<p>I know I did poorly on the PSAT (getting score back soon). I thought that the vocabulary section was difficult, the math section was full of abstract problems that I've never encountered (I'm in Calc AB), and the reading was okay but I thought some of the questions were ambiguous. </p>
<p>I did 0 preparation for the practice ACT (through revolutionprep). First time, I got a 24. Second time, a 26. The science was very confusing because it didn't really test any biology/chemistry/physics. It seemed like you had to extract info from a document very quickly. The math wasn't bad...it was all problems I've encountered in my classes; I was just rusty on some of the geometry stuff. The English section was very easy, but because of the time crunch I got a 30.</p>
<p>I know that these scores are somewhat meaningless since I have another year before I should actually take it, and I haven't taken a prep course, but I'm concerned because some people I know are doing well without studying. What should I be doing? Are the scores I'm getting now indicative of what I'll actually get? How many weeks/months before the actual test should I start preparing? I have the review book made by ACT, but I think I need the structure of a prep class to help me.</p>
<p>What score are you aiming for on each test? I think you should focus on just one test, but still work on the other in your free time; that way you have 2 options to fall back on for college admissions. As for the PSAT, the math questions should make sense to you if you’re in Calc AB…what exactly do you mean that you’ve never seen anything like them? Just review your basics and apply that knowledge - you have the necessary skills to solve them. </p>
<p>I suggest buying the official CollegeBoard Blue Book for the SAT and just plowing through it over the summer hardcore. Know EVERYTHING in that book. Memorize the vocabulary, read over the Math. Do the practice tests, and while you’ll probably not be able to answer a lot of them, for EVERYONE you did not get correct, even if it was a mistake, mark it, read the solutions, figure out why you didn’t choose the correct option, and save it for later to redo.</p>
<p>I do suggest going to a prep course if you’re not scoring above 2000 on the SAT though.</p>
<p>Agree with the above post, it depends on what you are aiming for on each test. Get an SAT review book (the official College Board one is definitely the best) and spends 5 or 10 minutes a day with it. Familiarize yourself with the kinds of problems in it as the real test will be very similar to the practice ones. Once you’re familiar with the kinds of questions the SAT asks (which really, every section asks the same 5 or 6 questions but with different vocabulary words/structure/numbers) it will become more of a “how quickly can i do this” than a “how do I solve this problem”</p>
<p>As for the ACT, continue doing practice tests, however, I’ve found that the practice tests tend to lowball your score. I purchased the official practice tests/prep from the ACT and averaged around a 26/27 each time I took it but the first and only time I took the real ACT, I got a 32. </p>
<p>Just study and familiarize yourself with how each test works, find test taking strategies that work for you, and make sure to practice timing and you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>All that being said, how are you in Calc AB and struggling with the math PSAT (which is similar to the SAT math)? PSAT and SAT only cover Algebra, Geometry and basic Trig, all concepts you should have mastered by Calculus.</p>
<p>The science part of the ACT does not test science but how logically you think and how well you can read graphs. The best way to work that section is go directly to the questions and then search for your answer in the text/graphs. The ACT is known of being more straight-forward than the SAT but more of a time crunch.</p>
<p>Thanks for your guys’ responses. I’m in Calc AB (non-AP) this year, so yes the trig and algebra were do-able, but I took geometry 5 years ago, and none of my subsequent courses have depended on it, so I’ve pretty much forgotten everything except basic triangle and alternate interior/exterior etc. stuff.
It seems like geometry is a good 1/3 of the math section, so without being solid on geometry I don’t know how I’m going to do well on it.</p>
<p>Geometry is an easy fix. Get on Khan Academy and do the geometry section. Focus on why you don’t remember.
I would think it would come back to you pretty quickly once you got into the course.</p>