<p>Unless you crushed the PSAT, it seems to me that since you’ve already taken the ACT before, you probably want to focus on that. When you do the practice exams time yourself and treat it as though you are actually taking the test.</p>
<p>My son is more math/science oriented but he went from a 25 in reading to a 34 and a 25 in English to a 32, so you can definitely raise your score if you put in the effort.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t take any chances on the name mismatch. Call the ACT and get it resolved. You need to upload a picture too.</p>
<p>Just an FYI- if you are planning on giving one more go on the ACT, remember to answer EVERY question. The ACT does not penalize you for wrong answers. Watch your time and when you have 5 or 10 minutes left, bubble the rest with “b” or “c.” I taught Honors junior English for 5 years and this is how we worked with our kids in ACT prep after all of the real studying was done. Sometimes it’s studying plus a little bit of luck to “up” that score. </p>
<p>Also, DS also is an engineering major and from TN. He toured MS state (and liked it a lot) and went to Governor’s School at UTK. When it came down to it, UTK gave him a pittance, State gave him about half, and UA gave him a full ride. Since he loved his visit to "Bama, the money kind of sealed the deal. Keep at it. The money may come yet. DS didn’t get all of the financial pkg until March, but it was worth the wait.</p>
<p>Doing timed practice tests will really help if you were running out of time. It will give you a sense of what pace you need to work at.</p>
<p>The software I recommended has some tips too. I think that my son mentioned that for math they recommended starting from the back and going forward. Also for science, it said go straight to the graphs and don’t read all the verbiage.</p>
<p>Matthew, call ACT and explain your situation. It’s a good habit to always use ones full name for any documentation or get your name legally changed to what you want to be called (it’s usually around $100 and best done when you don’t have a lot of financial accounts or debts.) It’s very popular in the south for guys to have the same name as other relatives and then go by some form of their middle name or something entirely different, which causes confusion at schools and when buying airline tickets, especially if people don’t realize that your legal name is something different. I work with a guy whose legal name is a shortened version of a common name and it makes things a lot easier for him. </p>
<p>Best of luck on the ACT and SAT. The tips posted here generally work very well.</p>
<p>Hey FortunateDad…Got your PM. At the moment, this makes 13 posts and I have to have 15 to answer you–ha. Working on a few more tonight so I can get back to you. I’m thinking our kiddos probably know each other. Give me a couple of posts and I’ll get back to ya. LOL</p>
<p>Came in the mail today. Determined to get right to work. Not sure how to get started and how it works. Can anyone explain how to start it. Do I take the tests on the program or in The REAL ACT BOOK, and if in the book how does it score it.</p>