Raising 5 points in 6 weeks?

Test Preparation ACT Preparation
1

<p>My son is a junior and he scored a 25 on the September ACT. We weren't completely disappointed because he went up 3 points from his mid sophomore year score. But, I really feel like he could do better. He has never studied for it and usually does very well on standardized testing. Unfortunately, he has ADD and the Reading section completely wears him down and it shows. English is also tough because it's a subject he has never done great in at school. His latest scores from the Sept test were: </p>

<p>Eng - 22
Math - 26
Reading - 21
Science - 31 </p>

<p>I have a hard time getting him to do any sort of studying, even for school. He has a 3.4 (mainly because he really messed up his freshman year and got into some trouble and had to spend time in exclusion a week before exams. He missed the review and bombed a couple of them ... his fault I know, but just giving the reason his GPA is lower than his actual intelligence) and takes honors classes. I feel like he could get it up to the 30 range if he studied and learned some of the strategies so I purchased the Real ACT book and Cracking the ACT. I have been forcing him to study a little each (or almost each) day. </p>

<p>After 1 week of studying the English and Reading sections we went to the library and I gave him Practice test 1 out of The Real ACT red book. I followed the time restrictions and scored it afterwards. He got a 26. </p>

<p>Eng - 24
Math - 25
Reading - 27 (YAY!!)
Science - 27 (oops) </p>

<p>So I am happy the composite went up a point and the Reading went way up, I am upset Science and Math went down. He came up to me with a little over 4 minutes left in the Science section left and told me he was finished and I believe there was 14 minutes left in the Math section left. I asked him if he wanted to review the questions and double check because he had so much time left and he said no. </p>

<p>While I was grading the Science section I got to #30 before he had even missed a single answer!! My heart was racing I was so excited! Then he missed 6 out of the last 10! I asked him what happened and he said he just didnt feel like he had enough time left to bother so he guessed. I was very disappointed! So I honestly feel like he could have done a little better on the Science. </p>

<p>My plan now is to have him continue to study appx 1-2 hours a night. Make sure he reviews all sections and does practice questions for each section (1 subject per night) and then for the next 5 Saturdays I plan to take him to the local library to do a practice test. He is not happy with this plan in the least and feels like I am cutting into his social life way too much. I feel like its a very small price to pay to get his score up to the range of getting a really decent scholarship to Ole Miss, which is where he plans to go. He is sort of on board with this, but some days he acts like I am taking needles and sticking them in his eyes and the other days I feel like he is only giving it half of what he could. He is only 16 and just turned 16 in September, so I know he is young and doesn't really grasp how important this is or realize his time is almost up to get this done, but I keep telling him that one day he will thank me :) </p>

<p>Do you think 1-2 hours of review 4 days a week plus 1 practice test on each Saturday for the next 5 weeks (a total of 6) will be enough to get his score to 30 or 31? If you have any other suggestions to help this mom motivate her son or if there are other study guides you think would help more please let me know! </p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>He has already shown huge signs of growth… I would say it is definitely possible, but not guaranteed. It’s worth a shot!</p>

3

<p>:) Oh I know there is never a guarantee but I am trying to get him to work to his potential. I also always make sure the alarm system and chimes are turned on the night before (to prevent him sneaking out the window to go to some party lol) and I take away his phone and laptop too. I want to make sure he has the best night sleep possible and I make a very high protein, filling breakfast in the morning. I am looking for the best tips you can provide to help him reach that 30-31 score. I wish I could say 34-36 but I honestly do not think that he is quite up to that level of performance.</p>

4

<p>Putting like a restricted and scheduled time on studying everyday didn’t really help me when my mom did it. I just pretended to read the book and sometimes cheated on the practice tests as the sooner you read the chapter or finish the test-> the sooner you can get out. Maybe give him some incentive, like you play video games as long as you study or something</p>

5

<p>As DangerBhel said, forcing him might have a negative effect. My advise would be to give him an incentive. e.g If he plays console tell him that you’ll buy him a new game or two if he gets the target score or you might increase his allowance. This mostly works.
It did for me :stuck_out_tongue:
Moreover, i think it’s also possible. To increase marks in Maths you just have to learn new formulas. That is easy. For English you have to learn the grammar rules(Cracking does a fine job for this). For the other two you have to practice to increase your score. So continue making him study but change the approach…</p>

6

<p>What schools is your son planning on applying to?</p>

7

<p>The only thing I could probably bribe him with is money and I am not sure I can afford him lol … but thanks for the input! I see your point about a motivator. My motivator for him is owing less in student loans by the time he finishes school, but maybe at 16 that isnt much of one. The only school he is interested in at the moment is Ole Miss. But I am looking at other schools and will have him apply to some and see what his options are. If he doesnt get the ACT score up (or do well enough on the PSAT he just took last month to qualify for NMSF) Ole Miss will be the only option since it will be in state tuition.</p>

8

<p>If your son is currently a junior, why does he only have 6 weeks to prepare?</p>

9

<p>He just wants to be done with it this year and not worry about it senior year.</p>

10

<p>Hi tlcmommie4-
If he is only a junior, I would highly recommend that he “not be done with it” in 6 weeks. Taking it at the end of junior year could give him a much bigger boost than trying to cram for the next 6 weeks. 2 things that come to to mind: 1) I assume he is taking some sort of math his junior year…his math grade could rise significantly due to this. Also, at my kids high school at least, the English teachers really drill some of the grammar things into the kids heads their junior year becuase they know that the majority of them will be taking the ACT in the spring. so again, the months of curriculum can help with the score.</p>

<p>Frankly, if he is not motivated on his own you might be able to accomplish the jump, but you most likely are facing an uphill battle. </p>

<p>I do wish you luck, though and hope it all works out for the best.</p>

11

<p>He is planning to take it again in June after his junior year because they are on the block system at his school and he has not had junior English at all this year. He wont take that until second semester. His grandpa bribed him with $500 if he gets a 30 so I may have to up that and bribe him with $1000 for a 32 by December his senior year lol If he gets the 32 we are set for a full ride at Ole Miss. I may have exaggerated some on his reluctance. He is actually at the table studying the math section in Cracking the ACT right now, but he is not as confident as I am that he can do this. I just really believe he has the ability to get 30 or above. He has already taken Algebra, Adv Algebra, Geometry and Calculus. He is in Trigonometry right now. Next semester he will be in Statistics. </p>

<p>Thanks for all the kind words and I think in the next year we will be able to reach that 32. I wont push so hard to get there in December :slight_smile: I am not really known for my patience and he is tired of all this ACT talk so we were hoping to just be done with it. But your reasoning makes sense and I am going to try to just pace this over the next 12 months. </p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

12

<p>Make him read more. Make him read the “blue grammar book”. For math he can use these websites: actquantum.com and sbstjohn.com/QODWebSite. Science will be more practice than anything else. Good luck to him!</p>

<p>This test really is about practice. I went from 22 ish in June to 27-28 on my practice tests. I’m aiming for a 32 by December as well.</p>

13

<p>One would think calculus comes after Trig and even statistics, atleast in my school district.</p>

14

<p>Well I am not sure how they choose the order of the maths. But, he had calculus first 9 weeks this year and just started Trig the second 9 weeks here. He registered for Statistics for 2nd semester. We do live in Mississippi though so keep that in mind hahaha</p>

<p>What is “the blue grammar book”? I could make a trip back over to B&N this weekend to pick one up. Thanks for the websites. I did see the ACTQuantum one on this site yesterday and pulled it up. I will show it to him tonight while he is working on his Trig section. That is the part he bombed in the math section … I suppose since he hadnt had any trig each time he took it. But since he is in it now maybe his math score will jump up significantly!! fingers crossed!!</p>

15

<p>Oops My son is NOT in Trig he is in calculus now!! Stats next semester. See I dont even know what classes he takes!!</p>

16

<p>Hi tlcmommi4-
Wait-he is in calculus now, but never had trig (in our school trig is part of pre-calc)–and he is only in calculus for a semester? So very different from what we do here in IL. I didn’t think one could understand calc without trig first.</p>

<p>If he is in calculus currently (and it isn’t pre-calc or pre-calc honors?)now, then scratch what I said about the extra year helping him in math. My reasoning behind that was because many juniors have not had that much exposure to trig in the fall of their junior year (vs. spring of their junior year). If he is already beyond trig (which calculus is), that won’t make that much of a difference.</p>

<p>Again good luck to your son. Just to caution you, though–I think that by being on College Confidential it can give the impression that 30+ scores are not that hard to get, when in reality, only 5% of the people who take the ACT get 30+.</p>

<p>One other question–you mentioned a free ride to Ole Miss if he gets a 32+. Does the 32+ qualify instate students for scholarship consideration–or is it an automatic free ride? If it is automatic, that is fabulous! </p>

<p>Good luck to you!</p>

17

<p>Ole Miss gets a free ride with a 32+? I live in Mississippi also, and I have a 34 on my ACT.</p>

18

<p>I believe I read you must apply and be chosen for the 32 and 3.5 GPA for the full ride to Ole Miss. So darn it is not automatic! :frowning: In my head I was thinking it was. I saw it in a pamphlet he brought home from his college tour. They brought the top 20 students in his grade on a tour of 4 colleges and I was reading through the pamphlets. </p>

<p>Yall had me all confused on the math stuff so I was talking to my son about it last night and he said he is in Honors Pre Calculus and there is a little Trig in it too. I am sorry, I was confused. He just calls is calculus so I was confused. When I went to school there many many years ago it was called “Senior Math” all of it lol and you went all year long. None of this block stuff and 1 quarter of honors adv algebra the next quarter of honors pre calculus … and certainly no sociology or any of the other classes they offer nowadays!</p>

19

<p>I can not find the Ole Miss scholarship info I could have sworn I read somewhere 3.5 GPA 32 ACT = tuition, housing, fees, meals and books … but I cant find it anywhere :frowning: Maybe it was Bama or somewhere close. </p>

<p>I found this though on this site … not a bad deal. </p>

<p>University of Mississippi (Ole Miss)
Application Deadline: March 1st
Award (OOS): Approximately 90% Tuition (Currently $15K/year, may not increase to match future tuition increases)
Residual COA: $17,010/year
Requirements: 3.0 GPA, 32 ACT/1400 SAT (CR+M)
Award (In State): Approximately 80% Tuition (Currently $5K/year, may not increase to match future tuition increases)
Residual COA: $16,526/year
Requirements: 3.0 GPA, 32 ACT/1400 SAT (CR+M)
The University of Mississippi ? Office of Financial Aid</p>

20

<p>Hi tlcmommi4-
Don’t apologize…it can be really confusing! It is great that you are on here and involved with assisting your son.</p>

<p>The good news is that if he is in pre-calc Honors, that will help him for the ACT if he takes it again later in the school year. Pre-calc curriculum generally includes trig (as well as algebraic functions, etc)–things that are tested on the ACT. One of my boys just took the ACT in Sept (he is a jr in pre-calc H as well), and even after just 1 month of school he said there were 2 questions he would not have known prior to pre calc.</p>

<p>With regards to the 32+ full ride scholarship: since it is not automatic (that is why I asked–usually the full ride ones are more selective)–I want to give you some food for thought. If your son is working 1-2 hours a night studying for the ACT–does this have an adverse effect on his schoolwork? While it is great to prep for the ACT (and I hope your son does well), you want to keep in mind that if regular coursework is suffering because of the prepping, it might not pay off. While some schools will offer a certain amount automatically for a specific ACT cut-off, many have GPA requirements as well. Certainly the full-ride type scholarships will be competitive - and the selection committee will be looking at their coursework.</p>

<p>Finally, since you seem to be concerned with cost (although who isn’t?!), I want to make sure that you are aware of Net Price Calculators? (I know that this is slightly off topic). If you do have financial need, many universities will offer to meet at least a portion of that need. Just go on the individual college website that you are looking at, and type Net Price Calculator into the search engine to find it. If you do have need, you might find that some schools will offer a percentage of financial aid that is not tied to the ACT.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>