Preparing for the ACT
Get to work now so you can succeed!
Why is the ACT important?
Many students who plan on attending a 2-year technical school or a 4-year college or university elect to take the ACT. The ACT measures one's intelligence, and numerous post-secondary schools require this test for admission.
So, how can you get ready?
Get an ACT Preparation Book
Using ACT Prep Books will help you with practice problems and will allow you to become familiar with the style and format of the test. Specialists recommend getting at least two different well-known, trustworthy study books to help you. You can see which book's methods work the best for your learning styles, and they'll also give you access to different ACT approaches.
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Take an ACT Prep Class
Taking an ACT class, especially one that allows you to take a full-length practice exam will allow you to pinpoint your weaker areas, and focus on improving them. You can sign up for one of these classes through your school if it's offered, or you can sign up for a course through a tutoring center, such as Huntington Learning Academy. Not only do they have hired professionals who can help you prepare for the ACT, but they also have employees who specialize in the SAT and PSAT. Pinpointing the areas you need to improve on sooner rather than later allows you to take the extra time and care needed to study for those ACT sections.
You can visit Huntington Learning Academy's website here:
Plan a Study Schedule
Everyone knows that cramming usually doesn't work for lengthy tests. The ACT is no exception. You won't be able to remember countless major concepts come test day if you only study a few nights before. Be sure to spend weeks--even months--studying in order to be fully prepared. Shorter and frequent studying periods will help make the content stick. Just 15-30 minutes every day can make a big difference!
Sophomores May Elect to Take the PLAN Test
If you're a 10th grader, you should consider taking the PLAN test. Oftentimes this is administered through your school. This test gives you your projected ACT score so you can get an idea of which colleges might be most appropriate to apply to; some colleges have a minimum score requirement. It also gives you a sense of how much you'll need to study for your actual ACT test that will be administered in either your Junior or Senior year in high school.
After The Test
Interpreting Scores
After you've taken the ACT test and have gotten your scores back...what do you make of them? Each college (if that's the route you're choosing) will have an average ACT score of those admitted to their institution. Here's how your score will compare to others around the country:
* 20 is the average ACT score
* >24 is the upper 25% of ACT scores
*<16 is the lower 25% of ACT scores
Sources
http://www.actstudent.org/onlineprep/
http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/what_we_know.pdf
http://www.actstudent.org/faq/
http://www.act.org/products/k-12-act-plan/
http://magoosh.com/act/2014/top-ten-ways-to-prepare-for-the-act-exam/
http://blog.prepscholar.com/best-act-prep-books-2015
http://blog.prepscholar.com/what-is-a-good-act-score-a-bad-act-score-an-excellent-act-score