will increase her score significantly. </p>
<p>What was her score this time?</p>
<p>april </p>
<p>32 - w
31 - m
26 - r
25 - s</p>
<p>june
31 - w
31 - m
24 - r
29 - s</p>
<p>for a composite of 29 in both cases.</p>
<p>she prepared over a 2 - 3 week period by doing all the practice tests we had access to which were the 3 in the real act book, the one from the counselors office, and maybe one more, i am not sure.</p>
<p>we did go over the ones she missed. we did not go over the ones she got right unless she had marked them as ones that she really wasn’t sure about.</p>
<p>so i am sure she did at least 3 maybe 4 practice tests. probably not six, though.</p>
<p>do you think it is easier to increase your SAT or ACT score?</p>
<p>we decided to try to concentrate on the ACT since she had a higher score to begin with 29. she had 1210/1860 on the SAT. it just seemed to me that the SAT tried to trick you more than the ACT.</p>
<p>i appreciate your help! thanks.</p>
<p>tell me something about yourself. : )</p>
<p>Well, it sounds like you did a solid job this time. Is she about to be a senior?</p>
<p>If so, that’s unfortunate as the June ACT is the BEST TIME to do well. Well, atleast that’s the case if you live in the south and have 3 weeks to prepare for it while being school-free.</p>
<p>It sounds like she did a good job when it came to going over her test and stuff. That is one thing I forgot to mention. I advise going over both right/wrong answers on the first and MAYBE second set of practice tests. Going over the right doesn’t hurt as it just reinforces your prior knowledge—or who knows, perhaps you guessed and forgot to mark it down as an “iffy” one…in that case, you learned something.</p>
<p>After that, however, I’d just go over the wrong ones. It’s more time efficient. This study program will total in at about 30 hours of studying. </p>
<p>I advise reading the english chapters the night before taking her first english test. Same thing with the math. Also, take the PR tests first, then the free test, and finally the 3 tests from the redbook. This way you’re saving the best tests for last and you can truly see how well you’re progressing as you’ll be taking the closest equivalent to the “real thing”.</p>
<p>I also couple english/reading and math/science because English is a long section while reading is a short section. Same thing goes for math/science. Math is a long one, science is a short one. On top of that, english and reading are most closely related, as are math/science. Overall, it balances out things very nicely.</p>
<p>The first time I took the ACT, I got a 26 without studying. I studied as hard as I could this way and got a 30. I was very proud of myself with that score, although I knew I wasn’t anything special in terms of standardized testing to top schools. I was probably most proud because I worked so hard and learned everything on my own when it came to colleges or ACT. I’m a freshman in college now and got a full ride with my score. I was planning on going to Vanderbilt, but we couldn’t afford it. However, due to aiming for the best possible schools, I got a full ride to all my in-state schools. </p>
<p>As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “We aim above the mark to hit the mark.”</p>
<p>yeah, she is going to be a senior. and we thought this test would be good as she had actual time to study. i guess that is why it is so disappointing. : (</p>
<p>so two more testings to try to get the score for scholarships. and two more for the sat as well.</p>
<p>where are you going to school?</p>
<p>your final act score was 30? and you got full tuition??? yay you!!! wish we had some options like that here!</p>
<p>what were your section scores?? it seems to me that it would be easier to raise english or math than it would be to raise reading. and it seems like everyone has a hard time with the science section!</p>
<p>What state are you in?</p>
<p>I’m going to UAB. I got the “Golden Excellence Scholarship” which covers tuition and fees, then I got a 5k scholarship from the school of business. I got a 1k external scholarship as well and 2k worth of financial aid. They have a top med school (ranked higher than Dartmouth & Brown), school of optometry, and dental school. I plan on going into dentistry and I’m majoring in business so I have a better understanding of how to run my future practice from a financial standpoint. </p>
<p>And yes, I agree. English & math are the easiest to improve upon. I think reading isn’t too bad. Science just comes down to taking a bunch of practice tests. My reading the first time was a 28, then it dropped to a 23 during my first two practice tests. My strategy sucked: It was to first read the question and then SEARCH for the answer. After I started READING and then answering the questions, I started averaging 30 every time.</p>
<p>My subscores were:
31 English
25 Math
34 Reading
29 Science</p>
<p>My math was disappointing as I was averaging 28-30 on practice tests…but oh well. I had a bad day in that area while I scored my best ever in reading/science, so it kind of balances out.</p>
<p>we are in texas. and my daughter is thinking about alabama or auburn due to scholarship opportunities. a few other schools as well. largeish schools where she will likely be in the honors college.</p>
<p>is UAB your first choice? or did you prefer to go somewhere else. i saw you asking about hurrying through undergrad in 2 years.</p>
<p>Yeah, it was a kind of dumb and outlandish question (the undergrad in 2 years thing). </p>
<p>UAB was not my first choice. Last summer it was Vandy, then in the fall it was Auburn, and finally it was UAB. UAB is the closest to home and I like the fact they have the med/dental school right there if I choose to go that route. Some people dislike the urban campus, but I actually like it.</p>
<p>I definitely prefer Auburn’s campus over Alabama’s. Alabama’s is very spread out and I think it’d be a pain in the ass to go there. LOL</p>
<p>Auburn’s is very nice and everything seems relatively closer together. The dorm rooms are kinda eh…I have a friend who is going to Auburn. She has to share ONE BATHROOM with 3 OTHER GIRLS.</p>
<p>At UAB, I have a 525 sq. ft. dorm room. We have a living room, bedroom, stove, balcony, and our own fridge and bathroom for ourselves. We don’t have that suite style stuff.</p>
<p>I’m also in the Honors Program at UAB. You have to interview for it and stuff whereas with Auburn and Alabama they don’t hold interviews to my knowledge. It’s more so if you meet the criteria, you’re in. </p>
<p>Like I said, though, Vandy wasn’t the smartest for me due to financial reasons. Why have your parent pay 20k a year when you can get your undergrad for free?</p>
<p>So, yeah. That’s what it came down to for me.</p>