I think people are right that the more times you take the test, chances are you will become a better test taker. I just didn’t want to pay for my child to take it 8 times and she wouldn’t have taken it 8 times. She wouldn’t even take it a fourth time. Everyone’s different. We didn’t have the money for Kaplan courses or extensive tutoring. I got the Red Book, as many practice exams as possible as well as the PR 1296 ACT book. D basically followed Xiggi’s method with a couple of modifications. The main one was I took the practice tests with her.
A friend told me that she and her daughter both took SAT math practice tests as a friendly competition. So, we (DH, D and me) all took the practice tests together. D loved it - all of a sudden she was motivated to take these tests. When we saw that DH was scoring 36 every single time, he was dropped - no one likes a show-off. D and I were well-matched. We had similar overall scores but different section scores (the first practice exam, we both scored 28 or 29) She far outscored me in Reading while I outscored her in English and Science. We were about the same in Math (I was slightly better in the beginning). D found out over the months that if you studied, your score went up and if you (I) didn’t study, your score pretty much stagnated. I learned what she was seeing in taking the ACT and I think that was a good lesson for me… I no longer said, “well, just go study”. She and I could discuss strategy and approaches to different questions but mainly she gloated when she outscored me in Math. One thing this method did was take away test anxiety - the ACT was all of a sudden a game.
I don’t think we ever took the entire ACT under test conditions. The first few weeks weren’t even timed (once D started scoring in the 30’s untimed on a section, I timed the tests). Her score still went up 4 points, breaking 30. Her English went from 25 to 34. Science (which she didn’t really study) went from 27 to 31.
My son had the same ACT score and was able to get into our state flagship schools,
with merit. He also got into at least 1 good private school with some merit as well.
Others with higher ACT/SAT got more merit, but so far 3 good schools and waiting to hear on more.
We have one higher ranked school where his sport may get him in despite ACT being in the lower
half of applicants normally accepted, but waiting to see if there is merit along with that (private D3
so no athletic scholarships). Regardless, my son could not break 30 composite either
(did over 30 on sections and his strengths match his goals).
There is also transfer. My older son got into a very good public on full merit with a similar score,
and then transferred to an ivy after fresh year. Not ideal, but he’s happy.
Exactly my point. If a student cannot score what s/he needs/desires at home, it is highly unlikely to happen at the test center; thus, $40 is money not well spent. (In California, essays are required for the state U, so its $50+/pop on the Left Coast.)
btw: Not many schools superstore the ACT, so for the masses, multiple retake doesn’t get much unless the composite increases.
fwiw: perhaps in your household $40 is akin to pin money, but not in mine.
@bluebayou I think the point is that practice tests don’t count. So the only thing that really matters is an real score on a real test. And what I think a lot of us are saying is that there is a real variable between actual tests scores that you will see if you take multiple tests. And I’m not just talking about kids who scores went up because they were tutored or practiced hard. I’m talking about kid’s whose scores went up for lots of immeasurable factors that have nothing to do with practice.
So if you can afford $300 or $400 to take several SAT’s and ACT’s you will probably be surprised at the inconsistencies, and that they can go in a student’s favor. And if they don’t, chances are you do not need to report low scores.
Statistically, the opposite is true. Taking the same test ~10 times eliminates the variability among tests. It has to as the student will regress to his/her mean.
Now, of course, the 10-time test taker will also be processing thru academic subjects, and thus, will naturally increase their math score (on the ACT, at least, since it includes Trig, which many fall Juniors have not yet been exposed to) Reading Comp naturally increases as well, as Juniors start slogging thru Honors Lit, and/or AP Comp or AP Lit, and become used to the (boring) passages for required reading.
I think this all goes back to the usual answer – if you want money, look at places where your kid’s score is over the 75th percentile. One of my daughters got a 29 on the ACT (refused to prep beyond a practice test or two, don’t get me started) and has been offered the highest merit scholarships at several of the CTCL schools. It’s getting to the point where they’re less expensive than our flagship state school.
I definitely feel you on the frustration, though. I actually used to be a very successful SAT tutor, and I know how coachable the tests are, but I just couldn’t help my own kids.
I’m sure you’re statistically correct that if one takes the test 10 times, the mean might still be 29. But not all test sittings will produce a score of 29. Some may be 27 and others 31. And so if on your 4th sitting you hit that 31… It’s yours to keep!
Colleges do not take a mean score, they use your highest score.
@SouthernHope One thing I can tell from your kid is that he may be wayyyyyyyy stressed out with everything in school and life. I remember my junior year I was so stressed out with my ACT. I took about 10+ practice tests and all of them kept producing a 29 or 30. I felt bummed because I was shooting for a 30 and felt like a test could make it or break it. At the time I was taking 4 ap classes and with 4 hours of sleep every night, I felt depressed that if I did not do good enough on the ACT I would not be admitted or get scholarships to go to college. One person changed my life for the better though…
So I was in weight training and my coach saw me moping and asked me what was wrong. I told him about the ACT and how I was so worried. I still remember what he told me: “John, the ACT is all a mental test. Like with any other test, you cannot stress yourself out and expect to perform your best. You need to relax and take it easy before your test on Saturday. I want you to take the day off tomorrow. Sleep, eat good food, have some fun for once. Do not think of the test. Do not study the day before for it. Do not think of school period. Have fun and relax.”
At first I thought it was crazy. “Taking time off from school and homework??? What if I fall behind?” Surely though I skipped school the next day. I slept 8 hours for the first time in months. I ate a whole breakfast for once. I went out and had a delicious steak and ate ice cream twice. I played video games and read a fun book that I wanted to read for so long. I did not do homework for that night. I did not think of school at all.
The next day I went in not caring about scores. I came in feeling good about myself and being happy to feel relaxed for once. I took the test and I felt like I got a 30 “maybe”. 10 days later I check in the library at school and I got a 32…I literally jumped up from my desk, kept screaming “yes yes yes” , and went to tell all my teachers. It was so unexpected and I never had that score from any of my practice tests. Little did I know that my coach’s advice gave me so much later on going to a great school with a full tuition scholarship and more. Had I not listen to him I may have not gotten such a great opportunity…to prove that stress can psych you out I later took the test again but I did not take time off again. I was a regular student again. That test came out as a 29.
The same thing happened with my girlfriend. She did not take time for herself and was so stressed about numbers she got a 29. She was so depressed because she knew about my 32 and everyone else she knew was 30+. She was Asian so the competition and feeling of not being good enough was particularly strong. She decided to take the test again in the fall but this time she literally told me “I haven’t studied in months. I hate this test so much. I don’t care anymore what I get”. I kid you not she came out with a 31 and jumped on me when she found out.
The moral of my story and my girlfriend is you may be in for a pleasant surprise if you can let your child relax before this “most important test of their life” test haha. One day off for them makes all the difference in the world for college admissions and scholarships. I surely did not regret it for me
@atomicPACMAN07 Yours is s great story! And I so agree with the advice you got. Sure do preparation for the test. But at some point you’ve done the most studying you can do. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t see what happens if you take the test one or two more times. Without additional studying, without stress! The results may happily surprise you.
@bluebayou My point about not being to replicate test-taking conditions at home is that the real test has a certain amount of pressure to it that just makes you concentrate and compresses time a little bit.
Different things will work for different people. My son has taken the test three times as a high school student and will take it twice more in April, once for the state and once on the regular test date. On his first two attempts he made a 34, but after the second attempt he had a 35 superscore. In February he took it a third time and made a true 35, including a 36 in English. In the two April tests, if he can make a 35 or 36 in science and a 36 in either reading or math he’ll get his superscore up to 36. He is trying to get his score up not for admission, but rather because a couple of schools offer competitive full-merit scholarships, and 35-plus ACT scores seem to make a big difference. I just think multiple attempts will end up getting individual scores up, and if the stars and moon align just right all the individual scores might be high on the same test, sort of like hitting a jackpot on a slot machine.
I’ve always worked with my kids on these tests, all the way back to fifth or sixth grade when they started with Duke TIP. But we’ve only spent a little bit of time on it, and never have done more than two sections of the practice test in a single day. So we’ve never done a full test at home. And the prep has just been pretty light and easy going, “See what you missed and figure out how to do it,” type of thing. I would be surprised if either of my kids has every put more than 15 hours of prep into taking an ACT or other test, and in doing that they are doing more than probably 95 percent of the kids out there.
