Did these kind of people simply have a better education, you know private schools? Tutors? Or parents who went to college?
Could be one or all of those things. Or some people are just naturally talented at standardized testing and filling in bubbles.
Nah people are not born with knowledge
Born with knowledge, no. Born with intelligence, yes.
SAT and ACT test different kinds of knowledge. One requires exposure to certain HS classes whereas the other tests analytic skills. Seems to be why many students tend to do better on one rather than the other. Good idea to do both and see which resonates more.
ACT is a test of speed. Obviously people who do well are not dummies, but doing well without practice is probably a function of personal speed in addition to knowledge.
If you read a lot on your own, and you read for comprehension and with good speed, and you have a broad vocabulary you’re in good shape for quite a bit of the test. Then it comes down to recognizing the rest of the material and handling it cleanly. It can be done.
The question is too broadly stated. Many who score a 30 or above on the ACT “without studying” for this specific test spent lots of time studying & doing homework for their regular classes.
On the ACT my DD scored a 30 the first time and a 34 the second. She never took a prep class, she attended a good public high school (not spectacular, just good) she was an IB/AP student and she is a very good test taker. She took the ACT the first time to “get a feel for it” since her brother scored a 32 on his first/only go, the sibling competitiveness kicked in and she wanted to beat him. The 34 surprised all of us due to no prep.
She is a very bright child, don’t get me wrong, but we never focused on the ACT/SAT preps. I am in the camp that does not believe in teaching to the test and this holds true for the college entrance tests. IMO a well prepped kid may perform well on the test and end up in a university environment that is out of their league.
My DD is above the 30 without studying. She attends a public school. She hates taking standardize testing but has always done well on them. I don’t think it’s one thing or another.
Some personalities may test better without the stress of prepping. My son performed his best cold on the ACT +30 . When we did the prep classes, his scores worsened.
My oldest son scored a 34 first try with no prep. He is intelligent, took quite a few AP classes, reads a ton, and tests well. My youngest scored a 32 first time then a 34 the second. Both times with lots of prep on his own… you know, prep books and online resources. He is also intelligent and took the same AP course load. Both went to public school. Although my younger son was ranked higher in high school, my oldest just naturally tests better and always has. So I’d have to say that some of it comes from natural ability.
My experience with the ACT is that, especially for the reading and science sections, it’s more about question comprehension/logic than actual knowledge, at which point there are natural advantages/disadvantages. Someone who’s good at science might do worse than someone who thinks about problems from a “if we know X is true, we know these answers must be wrong, and these two answers are opposites and I know this one is wrong, so this must be right.”
I witnessed it recently in my bio class, where I had to explain to a classmate that the test question wasn’t asking whether something was objectively true, just if the experiment supported it.
My son got a 34 on the ACT. He did one practice test but didn’t do any prep. He’s not in all APs, doesn’t work hard, doesn’t really study, never reads when he doesn’t have to. I see it as a sign that he has a good grasp of basic English grammar, algebra and geometry skills, not as a sign of intelligence.
He has ADHD but is somehow laser focused if you give him a multiple choice test and a timer. No test anxiety at all, which helps a lot.
My son got a 32 and signed up late and had to take it standby. All we knew about the ACT was that you were supposed to guess. He came home and said," Wow…who knew there would be a whole science section?" I just had him take it one time to get a feel for the test as I had signed him up for a prep class through our school district.
He does well on standardized tests and he likes math and science more than English. He was in a lot of pre-AP and AP classes. But, he likes to game and go to the movies too. He did much better on the ACT than the SAT since there was a science section. I do think that most kids do better after having a prep class and I plan to make sure my younger son has the class.
One of my kids got a 35 without studying. But she had studied for the SAT. And was a lifelong avid reader, which helps with speed and analysis.
I agree with @evergreen5 , speed is key: first, one must quickly discern what is being asked, (@thebetterhawkeye); second, they have to see patterns (these test are somewhat formulaic/have specific bounds and objectives); and third, a good memory for quick recall of previous knowledge.
As @Publisher suggests, the kids who take the test cold and get a 30 or above have been preparing since virtually day one for the exam, just not formally.
I took the ACT once and got a 34. Didn’t study for it (besides taking a mandatory practice test), take any prep, and I go to a rural, underperforming school. However, I did work hard in all my classes and took many advanced classes that probably did contribute to my score.
On the other hand, my sister took the ACT five times and got a 24 every time. She spent weeks taking practice exams and act prep classes, yet still couldn’t improve her score. She still took similarly challenging classes to me and did well in them. She’s in her junior year at Wisconsin at has a ~3.7 GPA in accounting.
Just goes to show ACT doesn’t necessarily show intelligence.
I think the best way to approach standardized tests is to study strategies for the test itself instead of constantly taking practice tests. For the ACT, all I used to study was the black book. I read its guides on how to approach the test and I only took one or two practice tests and ended up getting a 34 on my first (and only) try. Even though my family is upper-middle class, I went to a public school and I didn’t take any special classes. Don’t be too overwhelmed if lots of your peers are taking classes. The ACT is essentially just a game of adaptation. What matters most is how you approach examinations.