Please Help Me Turn My Life Around

Test Preparation ACT Preparation
1

<p>Alright guys. Just to start, I have been lurking this forum since last year and have decided to make an account today. Let me just share my story with you guys, as this is my last chance to make or break my life.
Im a 17 year old kid. Im not the nerd type but I am most definitely intelligent. My whole family comes from medicine, and I can safely say it is what I want to practice in the future. I was spoiled by my parents, drive a BMW, live in a nice house, go to a fancy private school, etc. When I want something I buy it. Simple enough. Im not going to go around buying 50$ video games or clothes or food etc, but If i see a belt or shirt then Ill take it. Anyways. I have never (been lucky enough to) experience of working for what I want. I just need assistance right now guys. </p>

<p>I have some A's and B+'s. GPA around a 4.8 with unweighted CUM of around 3.6, 3.68 ish. My sat is a 1730, and my ACT is a 27. Right now I need to get my scores up to a 30 ACT or 1950 SAT. I clearly prefer the ACT better but I will still need to improve on both. I have not been studying day and night, but I have been doing problems every day for 2 weeks before the ACT. Of course I know this is not enough, but that is primarily the extent of my preparation. This coming months are going to be the most crucial ones of my life right now. I would just like to know your recommendations for a person like me in order to pull a 30 on the next ACT or a huge increase of 200 points over the next 2 SAT's. What are your methods or suggestions to reaching my goals?</p>

<h1>Current/Goal</h1>

<h1>Sat</h1>

<h1>1740/1950</h1>

<h1>Act</h1>

<p>27/30</p>

<p>I just want to thank anyone who posts here and want to say one last thing. You people have no idea HOW BLESSED YOU ARE to work for what you have. I learned this the hard way and now it is coming to bite me in the rear. Thanks again guys.</p>

2

<p>To start off with though, get yourself the official ACT prep book (red cover) and the official blue SAT prep book and read over all of the material they have to offer. Then, take a practice test and evaluate your performance, even if you have taken an ACT or SAT already. I can tell you, having taken both the ACT and SAT and scoring well, that practice makes perfect. Disciplined, nightly practice. While I didn’t need that much of a score jump, what you want is definitely very easily in reach. The fact is, doing problems for only two weeks may not be enough. You sound like a good student, so you clearly have the capacity. Having said that, hard work is the best way to up your score. If you can get yourself to do a section (ACT) or 3 sections (SAT) every day until your test, you will definitely reach your goal.</p>

<p>Some more section specific advice:
In writing, I often find it helpful to mentally read back the passage with corrections, because sometimes intuition is the best way to find grammatical errors. If you are truly struck on a question, mark your best guess, and at the end, look through other sentences for a similar grammatic rule that is correct and base your answer on that. People often have no idea how many answers are embedded in other question.
In reading, skim the passage or skip straight to questions. I don’t know what more to say, because time is everything on this section.
In math, look for shortcuts. Sometimes, very complicated diagrams are actually solved using simple rules, like 30-60-90 triangles. The test isn’t meant to be advanced, just tricky. My biggest problem was making silly mistakes, and I fixed a lot of this by underline things like “positive” and “integer” that I would miss.
In science, i really don’tknow what to say. This is a really hit or miss section, and only practice will help. It is usually easiest to ignore the explanation, do all the graph ID problems, then read and answer theory questions. Also, having some background in science does help, though ACT claims you need no experience. </p>

<p>Honestly, it is a great idea to enroll in a Kaplan or other test prep class. While you CAN do any of the practice work that they assign on your own, being in a class with deadlines really keeps you on track and motivated. If you don’t have time, then a private tutor may be a good idea.</p>

<p>In conclusion, Practice, practice, practice. If this means getting tutoring or lessons to motivate you to do this, or having the will to do it on you own, then so be it.</p>

3

<p>Thank you so much buddy that helps a lot. I already have both offici books though. Anyways. I prefer the act book better because it provides explanations to the answers and helps find mistakes. The sat on the other hand just gives you an answer and never really explains what you need to look for</p>

4

<p>At the beginning of each test, I believe they tell you that you can access additional resources to supplement your tests online.</p>

<p>On their site, they provide explanations for every answer and provide sample essays. Check them out!</p>

5

<p>So so far what Ive gathered, this is my strategy…</p>

<p>3 sections for SAT/ 1 Section ACT per day depending on what I am studying
Review answers in back of book if explanations available
Purchase Barrons/Princeton Review book
SAT I have october 6th test, november 3rd test. ACT is the 27th I believe.</p>

<p>Will just doing 1 section a day as my ACT prep really boost my score by 3 points overall? There must be more to it…</p>

<p>What else would you guys recommend for studying on my OWN? </p>

<p>Thanks guys!</p>

6

<p>Yes, it will, but it does depend on how long you have. I recently was sent statistics by a tutoring program (PM to know which), that said the 14 hours of ACT tutoring increased scores by 4 point (27 to 31) , or 190 SAT points, and that 60 hours of tutoring led to a whopping 14 point increase. Granted, these are stats for someone being tutored, but they sound reasonable, and for your point increase, completely doable. Just leave yourself 30 hours instead of 14 to really become confident with the material.</p>

7

<p>I hope so buddy! I just did 2 sections for SAT. One 17 question math and a 35 question writing. I scored 13/17 on math and 28/35 writing but I never skipped etc. I guessed on what I would skip. Still though, I have a long way to go</p>

8

<p>Take as many practice tests as you can! That is probably the one thing that will help you out most overall.</p>

<p>The Real ACT Guide is a good book for the ACT practice (not much tips or strategy), and [The</a> ACT Study Guide: The Best Way to Study for the ACT](<a href=“http://actstudyguide.com%5DThe”>http://actstudyguide.com) is a pretty good reference for overall basic strategy and review.</p>

<p>As far as the SAT goes, well, I can’t help you out too much there. Both the ACT and SAT though are all about how prepared you are, not really how much you KNOW. So just prepare as much as you can!</p>

<p>You’ve got a lot of time still, so just keep practicing and stay focused! You can do it</p>

9

<p>1) Study your ass off</p>

<p>2) It does not make you more grounded to say you wish you had had to work for what you have. If you’re SO jealous of us who have to work jobs, then give up your car, stop buying things, and get a job. Set a budget. Believe me, you can have what we have if you want it. We can’t have what you have: options. So shut up and stop complaining. It will not “bite you in the rear” because you will have your parents to pay for college and to eventually fall back on if needed. Not everyone has that. </p>

<p>Pretty sure you are a ■■■■■ though, tbh.</p>