We’ve just started February and the ACT Is getting closer and closer. In fact, it’s this month! If you aren’t completely sure what the act is, it’s a test that’s used for college admissions by assessing your college readiness. All US colleges and universities accept the ACT as their college entry test. The test is made up of four portions: english, mathematics, reading, science and an optional writing test. The english, math and reading portions are all multiple choice.
Taking the ACT has many advantages even if your score isn’t in the higher score bracket. For each test you will take, you will receive a scoring from 1 through 36, the higher number the better. By averaging the scores, and rounding it to the nearest whole number, you’ll find the composite score, which is what really matters. fractions less than one-half are rounded down; fractions one-half or more are rounded up. At many mid-tier colleges, students with scores in the range of 20-23 are still considered competitive. Although if you’re aiming for a more selective school, a score in the 24-28 range will increase your chances of admission.
Taking the test multiple times, you’d think would be a bad thing but, students who take the test more than once increase their score and can take advantage of superscoring. Superscoring is the average of your best scores from each subject.
Another advantage of taking the ACT is that it can increase your chances of earning new or better scholarships. The scores can also place you out of remedial coursework. This helps you skip additional placement tests on the campus, saving money and your time.
One of the best things about the test is that it’s only based on the high school curriculum, so you’ve been training for it up until now. Although, you could still forget all that stuff, but at least you won’t have to blame or worry about problems you’ve never seen before. While you’ve been studying for your classes, you’ve been preparing for the ACT.
On the ACT, if you don’t know the answer to a question, believe it or not but taking a guess is your best choice. Incorrect answers don’t count against your score. This capability also helps you save on time, since you only have 36 seconds for english, 1 minute for math, 52 seconds for reading and 52 seconds for science questions. In total, the ACT has 215 questions and an optional essay. The English section has 75 questions, the math section has 60 questions and the reading and science sections both have 40 questions.
There are many different ways to practice for the test, Honors english teach, Brandi Parrish suggests to do timed tests because of the small amount of time you have to do all the questions.
“The most shocking thing about the ACT is the time,” Honors English teacher Brandi Parrish said. “There are a lot of questions with a short amount of time. The best way to be ready for that is to practice taking timed tests. Don’t leave any answers blank-a wrong answer does not hurt you!”
Although, for those who signed up, Mrs. Gilgan sent you a Khan Academy ACT prep class that you can join and study whatever field you need. Just search ACT in your email and you’ll find it, it was sent on December 19. There are plenty of other sources to use for you studies though, some of the more helpful ones being quizzes, because they are timed and help you prepare for the time crunch. But besides timed tests you still got YouTube, or a quick Google to find help.
